Brazilian Government Thwarted In Plan To Extend Transaction Tax
It emerged on Thursday that Brazil's President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has
suffered an embarassing political defeat, after his government failed to secure
the votes needed to renew the CPMF financial transactions tax. Despite negotiations with the opposition to secure an extension of the levy
- which would have brought in an estimated US$22 billion in revenue next year
- until 2011, the coalition government fell short of the 49 votes (out of 81)
needed in the Senate for the tax to be renewed. The 0.38% tax is imposed on various types of financial transactions, including
cheques, transfers, and bank withdrawals, and revenue from it has traditionally
been used by the government to fund spending on infrastructure and health projects. It is not yet known whether the President will put the legislation before the
Senate again next year. Even if he does and is successful, however, observers suggest that this latest
defeat is likely to put a significant dent in the government's finances, which
may need to be patched with tax rises elsewhere, or spending cuts. .
|
|
IMPORTANT NOTICE: TAX-NEWS.COM has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. In particular, users of the site are advised to take appropriate professional advice before committing themselves to involvement in offshore jurisdictions, offshore trusts or offshore investments. All materials on this site copyright TAX-NEWS.COM 1999 to 2007. Contact us for further information.