Federal collection slows down and grows 1.4% in November

The Internal Revenue Service recorded a collection of R$ 157.3 billion in November, a real growth of 1.41% compared to the same month last year. Although positive, the result represents the smallest growth compared to 2020 since January.

The data, released this Tuesday (21), were impacted by the retraction observed in industrial production and in the sale of goods.

Also pulled down the numbers called tax offsets, when companies write off debts with the Union using credits they are entitled to before the tax authorities (mainly due to court decisions). In November alone, tax offsets removed R$ 14.9 billion from the federal collection.

Before November, the worst result compared to 2020 was the month of January. At the time, there was a 1.5% drop in revenue compared to the same month of the previous year.

Revenue had registered double-digit growth in the annual comparison in six months of 2021 — a difference driven by the losses generated by the pandemic, as over the past year the government promoted tax deferrals. Two months ago, however, growth figures show retraction.

Cofins and PIS/Pasep presented a combined collection of R$ 32.9 billion, a real drop of 11.1%. This performance is explained by the extension of the deadline for payment of these contributions, by the impact of R$ 200 million in the collection related to the deferral for companies in the electricity sector due to the drop in sales.

There was also a drop in social security revenue, signaling difficulties in the labor market. This item showed a real drop of 6.4% against a year earlier, to R$41.6 billion.

Claudemir Malaquias, head of the Revenue Tax and Customs Studies Center, says that, in total, the comparison with 2020 was affected by the month of November last year. At the time, taxpayers paid amounts arising from deferrals made in previous years due to the easing made by the pandemic.

“In this year-on-year comparison, the bases are not always symmetrical, there were facts that made these situations very distant. In 2020, taxpayers who differed paid two months together in November,” he said. “There is no such view that the resumption has lost momentum,” he said.

On the other hand, the Revenue was aided by other non-recurring measures — such as the increase in the IOF rate from September 21 to pay for Auxílio Brasil this year. In November alone, the IOF generated a collection of R$4.9 billion, representing a real increase of 322.6% against a year earlier.

There was also a greater collection of taxes on companies through the IRPJ (Income Tax of Legal Entities) and CSLL (Social Contribution on Net Income) — signaling better results for companies. In November, the two taxes collected R$ 25.2 billion, which represents a real growth of 12.1%.

According to him, if there were no non-recurring effects (such as tax offsets and changes in the IOF rate promoted now at the end of the year), there would be a real growth of 2.3% in administered revenues (against 0.4% in the standard numbers ).

The growth, although smaller, took the collection to the highest value in seven years. When considering the values ​​for the whole year, the numbers are more favorable.

In the accumulated result for the year, the collection reached R$ 1.684 trillion. The value represents a real growth of 18.1% compared to the same period of the previous year.

The value for 2021 is the highest ever recorded in the historical series since 1995, with numbers already updated for inflation.

Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy) has been highlighting the advance in tax collection this year and says that, with that, it could afford a reduction in taxes in the country. Despite this, the government suffered a defeat in Congress and was unable to pass a bill that went in that direction by partially reducing the country’s tax burden.

After the defeat, the government also abandoned the idea of ​​updating the Individual Income Tax table in isolation (something that had been discussed). The justification is that the correction had to be approved through the proposal sent to Congress, which also contained other measures — such as the taxation of dividends.