Project extending payroll exemption advances in Senate committee

The senators of the Economic Affairs Commission (CAE) approved this Tuesday (20) the replacement of the text that extends the payroll exemption until the end of 2027, rejecting amendments presented in a supplementary shift.

One of them, by Senator Magno Malta (PL-ES), asked for the inclusion of marble and granite producers among the benefited sectors – there are 17 in total. With that, the text can return to the Chamber of Deputies for a new analysis if a vote is not required in the Senate plenary in the next five days.

In addition to extending the exemption for another four years, the project also reduced the social security contribution rate on the payroll from 20% to 8% in municipalities with up to 142,000 inhabitants. Both this change and the extension were criticized by the government, which intended to discuss the issue in the second half after the approval of the tax reform.

Last week, Minister Fernando Haddad, of Finance, said he did not understand the reason for the “hurry” in approving the mechanism that would expire only at the end of the year.

The criticism comes at a time when the government is seeking to increase tax collection to reduce and equalize the primary deficit forecast for this year and the next within the new fiscal rules, and which will have a potential impact of BRL 9.4 billion with the exemption of the sheet if approved.