The president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), said that the Senate “is open to listening to the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, about alternatives to exemption”, citing projects such as the regulation of sports betting and the legalization of gambling.
According to Pacheco, the exemption proposal has a wide margin of support in the Federal Congress. He also mentioned that, during Jair Bolsonaro’s government, the extension of the tax exemption was also vetoed. However, Congress reversed the situation.
“The Senate is open to listening to the Minister of Finance about his possible alternatives and proposals in relation to this. But this veto episode has happened before.”
“The exemption has a reason for being, it is not a random benefit. The country needs to generate jobs. Companies that generate a lot of jobs need to survive.”
“There is a good reason for the exemption, which has been adopted for some time and was subject to a veto by the previous government, and Congress overturned the veto at the time”, added Pacheco.
According to Pacheco, “The Senate and Chamber have already considered it and there was a broad majority of approval of the measure.”
“Congress’s feeling is that payroll tax relief is something very positive, because it maintains employment in companies that have high employability,” he argued.
Sports betting and the legalization of gambling as options
The president of the Senate chose not to give a date for considering the veto on the exemption project. But he stressed that it is necessary to pay attention, because the tax benefit is only valid until December 31st.
Furthermore, Rodrigo Pacheco listed some options that could serve to maintain the tax regime, such as the regulation of bets and the legalization of gambling in Brazil.
“We will listen to Minister Fernando Haddad, have all the attention as we always have. We will vote on projects that support the tax regime, offshore companies, exclusive funds, sports betting, and eventually the legalization of gambling itself.”
“We will have full dialogue, but considering the deadline we have, we will pay attention to this and resolve it by December 31st”, he concluded.
