BRASÍLIA – The extraordinary secretary of Tax reform of Ministry of Finance, Bernard Appycounters criticism that the health plan taxation model, provided for in the regulations sent to the Congresscould lead to a price increase.
In an exclusive interview with Estadão/Broadcast, the economist says that the cost of these services may even fall, because companies in the sector will benefit from the possibility of recovering credits with administrative expenses, which does not happen today. Among these expenses, he mentions a lawyer, accountant and rent.
This is due to the fact that the new taxation is based on a Value Added Tax (VAT). In other words, each stage of production will pay tax on the value it added to the merchandise or service, discounting the taxes collected in the previous stages. This will have the potential to reduce costs for companies that offer the plans.
The problem, claims the sector, is on another point: the fact that the regulation prevents employers from taking advantage of the credits that will be generated when purchasing plans for their employees. In other words, companies that are clients of the plans will not be able to deduct the VAT paid in the previous stage of the chain – which may discourage contracting the product as a benefit to employees.
The act of contracting health plans for workers was classified as an indirect salary for the employee and, therefore, an expense that cannot be used for credit.
“Conceptually, it is correct for all forms of indirect salary to be taxed, because it is equal. If the worker is in a company that does not have a health plan and hires directly, or is a micro-entrepreneur who has a Simples company and hires from individuals or even for their employees, they will pay the tax and will not receive credit” , says Appy.
The secretary disagrees with the assessment that, in this way, there will be an increase in costs in the health plan chain. “We are discussing 2% of the value of the plan, which is what could entitle the company to credit (employer) within the model that is being designed”, says the economist, considering that the annual readjustments of this service have been much more significant than this percentage.
In 2024, for example, the plans will have two-digit adjustment for the third year in a row.
“The plan will recover credits for all its administrative expenses. Today, nothing is recovered, zero. All the health plan expenses for lawyers, accountants, rent, all of this will give him credit, and today it doesn’t. So, it is quite possible that the new model will result in lower taxation than there is today on health plans”, he argues.
“It is very likely that, with the tax reform, the cost of the health plan will reduce, not increase”, adds the secretary, highlighting that today this sector is already taxed by PIS/Cofins (federal taxes) and ISS (municipal ).
In addition, health plans will have a rate reduced by 60% compared to the standard VAT charge, as they are included in a specific reform regime. The calculation basis for charging the tax will be what is called margin: the difference between the revenue obtained from users’ monthly fees and the expenses incurred with plan coverage.
A point of divergence between the Treasury, parliamentarians and some sectors, such as agribusiness and supermarkets, is whether or not to increase the list of products with zero or reduced rates in the basic basket.
“When you reduce taxation, this will not necessarily result in lower prices for those who are consuming. This can result in a greater margin for those in the middle of the chain in relation to the situation in which you tax”, says Appy, who defends the cashback system as it gives the guarantee that the tax paid will be returned to the families who made this payment.
Regarding the inclusion of meat in the zero rate, Appy reiterated that, according to the Treasury’s proposal, it will not be included. “Our proposal was to keep it out for several reasons. An obvious point is the effect this has on the standard rate, an increase of 0.6 percentage points. Another point is that there is already a reduction in meat taxation on average in the country. The topic will be discussed in Congress, but it has a cost for the rest of the economy”, he defended.
