Secretary of Guedes says that exemption from the basic food basket is too broad

The Special Secretary for Productivity and Competitiveness of the Ministry of Economy, Daniella Marques, defended this Thursday (9) a focus on tax benefits granted to basic food items, saying that the list of exemptions “maybe too broad”.

In an event promoted by Abras (Brazilian Association of Supermarkets), the secretary said that a reduction in the list of foods reached would allow a deepening of the benefits granted to items that are really considered basic.

“The list of what is exempt today [na cesta básica] ended up being too complex and too broad, maybe it’s worth a debate for us to be more focused and pay for products that are really basic”, he said, citing exemptions that exist today on salmon and noble cheeses.

According to the secretary, the Ministry of Economy is analyzing other ways to increase the benefits of the basic food basket and try to lower the prices of goods. She pointed out that the government has been cutting taxes with the aim of reducing product costs.

IPI and Free Zone

In his presentation, Marques said that the productive sector is experiencing a moment of legal uncertainty after Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), has suspended the effects of the reduction of the IPI (Tax on Industrialized Products) for products manufactured by the Free Zone. from Manaus.

When asking the Court to clarify the issue, the secretary stated that the minister’s decision affects a range of products far beyond the scope of the Free Trade Zone. According to her, the injunction involves 5,000 products, reaching much more than the list of 60 products that would be relevant to Manaus.

At the end of April, the government extended the IPI cut to 35%, but announced that products corresponding to 76% of the Free Zone’s revenues were being included in an exception list, with a smaller cut of 25%. It was this measure, which guaranteed partial benefit to the Free Zone, which ended up being judicialized.