Maintenance of exemption avoids the loss of 151 thousand jobs, generates 17 thousand new jobs and exceeds by R$ 226 million the collection with a rate of 4.5%

 
Representatives of the main entities of the IT, ICT and Call Center sector met this Wednesday (10/06), in Brasília, with parliamentarians from the Science and Technology Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, chaired by Fábio Sousa (PSDB/GO). The objective of the meeting was to discuss the broad study that presents the impacts of the exemption of the sheet, established by Law 12.546/2011, for the period from 2010 to 2014, and which also provides a comparative analysis of projections for the period between 2015 and 2017 based on two scenarios: (1) maintenance of the current system and (2) increase in the employer social security contribution rate to 4.5%, as proposed in PL 863/2015, pending in the Chamber of Deputies. The event was attended by 16 parliamentarians, voting on the project should take place next week and will define the maintenance of the exemption law.

Representing ABES, the following were present at the meeting: Anselmo Gentile, executive director, Rodolfo Fucher, director of the association, and Fabio Rua, coordinator of the Regulatory Framework Committee. The results of the study show the structural importance of the exemption for ICT companies and confirm that the sector, in the last three years, has had a surplus in tax terms, and it is not appropriate to speak of tax waivers caused by the exemption.

Based on data extracted from official reports, the study points out that between 2010 and 2014, 195 thousand jobs were created in the provision of information technology services and contact center, making the workforce jump from 682 thousand to 877 thousand workers. In this period, gross revenue increased by 13.3% per year, from around R$ 40 billion to R$ 64.8 billion, and the total remuneration paid expanded from R$ 15.2 billion to R$ 28.2 billion, representing a growth of 16.6% per year, well above revenue.
 
The increase in the number of formal jobs and the remuneration of IT, ICT and Call Center professionals brought positive impacts to the aggregate collection, including the amount of employer and employee social security contributions, as well as the IRPF and the FGTS collection . In 2011, when the payroll tax exemption measure was introduced, the sector collected R$ 8.09 billion. The revenue waiver of R$ 833 million observed in 2012, the first year of the exemption, compared to 2011, was almost completely eliminated in the following year. The sector's revenue in 2014 exceeded by R$ 492 million that of 2011, reaching the level of R$ 8.6 billion.
 
“For the sector, the exemption of payroll is a structuring public policy that addresses inhibiting aspects, such as the lack of competitiveness of our labor cost, the use of specialized professionals with remuneration above the national average and creativity in labor relations”, he explains. Jeovani Salomão, president of Assespro.

Based on the structural nature of payroll deduction, as demonstrated by its performance, the sector joined around Amendment No. 34 to Bill 863/2015 that defends the maintenance of the rate of 2.0% of the employer's social security contribution and the obligation of its payment on gross revenue. The amendment, when presented, was signed by leaders, vice-leaders and several parliamentarians, representing support from 142 deputies.
 
Sergio Paulo Gallindo, President of Brasscom, considers that “the tax waiver observed in 2012 represented, on the part of the Brazilian State, an investment of R$ 15,090 per job among the 55 thousand created in the year. This figure corresponded to 55% of the sector's average salary. In 2014, the sector returned R$ 3,900 for each of the 126,000 new jobs created since 2011”. Such profile and investment and return is another indication of the structuring nature of the measure for the IT, ICT and Call Center sectors.
 
Antonio Neto, President of the Central do Sindicatos Brasileiros and of SindPd, attests: “IT and ICT workers and companies are united around the maintenance of the payroll exemption, which fostered the growth of the sector and encouraged the professional valorization of employees”.

The comparative analysis of the projections for the years 2015 to 2017 is carried out for two scenarios: (1) maintenance of the exemption and (2) increase in the employer's social security contribution rate, CPP, to 4.5%. In Scenario 1, Maintenance of Exemption, it is estimated that the sector maintains moderate growth, generating 17 thousand new jobs, increasing revenue by 7.5% pa and the total remuneration paid to employees by 8.0% pa In Scenario 2, with the increase in the rate of the employer's social security contribution, CPP, from 2% to 4.5%, the sector contracts, eliminating 151 thousand jobs, which is equivalent to 17% of the workforce, being 81 thousand in IT and ICT and 70 thousand in Call Center. In these circumstances, revenue grows only 1.7% pa and the total remuneration paid to employees is practically stable (growth of 0.1% pa)
 
Regarding the aggregate collection, including social security contributions, IRPF and FGTS, the increase in the CPP rate to 4.5% in 2016 produces an increase of R$ 378 million in the collection in relation to the scenario of maintaining the exemption. In 2017, however, this relationship is reversed, with the tax exempted collection exceeding the collection with an increase of the CPP by R$ 555 million.
 
It is observed that the increase in the CPP to 4.5%, in spite of producing a possible small fiscal relief in 2016, disorganizes the sector in terms of growth and job creation and, therefore, loses breath in 2017. The conclusion is that , in the period from 2015 to 2017, maintaining the tax exemption on the current bases ends up being more advantageous for Brazil, avoiding the loss of 151 thousand jobs, generating 17 thousand new jobs and exceeding the collection obtained with the rate increased by R$ 226 million.
 
Carlos Zanvettor, president of ABT, emphasizes that “Call Centers are the biggest generators of first jobs for young people, qualifying them and promoting their social ascension. The sector grows in all regions of the country, mainly in the North and Northeast”.
 
Jorge Sukarie Neto, president of ABES, concludes by reinforcing the sector's transversal role: “The IT and ICT sector contributes to improving efficiency and productivity in all sectors of the economy, and it is therefore essential that its growth capacity is maintained through the permanence of the exemption from the sheet”.

The payroll tax exemption policy for the IT, ICT and Call Centers sector was instituted in a pioneering way, even in 2011, through Law No. 12,546. Since then, the ICT sector, the first in the service industry to be covered by the policy, has started to make its social security contribution no longer at the rate of 20% on the payroll, but rather on a mandatory basis based on the rate of 2% on gross revenue.
 
The measure was implemented to prepare the Brazilian ICT sector for the challenges of competitiveness in the face of the international market. Brazilian companies need to allocate more resources to guarantee their workers' rights than companies based in other countries. In addition, the Brazilian IT sector pays its specialized professionals about 2.2 times above the national average. Before the enactment of Law No. 12,546 / 11, these labor costs favored informality in the ICT sector, something that has been reduced since then.

ABES, Brazilian Association of Software Companies
ABT, Brazilian Association of Educational Technology
Acate, Santa Catarina Association of Technology Companies
Assespro, Federation of Associations of Brazilian Information Technology Companies
Brasscom, Brazilian Association of Information and Communication Technology Companies
Seprosp, Union of Data Processing and Computer Services Companies of the State of São Paulo
SindPd, Union of Data Processing Workers and Employees of Data Processing Companies of the State of São Paulo