RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazilians have paid R$1 trillion (US$189 billion) in taxes collected since the first day of 2021 by the federal, state, and municipal governments, according to the São Paulo Commercial Association’s (ACSP) tax monitor. This mark was reached at 7:53 AM today, May 19. The total includes taxes and levies, fines, interest and monetary correction.
According to ACSP data, last year this figure was surpassed on June 27 and in 2019 on May 24. “The index, therefore, shows that Brazilian taxpayers must pay more money into the public coffers this year than they paid in 2020 and even in 2019, a period with no pandemic.”
According to the ACSP analysis, the increase in inflation in the period, compared to the previously recorded increases in product prices, the depreciation of the real against the dollar, and the economic growth in some sectors such as those related to increased imports, industry, health, large retailers, and non-essential trade were the factors contributing to this mark. The increase in online shopping and delivery orders also influenced this figure.
According to Marcel Solimeo, chief economist of the São Paulo Commercial Association, several services and trade are being greatly affected by the pandemic, but activities that produce many taxes have also grown considerably. “Some examples are exports, which are on the rise, and supermarket sales figures that, in addition to being very high, also provide higher tax collection because of the rising prices of products.”
According to data from the Brazilian Institute of Planning and Taxation, Brazilians had to work 153 days to pay taxes between 2016 and 2019. Last year, it was 151.
The tax monitor was implemented in 2005 by ACSP to inform Brazilians on the high tax burden and encourage them to demand higher quality public services from their governments. It is located at the association’s headquarters in the central region of São Paulo.