Congress wants to expand billing limit for MEIs and Simples Nacional companies

Parliamentarians are articulating the vote on a bill that expands the revenue limit of companies classified under Simples Nacional, from the current R$ 4.8 million to R$ 8.47 million per year.

The change is a demand of the companies, which could remain in the special regime paying less taxes even if they increase their revenues. The measure has the support of the Parliamentary Entrepreneurship Front, which brings together 207 deputies and senators.

Business associations are organizing to launch this Wednesday (30) a campaign called “More Simple” to pressure the National Congress to vote on the measure.

The congressmen’s idea is to resume the discussion of PLP (Complementary Bill) 108 of 2021, which changes the revenue limits of companies included in the simplified regime.

In addition to the change in Simples, the reference values ​​for MEIs (individual microentrepreneurs) would also be readjusted, from R$81,000 to R$142,000 per year, and microenterprises, from R$360,000 to R$847,000 per year.

A new opinion with the changes should be presented next week by the rapporteur, deputy Marco Bertaiolli (PSD-SP), who is also president of the Parliamentary Front for Entrepreneurship.

“The current track is very out of date. In 2016 there was a correction, but this correction was not enough. So we are taking it from the year of creation, which is 2008, and correcting it for today, which is the most correct. The three tracks” , said Bertaioli.

According to him, the bench is working to approve the text of the substitute in the Finance and Taxation Committee of the Chamber of Deputies still in April. From there, the project would need to go through the House plenary. If approved, it would go to the Federal Senate.

Despite the trend towards a slowdown in legislative work in an election year, the deputy shows optimism with the progress of the proposal.

“I will work hard for this [aprovar em 2022]. We are going to carry out a strong campaign throughout Brazil”, says Bertaiolli. “The trade associations are going to lead a large movement, with several entities, in a large national petition.”

The proposal to readjust the revenue limits has the support of assistants to Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy), although the Federal Revenue and other wings of the economic team are against the proposal due to its impact on government revenue. States also tend to oppose the measure due to lost revenue.

The higher the Simples billing limit, the greater the number of companies that will pay taxes under the special regime. This results in a lower tax burden for the taxpayer and lower revenue for the government.

To overcome resistance, a government source says that the proposal is important to open negotiations, and any result of an increase will be welcomed by the companies.

The president of Sebrae, Carlos Melles, defends an update of the maximum revenue limit to at least R$ 6 million per year —​an increase of 25% in relation to the current ceiling.

“The current value of R$ 4.8 million was fixed by Complementary Law 155/2016, and since then we have had significant inflation in the country, aggravated by the crisis caused by the current pandemic. Therefore, Sebrae considers it necessary to update the values” , says Melles.

The R$ 6 million limit is also mentioned by defenders of the expansion within the government, although there is still no official position on the subject.

At a luncheon held by the Parliamentary Entrepreneurship Front this Tuesday (29), deputies argued that the correction of Simples’ billing limits is necessary in the face of the crisis.

According to congressmen, companies had to raise prices, which ended up increasing their revenues in nominal values, but often ended up holding back the growth of the business to avoid the non-compliance of the Simples Nacional regime. In the real or presumed profit regimes, the company would have a higher tax burden.

The lunch was attended by the special advisor of the Ministry of Economy Guilherme Afif Domingos. At the meeting, he highlighted the government’s measures to expand the supply of credit to micro and small entrepreneurs.

At the beginning of March, the National Congress articulated to overturn President Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) veto of the debt renegotiation program of MEIs and Simples Nacional companies.

Bolsonaro was against vetoing the measure, but he answered the Ministry of Economy and the AGU (Advocacy-General of the Union), who pointed out the risk of violating the LRF (Fiscal Responsibility Law) and provisions of the LDO (Budget Guidelines Law) and the Constitution.

The president himself advocated that his decision be reversed by Congress. In the session that sealed the overthrow, on March 10, Senator Jorginho Mello (PL-SC), who guided the government, said that the president himself asked him to work to overturn the veto.

Initial government estimates indicated that R$ 50 billion could be negotiated in the program. The IRS reported this week that it is still working on regulating the rules and calculating the waiver involved.

The Simples Refis allows registered companies and MEIs to pay their debts in up to 180 months (15 years). The Relp (Program for Rescheduling Payment of Debts in the Scope of Simples Nacional) determines minimum installments of R$300 for those who join, with the exception of MEIs, who can pay at least R$50 per month. The discount can reach 90% in the case of fines and interest and 100% of legal charges.