Brazil revenues speed up in best result in four years

Boosted by the economic recovery, oil royalties, and the taxes on fuel, Brazil’s federal revenues sped up in April and closed out the month with the best performance in four years. Over $35 billion are reported to have been collected last month.

The amount is up 7.83% from April 2017 above the official inflation. In the first four months this year, revenues added up to $134 billion, up 8.27% from the same period last year, also above the country’s inflation (as measured by the National Broad Consumer Price Index, the IPCA). This is also the highest value for the first four months of the year since 2014 (corrected for inflation).

The Federal Revenue Service posted a $2.56 billion increase from April last year, corrected for inflation. Of this, $380 million came as a result of higher taxes levied on fuel, and $126.6 million from the so-called Special Tax Regularization Program. If external factors were not considered, collection would have expanded 4.27% above the inflation.

Economic recovery

The recovery of the Brazilian economy contributed to the surge in revenues. A 7.8% growth in the sales of goods, in addition to the hike in fuel taxes, boosted the collection of certain levies in March, which surged 14.50% above the official inflation against March last year. The 1.55% climb in industrial production also led the amount raised with the tax on manufactured goods to go up.