Ace Finance

The current Brazilian taxation system was introduced by the 1988 constitution which granted powers ate varying levels within the constitution i.e. Centre, State and Municipal governments to levy and collect taxes based on different laws within each structure. Due to the varying regulations within each structure, Brazilian tax system is very complex leading to an environment in which the taxpayers ( both, individuals and Companies ) are required to comply with many obligations which is mostly pro-government. The Brazilian Tax System is composed of 61 different taxes and contributions to the government Each of these taxes are levied with a different rate, different base different sources and collected by different institutions’. Aside from taxes the companies must adhere to more than 90 ancillary obligations. More often than not companies are drowned in the numerous tax filings and its complexities and end up with liabilities due to non-compliance mainly due to a lack of consolidated and clear information. The rules that regulate the taxation system are changing all the time. According to the Brazilian Institute of Tax Planning, the Federal, State and Municipal governments launch an average of 15 new standards every day. A 2011 research made by a consulting firm and the World Bank, concluded that, in Brazil, a middle sized company takes about 2.6 thousand hours doing tax services of which a large % is spent in consulting the various legislations across various states In USA, for example, similar companies only take The 187 hours. Companies in Brazil also disburse an amount of BRL 43 billion per year only to maintain the accountancy employees and equipment working to comply with the taxation bureaucracy This ever changing scenarios of taxes ensures that there is a high cost for companies to ensure that the right team is updated on a daily basis and thus diverging focus from the business to “nonproductive activities”