Brazil's Govt Tax Reform Bill Before Congress Oct 27
Dow Jones Newswires
BRASILIA -- The Brazilian government's long-awaited revamped Tax
Reform Bill will be presented to Congress Oct. 27, two top government
Congress leaders said after a meeting at the Finance Ministry Tuesday.
The bill's original text was first proposed almost five years ago. A second
version was then worked out in September last year but again suspended
for review after the outbreak of the Asian crisis in October.
After meeting Finance Ministry executive secretary Pedro Parente, the
government leader in the Chamber of Deputies, Benito Gama, and the bill's
sponsor, deputy Mussa Demes, told reporters the government had made
several concessions on some of its latest tax proposals to secure a smooth
passage of the bill.
The two Congressmen said Parente told them the government agreed that
revenue of a new value-added tax, known as IVM, will go to the individual
states and not to the federal government as originally proposed.
In a second change of mind, the government also scrapped the idea of
introducing a retail sales tax, as it would turn out "to have a low
revenue-generating potential".
Gama and Demes added that the government didn't seem to have any
decision yet on what to do with the Temporary Financial Transactions Tax,
known as CPMF, currently at 0.2% and running out Jan. 1.
The Tax Reform Bill is considered by the goverment as one of the key
constitutional amendments needed to enact urgent structural reforms to keep
public accounts from spinning out of control.
-By William Vanvolsem; (5561) 244 3095; wvanvolsem@ap,org |
