Party leader in the House, Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ) says there is no need to close the issue because everyone is against the text
Former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) once again spoke out against tax reform this Wednesday (8.Nov.2023), day on which the 1st round should be voted of the PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) in the Senate. Meanwhile, the PL (Liberal Party) in the Upper House didn’t close position on the proposal.
On X (former Twitter), the former head of the Brazilian Executive said that the Senate will decide the future of the country this Wednesday afternoon (Nov 8). “In concrete terms, we will have VAT [Imposto sobre o Valor Agregado] most expensive in the world. Brazil cannot have one or the other state doing well and the others suffering. There is no point in a State producing if the others cannot buy. The economy will not turn around. Everyone will lose”he stated.
The former president also sent a message to right-wing senators who should vote in favor of the proposal: “Some senators, who were elected or re-elected, say that some of their amendments were accepted, and will vote with the communists, as they claim that their State will not be affected or will be less harmed”he said. Here it is below.
Despite Bolsonaro’s position on social media, it is not yet known whether the party will vote against it or will release the bench in the Senate plenary. The party has 12 senators.
To the Power360the PL leader in the Senate, Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ), said that the party does not need to close the issue, because “there are no people who want to vote in favor of more taxes on taxpayers”. The speech signals that the bench must vote against the proposal.
“That’s why there was no need to close the issue. And we never did or will never do it.”. said the senator.
On Tuesday (7.nov), the Senate’s CCJ (Constitution and Justice Commission) approved the reform by 20 votes to 6. Among those in favor were 2 of Bolsonaro’s former ministers: Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI), who occupied the Civil House, and Tereza Cristina (PP-MS), who was Minister of Agriculture.
Afterwards, senators approved accelerating the progress of the tax reform in the House plenary. The expectation is that the 1st round will be voted on this Wednesday and the 2nd round on Thursday (Nov 9). The text will need to return to the Chamber because there were changes to the proposal.
ABOUT THE REFORM
PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) 45 of 2019, which deals with tax reform, is currently being processed in the Senate. It was approved in the Chamber of Deputies on July 6th.
The main point of the reform is the tax unification in the federal, state and municipal scenarios.
Currently, the country has 5 taxes that apply to products purchased by the population:
- IPI (Tax on Industrialized Products);
- PIS (Social Integration Program);
- Cofins (Contribution for Social Security Financing);
- ICMS (Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services); It is
- ISS (Service Tax).
The proposal is to simplify them into dual VAT for goods and services, with federal taxation, which would unify IPI, PIS and Cofins, and another state/municipal taxation, which would unify ICMS and ISS.
Understand the main tax points in this report.
