The pressure for direct voting of PL 2337/2021 in the plenary without a broad debate of the committees in the Chamber was pointed out by representatives of 69 productive sectors as the great obstacle to the construction of a negotiated text of Income Tax Reform and taxation of profits and dividends.

Em poster released this Wednesday (25/8), representatives of commerce, industry and services classified as "untimely the appreciation and haste, without debates in the permanent committees [...], and with voting in a virtual plenary, of a project that changes deeply into the successful Brazilian income tax structure”.

The processing of PL 2337/2021 directly in the plenary was a strategic decision by the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), to speed up the vote on the subject. As soon as the Executive's text was received, Lira announced the direct vote in plenary without debate and preliminary vote by the commissions. The decision was formalized days later through the approval of an urgent request, but without understanding the project was withdrawn from the agenda and there is still no clarity as to the new voting date.

Another point criticized in the manifesto “Reasons for postponing the consideration of PL 2.337/2021”, is the lack of clarity regarding the impacts of the project's approval in numbers. For Edson Vismona, executive president of the Brazilian Institute of Competition Ethics (ETCO), there is a lack of transparency in the formulation of the opinion.

“What will the changes result in? What consequences will the proposal generate? There are controversies regarding the numbers presented”, he warns. “It is essential to further assess the scope of these measures. The numbers presented do not speak to the numbers that the sectors are calculating”, he continues.

There are also specific criticisms of the taxation of dividends, the end of interest on equity and the increase in the tax burden for companies in the presumed profit. Regarding interest on equity, Gustavo Brigagão, president of the Center for the Study of Law Firms (CESA), highlights that this is a healthy alternative for financing the company, as it is done directly with the shareholders, and not with institutions financial. “Its use has been advised by the European Union to its member countries. Once again, Brazil goes against the grain”, he laments.