Tax reform is back – but can it be passed in these turbulent times?

Amidst the political turbulence created by the pandemic — and the congressional hearings committee’s investigation into the government’s response to it —, one move of some consequence went under the radar. The Jair Bolsonaro administration reached a deal with House Speaker Arthur Lira to bring tax reform up the legislative agenda. Congress will deal with the reform in parts, starting with a simplification of the country’s Byzantine tax code, before it gets to the highly controversial issues that will prove more difficult to pass.

Public relations firms usually tell clients who are taking a beating in the public arena to “stop the bleeding and change the narrative.” The idea is to feed the public other, more positive issues on which to focus, shifting attention from the crisis. 

In a sense, that is what the tax reform talks are.

The tax reform proposal had lain dormant for more than a year, but was abruptly revived by Mr. Lira on April 26,...