Brazilian vice-president argues for tax reform still this year

Brazil’s vice-President Geraldo Alckmin advocated that a tax overhaul should be conducted still this year.

“It has to be fast, preferably in the first year [of government],” he noted, regarding the push to approve a bill simplifying the collection of taxes and duties in the country.

Alckmin is also the nation’s minister of Development Industry, Trade, and Services, and attended the opening ceremony of a seminar for engineers, held in São Paulo on Monday (Mar. 6).

In his view, federal, state, and municipal taxes levied on goods and services should be unified into a single tax, as in other countries.

The change is crucial to boosting competitiveness in Brazilian industry, as companies struggle under a complex tax system, he pointed out. “We’re facing early de-industrialization. We’re not a rich country; we’re a developing country. We need a competitiveness agenda,” he underscored.