Government opens deadline for Simples and MEIs companies to negotiate debts; see rules

After months of comings and goings, the Jair Bolsonaro government (PL) opened this Friday (29) the deadline for MEIs (individual microentrepreneurs) and Simples Nacional companies to renegotiate debts with the Union.

The taxpayer may pay in installments any debt determined under the Simples Nacional, provided that the due date has occurred until February 2022, the month immediately prior to the publication of the law.

The deadline to join the program is May 31. The government estimates that around R$ 24.2 billion in debts will be traded in Refis do Simples.

According to the Ministry of Economy, more than 400 thousand companies with outstanding debts with the Federal Revenue must negotiate R$ 8 billion. At the PGFN (National Treasury Attorney General’s Office), which takes care of the amounts entered in the Union’s active debt, the forecast is that 256 thousand companies will renegotiate R$ 16.2 billion.

Those who join the program this Friday (29) will need to pay the first installment by the end of the day. In all other cases, the first due date will be on May 31. Adhesions can be made through the Simples Nacional portal.

The program allows companies registered in Simples and MEIs to pay their debts in up to 180 months (15 years). The negotiation is also valid for those who were excluded from the simplified regime, but at the time had the debt determined within the scope of the modality.

The installments must have a minimum value of R$ 300, with the exception of MEIs, which can make payments from R$ 50 per month.

Companies must pay a down payment of 1% to 12.5% ​​of the debt, depending on the degree of loss of revenue between March and December 2020 – the height of the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The down payment is calculated on the debit before any reduction and can be paid in eight monthly installments.

The remaining balance will have discounts of between 65% and 90% in interest and fines and from 75% to 100% in charges and legal fees, also according to the impact of the crisis on their funds.

Check out the discounts

The remaining debt can be paid in up to 180 monthly installments, that is, over 15 years.

The taxpayer can also renegotiate debts that have already been the subject of previous installments or that are still the subject of judicial questioning – as long as they give up the actions in advance.

Among the taxes collected under the Simples are ISS (Tax on Services of Any Nature), PIS/Cofins, IRPJ (Corporate Income Tax), IPI (Tax on Industrialized Products), CSLL (Social Contribution on Net Income) ), social security contribution and ICMS (Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services).

The law that creates the Relp was even vetoed by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in December 2021 due to the absence of compensation measures.

The National Congress overrode the veto in March. With that, the text was promulgated on the 17th of last month.

As the overturning of the veto was integral, even companies that had revenue gains in the pandemic will be able to join the renegotiation.

Since then, the government has been discussing compensation measures, which took a long time to come out due to political pressure from sectors affected by the higher tax burden. The delay was criticized by businessmen and parliamentarians linked to the group.

On Thursday night (28), the government edited an MP (provisional measure) expanding the taxation of banks and a decree that cuts the tax benefit of soda manufacturers in the Manaus Free Trade Zone. The two measures, together, generate revenue of R$ 494 million this year, enough to compensate for the waiver with Refis.