RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A bill passed by Congress may annul churches’ tax debts accumulated after inspections and fines charged by the Federal Revenue. According to Estadão/Broadcast, the pardon would amount to almost R$1 billion (US$200 million).
The text is pending sanction or veto by President Jair Bolsonaro, who has in the evangelical bench an important pillar of political support for his government. He has until September 11th to decide whether or not to grant religious temples this benefit.
As the Estadão/Broadcast reported in late April, Bolsonaro promoted a meeting between Federal Deputy David Soares, son of missionary R. R. Soares, and the Special Secretary of the Federal Treasury, José Barroso Tostes Neto, to discuss churches’ debts.
The President has already ordered the economic team to “solve the matter,” but the officials are resistant. Bolsonaro has also publicly advocated the option of ending the taxes still paid by churches and “doing justice with the pastors, with the priests, on this tax issue”.
Source: O Estado de S. Paulo