Panel SA: Industry asks the government for more time to pay tax

After the 25% cut in the IPI (Imposto sobre Produtos Industrializados), the next item on the list of suggestions from the industry to the government to mitigate the current crisis is the extension of the deadline for payment of taxes, a request that should gain strength in the next meetings.

The assessment is that the initial desire of businessmen, to reach a 50% cut in the rate, no longer fits on the table, at least in the short term, and the ideal is to concentrate efforts on another type of relief.

Synesio Batista, president of Abrinq, which represents the toy industry and has been involved in dialogue with the Ministry of Economy, thinks that the IPI cut may rise from 25% to 33% soon.

“It is the result of a confusion generated by the Manaus Free Trade Zone. But the government can advance a little further”, he says.

José Ricardo Roriz, from Abiplast (plastics), says that companies are now hitting the deadline.

“The industry spends much more to pay interest on working capital to pay taxes. To cover the difference between the date on which it receives from the customer and pays tax, it has to go to the bank to get money. This interest is almost double what she spends on research”, he says.

Joana Cunha with Andressa Motter and Ana Paula Branco​