Petrobras, Vale, airlines and car manufacturers lead

A state-owned giant, the largest private company and a number of vehicle manufacturers and airlines are among the taxpayers who receive the biggest discounts on federal tax payments in the country. The information comes from the Transparency Portal, which began publishing the list of tax waiver beneficiaries.

Petrobras is the company that benefits from the biggest exemptions, in absolute values. According to the most recent data available on the portal, the company was entitled to R$29.5 billion in tax reductions in 2021.

According to the portal, the oil company obtained discounts of R$12.5 billion in Import Tax, R$12.4 billion in Cofins and R$2.7 billion in PIS, among other taxes.

The second on the list is Vale, with tax waivers of R$19.2 billion in 2021. More than 90% of this amount is related to benefits from the development superintendencies of the Amazon and North East (Sudam/Sudene).

GE Celma (which maintains airplane turbines), the automaker FCA Fiat Chrysler and the airline TAM appear next.

The list of the 30 largest beneficiaries of federal tax incentives has six other vehicle manufacturers (GM, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Bens, Scania, Renault and Volvo) and two more airlines (Gol and Azul).

Despite all the tax waivers, the airline sector is about to receive yet another official aid. The government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) announced that it intends to create a financing fund of up to R$6 billion for companies, and is discussing ways to reduce the price of aviation fuel.

Tax benefits: the 30 companies with the biggest federal tax discounts in the country