Happy Monday! This week: the tortuous path of the tax reform in Congress. And what Arab countries want from Brazil.
⚠️ Important: Tomorrow is a national holiday in Brazil, and our newsletter service will be briefly interrupted. Of course, if anything major happens, you will be kept informed! And our website will continue having new, original content for you!
Senate commits to tax reform, but election could stall works in the House
Last week, the latest version of the tax reform bill was unveiled. Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco has committed to using his political capital to reach a consensus and have the proposal passed before the end of the year. Details of the legislation (which has stalled since 2019) show the creation of a “dual” value-added tax system unifying federal and local levies into two different VATs.
- But the problem might be on the other side of the Congress building. Red flags were raised after the National Coalition of Mayors — alongside 120 organizations — published a statement repudiating details of the reform bill.
What’s the beef? “This disruptive reform does not present any safe formula for tax calculations and will significantly increase the tax burden on labor-intensive economic...