Government admits CPMF tax might go into more than pensions

The minister of the Government Secretariat, Ricardo Berzoini, said in an interview on the federal government's TV NBR Wednesday (Oct. 28) that the government agrees with the mayors and governors' proposal to increase the new Provisional Tax on Financial Transactions (CPMF) from 0.20% to 0.38%. He explained the increase is designed to help fund social security, health and welfare while also allowing for a share of the resources to be available to state and local governments.

“We are proposing a 0.38% rate out of which 0.09% would go to states, 0.09% to cities, and 0.20% to the federal government, so that they could all benefit from it,” Berzoini said. The government has been discussing the subject with municipal leagues recently.

In the interview, the minister conceded that Brazil's tax system is not “the world's fairest system in that it is not progressive enough, so the tax burden ends up being heaviest on the poor,” but added the government has been working to make it fairer. He said taxes are “always unwelcome” and the government is often compelled to “persuade the population that state, local, and federal governments have a range of services to provide and that needs to be funded in some way.”

Commenting on the possibility of an ouster of President Dilma Rousseff, he dismissed impeachment bids filed with the Chamber of Deputies as “coup-mongering” and said the government must stand up against these moves by showing that the president is “honest, decent, and  concerned for the future of the country.”

“It's the opposition sectors trying to take over the government, [opponents] who lost the election recently and are coming up with any story to try to press a very weak case for impeachment,” the minister said.

Translated by Mayra Borges

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