Senator Efraim Filho (Uniao Brasil-PB), author of the bill calling for the continuation of the payroll tax break for another four years, said the challenge facing Brazil is not to raise more money, but to “generate jobs.” The parliamentarian defended the importance of the “Dialogue with Real Life” project for Brazilians, and stated that without the exemption, 600,000 workers are expected to be laid off.
Ephraim’s statement came after the Ministry of Finance sent a technical note recommending a veto on Law PL 334/2023. But in the parliamentarian’s assessment, even with the technical note, Congress should repeal this measure if followed by the President of the Republic, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT).
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“[O PL] Dialogues with the real life of Brazilian citizens, after all, employment is today the main demand of the country. The exemption means that those who generate more jobs pay less in taxes. He explained that the project means removing fathers and mothers from the unemployment line and guaranteeing them work.
Ephraim declared that the Treasury Department’s argument that this measure is unconstitutional is not sustainable. “Nobody loses what they don’t have, it’s not revenue that the government already has, so it’s not going to give up revenue, and that’s why we understand that at the CEC [proposta de emenda à Constituição] He said that Social Security allowed the extension of salary exemption.
The senator added that if the bill is vetoed, this measure will also generate costs. “There are more than 600,000 expected layoffs of workers, parents who will have to, for example, get unemployment insurance. He pointed out that the government will pay the unemployment insurance bill. Ephraim stressed that research shows that exempt sectors generate approximately 20% more vacancies than others.
For him, from a political point of view, a possible veto by the president is a “strategic mistake.” “It is an unnecessary risk of defeat in the plenary session of the National Congress, [a aprovação] It was strong in both the House and Senate. Therefore, the danger of the government insisting on the veto and its overthrow by the National Congress exists and is real.”
Ephraim also said that this is not a government agenda, but a “Brazilian agenda.”
Social security
The loss of social security revenues if there was no payroll tax break would amount to R$45.7 billion between 2018 and 2022, a study conducted this year by the Association of ICT and Digital Technologies (Prascom) revealed. President Lula has come under pressure from 17 economic sectors and workers’ organizations to impose sanctions on the project that extends the tax measure until 2027.
The publication shows that if the mechanism had not been in place, the loss of social security revenues would have amounted to R$1.4 billion in 2018, R$5.7 billion in 2019, R$9.5 billion in 2020, and R$13 billion in 2021. , and R$16 billion in 2020. 2022. The current context of the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) is a negative balance.
Based on data from the Public Register of Employed and Unemployed Persons, the representatives noted that in terms of employability development, the exempt sectors hired more than 1.2 million new workers between 2018 and 2022, corresponding to about 15.5% growth. Without the creation of these jobs, there would have been a decline in Social Security revenues.
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