Health asks for differentiated treatment in tax reform – 05/04/2023 – Panel SA

A group of nine entities representing the health sector delivered this Wednesday (5) a manifesto to the deputies who are analyzing the tax reform.

They ask for differentiated treatment in the chain of goods and products and say that there will be a price pass-through to the consumer if the taxation of essential goods is leveled with that of non-essentials.

In the manifest, the entities say that the health goods and products sector already has a differentiated tax regime because it is considered essential for society. The increase in the tax burden, they say, will impact the price of vaccines, advanced therapies and medical devices used by professionals in the sector.

“The end of this treatment will increase the taxation of the health chain. This will end up making it difficult to carry out, continue and complete investments in the country, will make products and services more expensive, making them technologically outdated, inaccessible to most of the population”, says the manifest.

The text is signed by nine entities: Sindusfarma, Grupo FarmaBrasil, Alanac (association of pharmaceutical laboratories), Abimed (association of the technology industry for health), Abimo (association of the industry of medical devices), Abraidi (representatives of importers and distributors of medical products), Interfarma, CDBL (Brazilian Chamber of Laboratory Diagnosis) and Abiis (Innovative Health Industry Alliance).

“Differential taxation for health goods and products should be seen as a priority, as is already the case in several countries around the world. This differentiated treatment would therefore not be an isolated tax policy in Brazil. Respecting the particularities of each tax system , it is already used by most countries that adopt value added tax (VAT), like almost all member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)”, say the entities.

The manifesto also states that the tax burden can limit access to treatments and make it difficult to include new technologies, due to the impossibility of absorbing the increase in prices.

“Additionally, one should avoid reducing the competitiveness of locally manufactured products and increasing the sector’s trade balance deficit. This context could therefore jeopardize the sustainability of the entire Brazilian health system”. they say.

Joana Cunha with Paulo Ricardo Martins It is Diego Felix

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