Brazil’s govt working on extra revenue measures for second half -official

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Consumers shop at a weekly street market in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 2, 2021. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s government is working on additional revenue measures to be announced in the second half of this year, said Revenue Chief Robinson Barreirinhas on Monday, highlighting confidence that this set of actions will improve public accounts.

Speaking at a news conference on the 2024 budget bill, Barreirinhas stated that the measures would be additional to those already announced by Finance Minister Fernando Haddad and that “strategic issues” are involved in the timing of their disclosure.

Barreirinhas stated that there are “very solid and consistent” studies regarding the potential to boost annual revenue by 155 billion reais ($31.4 billion) as a result of these combined efforts, adding the revenue service is “comfortable” with meeting the revenue targets set by the minister.

Without elaborating, he said these new measures would align with the principle advocated by the administration of Brazil’s new leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, of not creating or increasing taxes but instead focusing on collecting from those who should be paying.

The revenue increase is a crucial pillar of the new fiscal framework presented by the government to provide a sustainable path for public debt. The submission of the new rules to Congress has not yet been made and is expected this week.

Earlier this month, Haddad announced that the government would crack down on Asian e-commerce giants and online sports betting and curb some company tax benefits to raise more than 100 billion reais.

($1 = 4.9435 reais)