Airlines have R$7.6 billion in tax benefits – 01/26/2024 – Market

Companies in the airline sector, which negotiate a relief fund with the federal government, received at least R$7.59 billion in tax benefits in 2021.

TAM Linhas Aéreas (which currently operates under the Latam brand) leads the group of companies in terms of tax exemptions, with R$3.8 billion.

Then, Gol, which on Thursday (25) filed for judicial recovery in the United States, received benefits of R$1.8 billion, while for Azul the figure reached R$950 million.

On Wednesday (24), the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, announced that the fund evaluated to help the sector could have up to R$6 billion.

“We will present to the country a financing fund for Brazilian aviation so that airlines can seek credit, capitalize and, with this, be able to expand investments in aviation,” he said.

“This ranges from debt refinancing, investments in maintenance and also the purchase of new aircraft,” stated the minister.

Data on part of the 2021 tax waivers, which total R$215 billion, were released on Thursday for consultation on the federal government’s Transparency Portal.

In a statement, Latam said that it considers the disclosure of data on tax exemptions to be positive, “as it reinforces data transparency, economic stimulus policies and gives companies like Latam the opportunity to demonstrate how much they invest in the country.”

The company is the fifth company with the most benefits granted, according to the report released by the government. Latam also says that it invested R$17 billion in Brazil in 2021 in “people, operations and taxes”.

Azul declined to comment, and Gol did not respond about the amounts of tax benefits.

The Federal Revenue started to publish the same information about waivers in May 2023, but separated into different spreadsheets.

The CGU (Comptroller General of the Union) organized the values ​​on the portal which already presents, among other data, government expenses, civil servant payments and the values ​​of parliamentary amendments.

The information refers to amounts that were no longer collected in federal taxes and incentives related to government programs in 2021.

In addition to pointing out the amount of tax waiver, such as Import Tax, PIS/Cofins-Importation and IPI (Tax on Industrialized Products), the portal shows the type of government incentive related to the benefit.

In the case of Latam, the main waiver was Cofins (R$2 billion), followed by IPI (R$1 billion).

Itapemirim Transportes Aéreos, known as ITA, received tax benefits of around R$40 million in 2021 and occupies 11th place in the ranking of exemptions for airlines.

The company, which was declared bankrupt last year, suddenly interrupted flights and other activities in December 2021. At the time, Procon-SP estimated that the decision harmed 133 thousand passengers.

To create the ranking, the report considered companies that operate in the transport of passengers and cargo. The list includes air taxi companies, such as Omni, benefiting from waivers of R$423 million.

The Minister of Ports and Airports stated on Wednesday that the airline rescue fund is being discussed with the Ministry of Finance and BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development).

Without going into details about the fund’s model and the origin of the resources, the minister stated that it will be “between R$4 billion and R$6 billion” for the airlines.

Gol announced that the company and its subsidiaries have filed for judicial recovery in the United States. Risk agencies estimate that the company’s debt is R$20 billion.

According to Gol, the measure is taken to strengthen its financial position. The company stated that all flights operate as scheduled and all air tickets and reservations remain in effect.

The government is also discussing the price of kerosene for airlines.

Silvio Costa said that in the coming days he intends to “advance the dialogue” with the president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, “to effectively present a proposal”.

“We are discussing modeling in relation to QAV [querosene de aviação] and there is a sensitivity on Petrobras’ part to discuss this. We are seeing the best format under discussion with the airlines and Petrobras. There has already been a reduction in QAV in 2023 due to the international scenario, but further progress is needed to reduce operational costs,” he said.

One of the possibilities on the government’s table is to evaluate the profit margin of distributors at airports, where aircraft are refueled, to check if there is any distortion.