Taxpayers lost BRL 210.8 billion to the Union in tax judgments

At least 10 tax cases involving the Union and Brazilian taxpayers were won by the government in disputes at the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) in the first half alone, generating a collection of R$ 210.8 billion to public coffers.

The estimate is part of a survey published this Tuesday (25) by the newspaper Economic value which points out, among the processes won by the Union, investigations on the reduction of PIS/Cofins rates on financial income, inclusion of ICMS in the basis of corporate income tax and Social Contribution on Net Income (CSLL) in presumed profit, among others.

These judgments gained prominence under the management of Minister Fernando Haddad, of Finance, as a priority for the fiscal adjustment that aims to reduce the gap in public accounts in 2023 to less than 1% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Last week, the Ministry of Planning estimated that the so-called primary deficit for the year will be 1.4% of GDP, equivalent to R$ 145.4 billion.

The favorable judgments are also part of the controversial return of the “quality vote” to Carf, the Administrative Council of Tax Appeals, which had the provisional measure approved by the Chamber of Deputies and will be analyzed by the Senate on the return of the parliamentary recess, in August. The mechanism favors the government in tax disputes that end in a tie in the body.

Pro-Tax Action

The billionaire value raised by the Union shows, according to specialists interviewed by the Valuethat the disputes had a more “pro-Tax” action by the judiciary, with results more favorable to the government than to the taxpayer.

“It was a good semester for the government, but the game played was legal. The result does not justify any speculation of excessive influence on the judicial machine”, said Rafael Veja, partner at Cascione Advogados.

He also states that some judgments were surprising due to their speed, and that the Court should have waited a little longer. “The STF giving the final word and being the first to give the word is a little unusual”, he says. However, this would have a positive side, “because the speedy judgment prevents many cases from arriving for the STF to define”.

The tax specialist Renato Silveira says that many taxpayers had “frustrated expectations” with the judgments due to outstanding requests in the STF, which takes the judgments from the virtual plenary to the face-to-face one.

According to Valor, at least BRL 286 billion in total losses to public coffers were avoided this year alone, considering tax processes and other issues that may have a relevant economic impact on the Union, such as payments to civil servants, signing agreements and charging fees and fines imposed by federal public entities.

The Advocacy General of the Union (AGU) estimates that it obtained favorable decisions in cases that discussed more than R$ 30 billion in salary adjustments, payment of bonuses and equalization between careers, and R$ 42.1 billion in 23 thousand agreements.