Revenue goes against Haddad and creates an impasse in Carf’s project – 07/01/2023 – Market

A dispute at the Ministry of Finance created an impasse in the negotiations of the bill that seeks to reinstate stricter rules in the CARF (Administrative Council of Tax Appeals) tax judgments.

Federal Revenue auditors sought out the project’s rapporteur, deputy Beto Pereira (PSDB-MS), to try to expand their own powers in agreements with debtors interested in settling debts with the Treasury, a process called tax transaction —advancing on a terrain that today is of the PGFN (Attorney General of the National Treasury).

According to different government interlocutors heard by the SheetRevenue representatives acted against Minister Fernando Haddad (Finance), who had already internally asked the bodies to leave the issue aside so as not to contaminate a project considered by the government as structuring and necessary for the rebalancing of public accounts.

Now, in addition to Haddad, other ministers needed to enter the circuit to convince the rapporteur to give up on the change and prevent the internal fight from making the proposal’s progress unfeasible. According to reports, Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations), Rui Costa (Casa Civil) and Jorge Messias (Advocacy General of the Union) participate in the conversations.

In internal conversations about the opinion, Beto Pereira has pointed out that part of the charges collected by the PGFN in the agreements helps fund the fund that supplies the fees for succumbing —a kind of bonus paid to the Union’s lawyers, including the Treasury attorneys, whose value average is close to R$ 10,000 per month.

The deputy expresses his intention to extend the possibility of negotiation to the Revenue, although the PGFN itself has already presented a proposal in the past to remove the charges (which finance the fees) of the transactions.

Critics of the onslaught of the Revenue accuse the agency of trying to expand the transactions made under its umbrella to boost the category’s own efficiency bonus, which until now corresponds to R$ 3,000 monthly —but the value could rise in view of the regulation made in the early June by the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

In addition, there are those who see a moral hazard, since the Revenue will have the power to launch charges and then negotiate their payment.

From a political point of view, increasing transaction options is attractive to taxpayers because it creates a kind of competition between the two bodies: whoever offers the biggest discount closes the deal.

A Sheet sought the rapporteur to find out whether the change in the transaction in favor of the Federal Revenue would be included in the final version of the opinion or if the government asked to leave the issue out of the project, but there was no response. The Ministry of Finance did not comment until the publication of this text.

Last year, still in the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government, the Revenue had already triggered a similar autonomous articulation. The then tax secretary, Julio Cesar Vieira Gomes, acted in line with the category union to obtain, in Congress, the approval of a device that opened the possibility of tax transaction in the Revenue —until then an exclusivity of the PGFN.

At the time, as shown by SheetVieira Gomes said that carrying out the agreements “became a guideline” for the agency, in contrast to the Federal Revenue’s historical resistance to debt refinancing programs —considered by auditors a prize for bad payers and an incentive for taxpayers to default.

During the processing of the 2022 project, the then Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy) questioned the interest of the Tax Authorities in the transaction. To avoid a dispute between the agency and the PGFN, a lock was established: the Revenue could only negotiate the discounted payment of debts in the administrative litigation phase, that is, which are the subject of some litigation —but have not yet been registered in the Debt Union active.

Under current rules, amounts not paid by taxpayers are registered in the Active Debt of the Union within 90 days after the release of the obligation. This is a short window. In addition, some acts are subject to approval by the PGFN —for this reason, the articulation of the Revenue auditors seeks to ease the restrictions and ensure greater autonomy in the agreements.

The current secretary of the Federal Revenue, Robinson Barreirinhas, had a meeting last week with the rapporteur to address the issue. According to interlocutors, the secretary conveyed the message that the law deserves adjustments, but the discussion is ongoing with the PGFN and there is still no closed position of the body on the subject. The meeting was recorded by the Sindifisco (union of tax auditors), which also sent representatives to talk to the rapporteur in a separate meeting.

In the government, there is a fear that the impasse will make one of the main measures of Haddad’s package unfeasible to try to rebalance the public accounts.

The initiative seeks to resume the so-called casting vote, which guarantees the Treasury the tie-breaking power in tax disputes at CARF. The device was overthrown in 2020 by Congress, increasing the Union’s losses in court – which already served as a maneuvering instrument for large companies to postpone the collection of taxes for years.

Last Wednesday (28), Haddad received Pereira to address the issue at the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance. Although government ministers are optimistic about the possibility of convincing the rapporteur to give up the change in the transaction, the text of the opinion has not yet been presented to members of the Executive, which has fueled mistrust.

In addition, Lula’s allies consider that the impasse could be taken to court – which would jeopardize the progress of the measures themselves.

There is a legal question about the inclusion of the Federal Revenue among the negotiators of the tax transaction. Technicians point out that the Constitution expressly provides that the AGU, directly or through related bodies (such as the PGFN), is the institution that represents the Union judicially and extrajudicially —with no extension of this role to the Tax Authorities.

The project should be the first item considered in the plenary of the House next week. The initiative is under an emergency regime and, therefore, has locked the voting agenda since the last 21st.

According to the mayor himself, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), the first week of July would be an “intensive week” in relation to the government’s economic agenda, with plenary sessions scheduled from Monday to Friday.