Government tries to bring forward the vote to tax the super-rich, but fails

In a maneuver to try to anticipate the vote on the bill that deals with the taxation of exclusive investment funds and investments made abroad, the government lost and the party leaders decided to comply with what had been previously agreed, and showed loyalty to the President of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (Progressistas-AL).

In Lira’s absence, the vice-president of the House, deputy Marcos Pereira (Republicanos-SP), who commands the Chamber of Deputies while Lira is on the international agenda, even tried to coddle the government and help with the economic agenda defended by the minister of Fazenda, Fernando Haddad, and said that “there was a climate” to vote on the project, but he ended up giving up on bringing forward the vote on the funds after meeting with party leaders.

Despite not publicly assuming that he has ambitions to preside over the Chamber after Lira’s departure in 2025, Pereira is seen as one of the main candidates to succeed the current president, as is Elmar Nascimento (PP-BA), and helps in the advancement of the economic agenda would be a good opportunity to get closer to the Palácio do Planalto.

Marcos Pereira even included the vote on the funds in the agenda of the deliberative session on Tuesday (17), but after being dissuaded by the college of leaders, he released a statement stating that “considering that this Vice-President, in the exercise of the Presidency, consulted the College of Leaders and several leaders considered compliance with the agreement. I decide not to consider PL 4,173/2023 to ensure compliance with the agreement signed on October 4th with President Arthur Lira.”

Parliamentarians want more time to understand project that taxes the super-rich

The rapporteur of the bill that taxes exclusive and so-called offshore funds, deputy Pedro Paulo (PSD-RJ), said that there are still some points to align with the government regarding rates for taxing investments. He will also meet with party benches to answer questions about the intended changes. The acting president of the Chamber himself admitted that the postponement is more a political issue than the content of the text.

The government leader, José Guimarães (PT-CE), said that “everyone agrees with the content of the rapporteur, deputy Pedro Paulo, that is what is important. The majority of leaders agree with the merit, therefore the vote on the project is pacified of law, which is a great victory for the government, the country and the government”.

The leader of the opposition, deputy Carlos Jordy (PL-RJ), stated that although some parties had agreed to bring forward the vote, others, such as the Liberal Party, preferred to wait and maintain the agreement that had been signed with President Arthur Lira .

PSB, Novo, PL and União Brasil, according to Jordy, were the parties that defended compliance with the agreement and the vote on the project on the 24th, as had been agreed, so that deputies could better understand the details of the text reported by Pedro Paulo.

Taxing funds is essential to increase government revenue, experts say

According to tax expert Priscila Farisco, from Viseu Advogados, the bills designed by the Lula government to reinforce the cash flow, however technical they may be, have a large political component: it is a “take and go” negotiation, with many large interests in the table.

Although the bill has the potential to generate a significant increase in revenue through the launch of new tax hypotheses, it fits into a context of broad fiscal measures that are being debated by Minister Haddad. This includes tax reform, as well as the issue of infrastructure debentures, among other initiatives under discussion.

It is worth remembering that after the entry of Centrão into the Lula government, and with the arrival of new ministers on the Esplanada dos Ministérios, positions in companies and second levels still need to be defined, which has aroused the greed of the parties, and is part of the game to compose the government’s allied base.

This is the case of Caixa Econômica Federal. The PP wants the presidency and the 12 vice-presidencies of the bank, and the agreement has met with resistance from PT wings [que relutam em entregar todas as vices ao partido de Arthur Lira, como é o caso da habitação], and even President Lula, who even considered postponing the changes until the end of the year. Positions at the Post Office and the National Health Foundation (Funasa) are also still on the negotiation table.

Tax law professor Denis Passerotti also believes that the leaders decided to wait until next week to vote on the project that taxes exclusive and offshore funds mainly to wait for Arthur Lira, who is out of the country, and honor the agreement that had been made with the president to discuss the matter only on the 24th.

Financial and capital market specialist, Francisco Nogueira de Lima Neto, said that despite pressure from the government, Marcos Pereira had to agree to postpone the vote and comply with the agreement previously sealed between leaders and Arthur Lira.

“The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira is traveling abroad, and this matter, due to its relevance and the agreement reached between party leaders, should await his return for inclusion in the voting agenda”, he pointed out.

Furthermore, he believes that “there is still no consensus among deputies on the final text to be voted on, given the broad discussion that the topic has generated among financial market operators, tax experts, the government and the legislative branch.”

Opposition benefits from blocking the agenda and remains obstructed in the Chamber

How the bill that provides for the taxation of investment funds of the super-rich and investments made abroad is blocking the Chamber’s agenda [e nenhum outro projeto de lei poderá ser apreciado enquanto este não for analisado]the opposition to the government will not have to make much effort to continue the obstruction movement that began since the Federal Supreme Court overturned the Marco Temporal thesis, which defines the date of October 5, 1988 for the demarcation of indigenous lands.

The decision was the last straw for parties such as PL and Novo, with the support of the Agricultural Parliamentary Front and others operating in Congress, to decide to protest against what they called “judicial activism” by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) .

With the movement, the opposition also seeks to advance the analysis of the so-called customs agenda, putting topics such as the prohibition of abortion and drugs, among others, into discussion.

With the closure of the agenda, an act of the board even allows registration of attendance and voting through the electronic system of the Chamber of Deputies, starting this Wednesday. Starting next week, with the analysis of the project to tax the funds, and the unlocking of the agenda, the opposition will have to carry out a new analysis of the obstruction.

For now, the tactic used by the parties is to delay the start of the deliberative sessions as much as possible, and after the quorum of 257 deputies has been reached, to use the so-called obstruction kit, through questions of order, requests to withdraw from the agenda and other instruments.