MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Desperate for funds Rousseff offers amnesty to holders of undeclared offshore assets
The law offers amnesty from prosecution to Brazilians if they bring unreported foreign funds home and pay a 30% fine in the form of tax. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday signed a bill that gives amnesty to holders of undeclared offshore assets in exchange for a fine, part of efforts to cut a swelling budget gap and revive investment in the recession-hit economy. The law offers amnesty from prosecution to Brazilians if they bring unreported foreign funds home and pay a 30 percent fine in the form of tax.
When the bill was approved in the Senate late last year, government officials said it could help raise about 11 billion Reais ($2.74 billion) in revenues. Rousseff vetoed parts of the bill, including one that steered part of the collected fines to regional governments. She also shunned a proposal to include jewelry, precious stones, artwork and antiques from the program while barring a proposal to allow payment of fines in installments.
The bill had been criticized for being too lenient on tax dodgers. Critics said it facilitates money laundering stemming from a corruption scandal at state-controlled firms, in which millions of Reais were siphoned into secret accounts of ruling coalition politicians and business executives in Switzerland and offshore financial havens.
Officials are hoping that the law, coupled with growing international cooperation, will further deter tax evaders. Last July, Brazil's Congress ratified an agreement to exchange tax information with the United States.
Even with the amnesty, Rousseff will struggle to reverse the country's budget deficit as the economy braces for the longest and deepest recession since 1901. The government targets a budget surplus before debt payments equivalent to 0.5% of GDP this year, although economists predict a 1% of GDP shortfall.
Top Comments
Disclaimer & comment rules-
-
-
Read all commentsSounds like what CFK did when it all started to collapse.
Jan 15th, 2016 - 04:11 pm 0It didn't work for her
It won't work for Brazil
Nobody is moving $ into Brazil, its toxic.
Money is only flowing out
Watch them start burning through reserves to prop up the currency
PBR is near collapse.
12B market cap and falling with 120B in debt.
3....2.....1...
Stupid, and typically socialist -- the country needs cash and investment, and these thieving idiots expect to attract it by stealing 30% off the top. Anyone with money outside the country will invest it where it is (even at a much smaller return), rather than pay the tax. If they really wanted investment there would be no tax, and the general improvement in the economy would give them more revenue anyway.
Jan 15th, 2016 - 04:34 pm 0“The bill had been criticized for being too lenient on tax dodgers.”
Jan 15th, 2016 - 05:16 pm 0Too lenient ? are they daft ? the whole bill is ridiculous. Who, in their right mind would bring cash in offshore accounts, back to Brazil, for the privilege of being hit with a 15% Income Tax rate, then a 15% fine, just to 'help' the PT Government pull Brazil out of the gutter, where they put it in the first place ? Not to mention that you would probably be put on an IRS blacklist.....
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!