Government considers taxing internet use to fund an agency worth R$ 600 million, says newspaper

The Institutional Security Office (GSI) is considering charging a fee for using the internet to fund the creation of an agency dedicated to cybersecurity, which will cost around R$600 million annually. To this end, the GSI prepared a proposal for a National Cyber ​​Security Policy, which should be presented to Congress later this year. The information was released by Folha de S. Paulo.

“When a bill is presented that generates expenses, it has to present a source to cover that expense. to support the creation of this agency”, said the GSI minister, general Marco Antonio Amaro dos Santos.

As it is a national political proposal, the initiative needs to be approved by Congress via a bill. If approved, the GSI will have a period of one year to install the agency. The text has already been presented to the Ministries of Justice, Finance, Planning, Science and Technology and Management. The project must still be sent for analysis by the Civil House and then to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

According to the GSI proposal, the cybersecurity fee, called TCiber in the project under study, will correspond to 1.5% of the amount paid by internet users to access the network. The additional amount would be similar to charging the public lighting fee on the light bill. The agency estimates that in the case of a user who spends BRL 70 per month on the internet, the fee would be BRL 1.05. The GSI calculates that the tariff would yield BRL 581.9 million per year to the public coffers.

The estimate takes into account that, currently, Brazil has 157.7 million internet users, who spend an average of R$ 25 per month. The proposal also provides for a 10% charge on domain registration. In this case, payment would be made upon renewal of these registrations, which have an average annual cost of R$35. The GSI expects to collect around R$12.6 million from the domain fee. In both cases, users and domain registration, there will be no distinction between natural and legal persons.

The intention is to finance the agency’s estimated cost of R$ 594.1 million when it is fully installed, which should happen in its fifth year of existence. The funds will be used to pay staff and operating costs. The National Cybersecurity Agency (ANCiber) will be a special regime autarchy, like the Central Bank, and should have 800 servers at the end of five years. The objective of the GSI in presenting the project is to contain the increase in cyberattacks in Brazil.