Brazil’s industry says tax system is main limiting factor to country’s competitiveness

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The National Confederation of Industry (CNI) decided Tuesday in Brasilia to present the Legislative Agenda 2022 for Industry, a program of 151 proposals to improve the business environment in Brazil and restart economic growth.

In this package, 12 proposals constitute the “minimum agenda”, which are the proposals discussed in the National Congress with the most significant impact on the productive sector, especially tax reform.

The 2022 Legislative Agenda was set by 529 representatives from 118 companies in the country and included the 2019 Constitutional Amendment No. 110 proposal as the main priority this year.

This is because Brazil’s tax system, described as complex and bureaucratic, has been identified as the main limiting factor for business competitiveness and crucial to Brazil’s return to growth.

According to the CNI’s assessment, the proposal modernizes and simplifies consumption taxation, ends the distortions of the current model, and recent improvements to the text have provided more certainty to businesses and state governments, increasing support for the issue.

Among the 12 priority proposals that make up the Legislative Agenda’s minimum agenda, the reinstatement of the Special Program for Tax Regularization of Enterprises (PERT) is the most critical plan left over from the economic impact of the health crisis.

Despite the numerical decline of the Covid 19 pandemic, businesses continue to suffer the financial impact. The proposal will provide healthy economic life, access to finance, and the opportunity to generate employment and income.

In terms of infrastructure, according to CNI, the modernization of the electricity sector, aimed at expanding the free market for electrical energy and restructuring subsidy concessions, brings relevant changes to one of the main inputs of Brazilian Industry. Their availability and cost are crucial for the competitiveness of the national product.

According to the company, the sector consumes 35% of the total energy generated in the country. Compared to France, Canada, Mexico, and the United States, Brazil has one of the most expensive electricity tariffs.

The CNI focuses on measures to promote sustainable development in Brazil, pointing out the importance of regulating the carbon market.

This measure provides for the integration of this regulated market and the voluntary need for carbon emissions and reductions, allowing for international economic integration and investment in technology and environmental protection, which are essential for the country to meet its international commitments toward a low-carbon economy.

Another project identified as a priority by CNI is the infrastructure bond project. According to this institution, this proposal promotes greater investor participation in projects in this sector. It provides an objective solution to address the structural problems of the lack of investment in this sector, exacerbated by the Covid 19 pandemic.

This plan also addresses the debate on a practical and transparent instrument to defend the interests of the Brazilian industrial sector.

In total, 15 proposals prioritized by the Industry last year were finalized and transformed into norms, such as the Gas Law, the renegotiation of the debt of the Constitutional Financing Funds, the legal framework for startups, the BR of the Sea, the legal framework for railroads and the legal framework for distributed generation.

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