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Políticas Públicas

Proposal for changes to tax reform bill is presented by FGV academic group

In all, nine proposals for amendments to complementary bill were presented, all related to gender and racial equality and public health issues

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Proposal for changes to tax reform bill is presented by FGV academic group

Professor Tathiane Piscitelli of Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Sao Paulo Law School and a group of researchers involved in the Taxation and Gender Project at the Nucleus for Tax Law, part of the school’s Professional Master’s Program, recently went to the House of Representatives in Brasilia to talk about gender and racial inequalities and to offer federal representatives a set of proposals to alter Complementary Bill 68 of 2024, designed to implement Constitutional Amendment 132 of 2023, which laid the groundwork for a tax reform in Brazil.

In all, they presented nine proposals for changes to Complementary Bill 68, all related to gender and racial equality and public health issues. Among other things, the researchers propose exempting all purchases of menstrual hygiene products from the new Goods and Services Tax and Goods and Services Contribution, as authorized by Constitutional Amendment 132, and not just purchases by government bodies. They argue that products such as menstrual pads are essential and linked to women’s own physiology and there is no equivalent product for men. They also note that they are already exempt from Tax on Industrialized Products, given that tax legislation recognizes they are indispensable for women’s dignity and basic health needs.

According to research carried out by the Nucleus for Tax Law, many countries have already eliminated taxes on sanitary pads, including Kenya, Germany, Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, Lebanon, Tanzania, Mexico and Colombia. In the latter country, in a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that 5% Value Added Tax on this product was unconstitutional and discriminatory, as it only affected women.

The group of researchers also proposed including measures to monitor favored tax regimes to prevent price increases even when taxes are reduced, thereby guaranteeing the population’s access to products; the 100% reimbursement (through a “cashback” scheme) of the Goods and Services Tax and Goods and Services Contribution to people registered with the Cadastro Único (a national database of low-income people); the inclusion of weapons and ammunition among the possibilities for the new Selective Tax, considering that it will be levied “on the production, extraction, commercialization or import of goods harmful to health or the environment”; a reduction in the tax rate for children’s and geriatric diapers; a requirement for five-year assessments of tax benefits to take into account inequalities between men and women in different ethnic-racial groups in an efficient manner; the exclusion of ultra-processed foods from the list of products subject to a 60% reduction in Goods and Services Tax and Goods and Services Contribution rates; the removal of medications linked to female physiology and women’s reproductive health from the 60% tax rate reduction list and their inclusion in the zero rate list (in the document delivered to federal representatives, the researchers point out that male stimulant medicines such as Viagra have a zero tax rate, which represents gender discrimination); and the expansion of the list of sugary drinks subject to the Selective Tax.

In addition to Tathiane Piscitelli, the following researchers took part in formulating the proposals: Luiza Machado de O. Menezes, Isabelle Resende Alves Rocha, Lana Borges Câmara, Karoline Lins Câmara Marinho, Eliane Barbosa, Lise Tupiassu Merlin, Jacqueline Mayer da Costa Ude Braz, Fabiana Lazzarini, Amanda Botelho de Moraes, Cássia Cristina Pinheiro Lopes, Evanilda Godoi Bustamante, Fernanda de Albuquerque, Flávia Grupenmacher, Kamile de Moura, Kelly Gualberto, Luciana Belo Soares, Manuele Sarmento da Silva, Paola de Castro Esotico, Rafaela de Oliveira Sousa, Sandra Cristina Palheta, Thais Ferreira de Medeiros, Thaynara Paiva Pereira, Victoria Miranda, and Yasmin de Souza Barsch.

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