Bolsonaro veto turns emergency benefit into loan to be repaid

Away from the public eye, the Jair Bolsonaro administration vetoed a portion of the BRL 600 emergency salary legislation and transformed the payment into a loan that would need to be repaid to the government next year, in certain cases. Beneficiaries who earn above the cutoff for income tax exemption in 2020 will now have to pay the BRL 600 salary back to the authorities as part of their 2021 income tax.

While this will only affect a small number of the recipients of the emergency aid, it comes as a complete change to legislation that had originally been sold as a social welfare benefit. 

Furthermore, President Bolsonaro vetoed a provision that prohibited any reductions to pension payments or the Continuous Payment Benefit — monthly aid paid to senior citizens, people with disabilities, or with serious illnesses — until the end of the pandemic.

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