Secretary of Revenue calls persistent debtor a criminal – 03/27/2024 – Market

The Federal Revenue Secretary, Robinson Barreirinhas, called persistent debtors “criminals” — who open companies and have a business strategy of not paying the taxes owed.

In a tough tone, the secretary defended the approval of a bill that creates a registry with a list of these debtors.

Barreirinhas also said that there should be no pity for these taxpayers and warned that, while parliamentarians debate the best type of project to deal with the case of these companies, they are not paying their taxes, and the IRS is not receiving the due taxes.

“We’re not talking about taxpayers, we’re talking about criminals. These are people who open companies to simply have debt. They’re people who open companies and harm competition,” said Barreirinhas. “They’re loving this discussion. [no Congresso] of what is best, by ordinary or complementary law”, he criticized.

According to him, the Revenue will insist on the approval of the measure by ordinary law. “Don’t feel sorry for these people. It’s not the good taxpayer, it’s not the businessman who employs them. It’s another type of people, who don’t deserve to have the support of the press, don’t deserve to have the support of anyone”, he said.

The controversy surrounding persistent debtors began when the government sent a bill with constitutional urgency proposing new rules and programs to change the relationship between the IRS and taxpayers, reducing litigation.

In the project, the government provided for the creation of a tax register of persistent debtors, a share that, according to Revenue estimates, corresponds to 0.005% of companies (or 1,000 out of 20 million).

To qualify, the CNPJ must have an irregular debt of more than R$15 million, as long as the amount meets at least one of three criteria: be greater than the assets, exist for more than a year and be related to a company written off or unfit. in the last five years.

The central point of the squeeze on persistent debtors is that the project rules out the possibility of taxpayers in this situation being free from criminal proceedings after paying the amount owed. In other words, he will have a period of time to regularize himself, but the punishment will not be eliminated if the debt is paid.

The rapporteur of the project in the Chamber, deputy Ricardo Ayres (Republicanos-TO), removed all part of persistent debtors from his opinion. He mainly weighed the pressure on Parliament from fuel distribution companies.

Until an agreement was reached regarding the project, the solution found by government negotiators was to remove the urgency of the project. This led to the postponement of the Chamber’s analysis of the text.

Barreirinhas stated that the market has supported the project and the measures to inhibit the actions of persistent debtors. “The market has insisted that we move forward with this debtor issue,” he said.

The Revenue Secretary said that there are 1,100 companies that are persistent debtors, with debts of more than R$240 billion. “No one will receive this amount. We have no expectation of receiving this amount. They will not pay, because they are out of compliance and we have no expectation of bringing them into compliance,” he said.

The secretary also stated that he is convinced that the government’s bill is better, applicable and solves the problem.

In his assessment, resistance from sectors to the project further encourages the IRS to move forward with the proposal.

“I think we hit the target here. For you to be arrested, I repeat, you have to be careful, you have to commit the crime, you have to be convicted in all instances of criminal justice, we are not messing with that. And more : if you are still convicted, our Brazilian legislation is very good. If you pay the debt in installments, it is suspended, if you pay, the punishment is extinguished, we are not messing with that either”, he argued.