The large companies that have been pressuring Minister Fernando Haddad (Finance) against the measure in his economic package that changes the tiebreaker at Carf (Administrative Council of Tax Appeals) should reach an agreement with the government by the end of this week.
Organized by businessman João Camargo, from the Esfera Brasil group, and by Abrasca (an association of publicly traded companies that brings together giants such as Ambev and Americanas), the business sector met this Wednesday (1st) with Haddad and members of the economic team to present a proposal accordingly.
The idea, according to tax lawyer Roberto Quiroga, is that, in the event of a tie in CARF disputes, fines and interest will fall, which should represent about 30% of the litigation. First, there would be a deadline for negotiating an eventual payment with the government.
Still according to the proposal, if the company decides to pay, it would only be the principal, without penalty and interest. If you go to court, there would be interest, but the fine will fall. That is, the alternative of avoiding interest payments would act as an incentive for the taxpayer not to take the situation to the Judiciary, where the solution could take many years.
“It will depend on an analysis of each company on its case”, says Quiroga, who follows up on the sewing of the proposal.
According to João Camargo, the companies took to the meeting an estimate that, under these new terms of the agreement without fines and interest that should encourage payment, the government could collect around R$ 150 billion in cases involving large companies in CARF this year . The number exceeds the projection of BRL 50 billion that Haddad presented in the model, but the companies countered by predicting judicialization.
It would be, according to the businessman, a regulation of the tie, even with the maintenance of the so-called casting vote that returns the tiebreaker to the government, as Haddad wants. “When it goes to court after ruling at Carf, the Revenue has only received 5%. Excluding fines and interest, it’s around 30%. Everyone wants to pay. bail insurance, lawyer. We were all very excited to make a deal”, says Camargo.
“In the meeting with the Ministry of Finance, the concerns of the tax authorities and taxpayers were identified, and we are building an alternative proposal that is a leap forward to guarantee legal certainty and tax justice with short, medium and long-term actions. We are hopeful that this proposal will be viable”, says Pablo Silva Cesário, executive president of Abrasca
Within the government there was also receptivity. The evaluation is that the meeting was positive.
In recent days, a battle has formed in court against Haddad’s measure. A wave of preliminary injunction attempts came from large companies such as Rumo, Petrobras, Ambev, Marfrig, Santander and others, trying to avoid with injunctions that their cases are judged this week, while Congress does not decide on the provisional measure of the Haddad package that ends with the tiebreaker in favor of companies established in 2020.
Even the OAB (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil) went to the STF (Federal Supreme Court) to take an ADI (Direct Action of Unconstitutionality) against the return of the so-called casting vote.
Joana Cunha with Paulo Ricardo Martins and Diego Felix
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