Bolsonaro defends overturning his own veto for MEIs, and government can extend debt regularization

President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) demonstrated this Monday (10) that he was in favor of overturning his own veto on the project that would allow the renegotiation of tax debts for MEIs (individual microentrepreneurs) and Simples Nacional companies. Afterwards, he also said that the government must issue an ordinance to serve 75% of small and micro-entrepreneurs who were covered by the bill he vetoed last week.

The president did not give details of the content of the ordinance. Behind the scenes, technicians from the Planalto and the Economy claim to be unaware of an administrative act on the subject that has already been completed and is ready for publication.

So far, the leaf found that the discussions are in the direction of extending the deadline for companies to settle their debts with the tax authorities until April 29, giving time for Congress to override the veto of the Refis law.

The measure depends on a resolution by the Managing Committee of Simples Nacional, composed of representatives of the federal government, states, municipalities and Sebrae.

“Today, with Paulo Guedes in conversation, we should have an ordinance from today to tomorrow, which serves 75% of these small and micro companies. And then the other part, the final complement, or is it through a complementary bill, since that is urgently, extremely urgently processed in Parliament, or else Parliament overrides the veto”, said the president in an interview with Jovem Pan TV.

Officially, the Ministry of Economy does not say what the solution to the impasse will be.

The chief executive had already signaled earlier that he was in favor of Congress overturning the veto. “I was forced to veto the renegotiation of the debts of small and micro companies. This logically caused stress between me and the economic team, in a good way”, said Bolsonaro.

In the opinion of the president’s assistants, if an act even comes out of Guedes’s portfolio, it would be a way to embarrass the minister, who left Bolsonaro in a “fair skirt” by asking for the veto.

The idea of ​​extending the deadline for companies to settle their debts with the government has been discussed behind the scenes and would give companies time until Congress overrides the veto on Refis.

Today, the deadline for keeping up to date with the Tax Authorities is January 31, identical to the deadline for companies to opt for the simplified taxation regime.

According to sources in the economic area, the proposal is that the Managing Committee of Simples Nacional issue a resolution extending the debt settlement calendar until April 29, 2022 for all companies that make the option until January 31.

This expedient has already been used in other years, such as in 2021, when the regularization was extended until February 17. The objective was to give companies time to pay off outstanding debts — the existence of debts can lead to exclusion from the regime.

The economic area even considered extending the deadline for joining Simples Nacional. However, this alternative proved to be unfeasible, as the date is provided for in the complementary law that created this modality.

Therefore, it would be necessary to approve a complementary bill to change the option’s deadline, according to two sources from the Ministry of Economy, which is difficult in the face of the legislative recess – Congress activities will resume in February.

Deputy Marco Bertaiolli (PSD-SP), who was the rapporteur of the Refis proposal in the Chamber, said that the Parliamentary Front for Entrepreneurship, with more than 200 members, already has a “defined position” in relation to the overthrow of the veto. “It’s the only way I see to solve this,” he said.

The proposal is authored by the deputy leader of the government, senator Jorginho Mello (PL-SC). THE leaf, he said that Paulo Guedes’ ministry has to “find a solution to the problem they created”.

“I signed what they [técnicos da Economia] wrote. How are you going to veto it now?”, complained Bolsonaro’s ally. Mello promised to overturn the veto, in agreement with the government.

Should Congress override the veto, the government will need to implement compensation measures required by the LRF (Fiscal Responsibility Law), given that the amount of lost revenue was not provided for in the 2022 Budget.

Within the scope of the Federal Revenue, the waiver is estimated at R$ 1.2 billion. In the case of the PGFN (Attorney General of the National Treasury), responsible for collecting debts already registered in the active debt, the waiver would be R$ 489 million in 2022.

To comply with the LRF, the government would need to edit some measure to increase taxes or expand the scope of an existing tax. Only after the adoption of a compensation measure would the benefits of the negotiation take effect.

According to the text approved in Congress, micro and small companies would pay an entry of 1% to 12.5% ​​of the debt value, depending on the degree of loss of income during the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition, they would have discounts between 65% and 90% on interest and fines and from 75% to 100% on charges and legal fees, also according to the impact of the crisis on their cash.

In the discussions that preceded the total veto of the law, the Economy suggested a partial veto to prevent companies with increased revenue (and therefore not negatively impacted by the crisis caused by the pandemic) from benefiting from the program.

The partial veto would limit the waiver to R$200 million, making it easier for the president to fund some compensation measure, as required by the LRF.

However, technicians from the Planalto legal area identified, in the last hours before the deadline for the veto, last Thursday (6), that the president would be prevented from granting tax benefits in an election year.

The president himself has admitted this possibility in interviews, claiming that he cannot run the risk of being ineligible in the year he will run for reelection.

Sought by the report, the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) said that “it can be configured as prohibited the gratuitousness of the benefit – with no counterpart by the beneficiary – and if the previous execution in a previous year is discarded, as provided for in article 73, paragraph 10 , of the Law of Elections”.

“However, it should be noted that these issues are analyzed individually by the Electoral Justice,” said the court. The TSE did not say whether it had been formally contacted by the Presidency or Congress on the subject.

The government’s decision to fully veto the proposal generated unease between the Palácio do Planalto and the team of Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy).

During his weekly live on Thursday (6), Bolsonaro showed opposition to the guidance of members of the economic team in favor of vetoing the text.

“How are things, right? The guy wanting me to veto Simples Nacional,” Bolsonaro said at the time, apparently not knowing that the broadcast had started.

The statement was initially received as an indication that Bolsonaro would sanction the project, contrary to the economy. But the obstacles of the electoral law ended up imposing themselves, leading the president not to put his signature on the sanction of the proposal.