Truck-aid takes a back seat to Bolsonaro and may not come out of the picture

A month after President Jair Bolsonaro (non-party) promised to create aid for truck drivers because of the high price of diesel, court assistants say the proposal may not come out of the paper.

According to the president’s interlocutors, the issue is no longer treated as a priority for the Executive Power in this final stretch of the year, given the scenario of few resources and many demands.

The segment is part of Bolsonaro’s electoral base. The government evaluates giving up truck assistance mainly for two reasons: the lack of space in the budget and the reaction of the truck drivers themselves to the measure.

The Chief Executive announced at the end of October that a benefit of R$ 400 would cover around 750,000 truck drivers. The idea was to take advantage of the space in the 2022 Budget generated with the maneuvers of the PEC dos Precatórios.

But the most up-to-date expectation of the Ministry of Economy is that only BRL 1.1 billion will remain, after the payment of mandatory expenses (such as pensions and pensions) raised by inflation, the expansion of the Brazil Aid benefit and the extension of the payroll exemption (a measure that reduces taxes paid by companies on employee salaries) to 17 sectors.

Payroll tax benefits companies in the call center, the computer industry, with development of systems, data processing and creation of electronic games, in addition to communication companies, companies operating in collective road transport of passengers and civil construction companies and of infrastructure works.

In the economic team, truck assistance is not taken for granted. It is said among the members that, to succeed, the program will have to compete with the other measures under analysis.

This is the same view on other measures recently proposed by Bolsonaro, such as a readjustment for public servants.

“These are legitimate choices of a democracy. Now, to increase the number of employees, I will no longer use them for something else. It is a choice to be made,” said Adolfo Sachsida, secretary for Economic Policy, on the 17th of this month.

The fiscal space is far from being enough to pay all of the president’s promises, such as the gas voucher, the salary increase for civil servants and assistance to truck drivers.

From these measures, according to the president’s interlocutors, it is likely that the benefit to truck drivers and the adjustment to civil servants will not materialize.

Regarding the latter, as the sheet showed, the government was studying to contemplate only some police categories, but the president’s allies admit that it is a possible scenario in which not even they receive a readjustment.

In addition, the president’s interlocutors cite public criticism from industry leaders.

As the Panel SA column showed, the measure was received with suspicion and skepticism. Marcelo da Paz, representative of truck drivers from Santos (SP), for example, even called the measure alms at the time.

One way to compensate the self-employed, according to government officials, may be the project that changes taxation for the category, the MEI truck driver. The author is senator Jorginho Mello (PL-SC), allied with Bolsonaro.

“I spoke with the president and he understood the proposal, understood and supported it. This was a step forward, giving autonomous truck drivers the possibility of becoming legalized, with better conditions of access to credit,” said the senator.

MEI’s proposal for truck drivers should allow professionals to pay less taxes on the activity.

Government calculations indicate that they may have an income gain of up to R$ 20 thousand per month with the changes, paying in most cases only the Social Security and municipal ISS (Services Tax) taxation.

The Internal Revenue Service initially expressed resistance to the MEI proposal, but ended up giving in.

Historically, the tax authorities are opposed to Simples (simplified taxation system that also serves the MEI), as it represents the largest tax expense in the Union.

For 2022, the current forecast is that Simples will cost R$ 81.8 billion in unpaid taxes — an account that should increase with the expansion for truck drivers.

Truck drivers are not an organized class with clear leadership. In the coup-rooted demonstrations on September 7, groups of autonomous truck drivers critical of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) camped in Brasília and even set up roadblocks and threatened with a strike.

At the time, the chief executive was advised to ask his supporters to demobilize.

Former President Michel Temer (MDB) said he himself had already gone through a strike, and warned that the protest could end the Bolsonaro government.