Senate approves urgency to vote on extension of payroll exemption

The Senate approved this Tuesday (24) the urgent request to vote on the bill that extends the payroll tax exemption for 17 sectors of the economy until the end of 2027. With this, the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), scheduled PL 334/2023 to be voted on by the plenary on Wednesday (25). Earlier, the project was approved by the House’s Economic Affairs Committee (CAE). The commission rescued the text already approved by the Senate in June.

Under the report of Senator Angelo Coronel (PSD-BA), the CAE rejected all changes promoted by federal deputies when the matter was approved in the Chamber of Deputies. The project is authored by senator Efraim Filho (União-PB). Payroll relief is a mechanism that allows companies in benefited sectors to pay rates of 1% to 4.5% on gross revenue, instead of 20% on the payroll, reported the Senate Agency.

The permit was introduced 12 years ago for some areas and currently covers 17 sectors. The project maintains the exemption until December 31, 2027. The current exemption is valid until the end of 2023. Currently, the sectors affected by the measure are: clothing and clothing, footwear, civil construction, call center, communication, construction companies and works infrastructure, leather, vehicle and body manufacturing, machinery and equipment, animal protein, textile, IT (information technology), ICT (communication technology), integrated circuit design, metro-rail passenger transport, public road transport and road transport of loads.

Senators Jaques Wagner (PT-BA) and Fabiano Contarato (PT-ES) asked for the vote to be postponed. For them, it makes no sense to vote on a project that generates tax relief when the National Congress analyzes a tax reform proposal. Opposition senators, in turn, expressed concern about the unpredictability scenario for companies in the benefited sectors, which need to plan their activities in advance.

Senators Izalci Lucas (PSDB-DF), Rogério Marinho (PL-RN), Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ), Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI), Omar Aziz (PSD-AM), Marcos Rogério asked for an immediate vote on the project. (PL-RO), Jaime Bagattoli (PL-RO), Efraim Filho and Angelo Coronel. Pacheco said that the tax exemption helps create jobs and that, if it is not extended, it will generate unemployment.