ABES, in partnership with ABGI Brasil consultancy, promoted the webinar New Times: The use of the Lei do Bem for the competitiveness of companies, on 06/03/2020, in order to discuss the use of this development tool safely and with results for companies, including the correct preparation of accountability to MCTIC. The online event was moderated by journalist Jackeline Carvalho, a TI Inside collaborator and co-founder of the IPNews Portal.
Rodolfo Fücher, president of ABES, welcomed the participants and explained that the association has around 2000 thousand member companies, with more than 70% being medium and small companies. This event is part of ABES' commitment to its purpose of building a Healthier, More Digital and Less Unequal Brazil, in which information technology plays a fundamental role in the democratization of knowledge, job creation and the creation of new opportunities for all citizens affected by the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
Lei do Bem for more companies
The first speaker was Jorge Mário Campagnolo, Director of the Department of Support for Innovation at MCTIC – Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications. He commented that the ministry believes that the Lei do Bem is a great instrument for innovation in companies, helping to reduce risks and costs in research, as there is a kind of "partnership" between companies and the government. “The government pays part of the costs, as the incentive allows the company to deduct the amounts invested in R&D from the IRPJ and CSLL (social contribution on net income), which would need to be collected”, he explained. Campagnolo also said that the ministry has a working group analyzing the improvement of the Lei do Bem, either to make it easier and increase the number of companies that use this instrument, as well as to respond promptly to the impact of the pandemic on business.
The indirect beneficiaries of the Lei do Bem
Francisco Silveira dos Santos, Coordinator of Incentives and Technological Transfer at MCTIC - Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications, recalled that the Lei do Bem has direct beneficiaries, which are companies that declare for real profit, but that the legislation benefits also small and medium-sized companies, which are indirect beneficiaries for supporting the achievement of the projects. He indicated that entrepreneurs should consult Normative Instruction 1187/2011, which provides further clarification on how SMEs can benefit from legislation and participate in an innovation ecosystem, including the Institutes of Science and Technology (ICTs).
Accountability
Pollyana Souza, Operations Director at ABGI Brasil, an international consultancy specializing in financial resources for innovation processes, recalled that the Lei do Bem is transversal to all economic sectors, that is, companies from any segment can benefit from the mechanism to invest in basic or applied innovation research. "It is important for companies to carry out good control over the hours of human resources hired to work on projects benefiting from the Lei do Bem, as it is a rendering of accounts required by the government." Travel, training and staff training are expenses that can be included in accountability, among other investments.
Investment funds and the Lei do Bem
Another guest of the webinar was Franklin M. Luzes Jr., vice-president of Microsoft Participações, creator of FIP BR Startups and FIP Inova WE (fostering female entrepreneurship in Brazil). He spoke about the request to include investment funds to benefit from the Lei do Bem, in order to facilitate contributions to startups. “For these startups to thrive, they received risky investments. By fostering this ecosystem, we would be expanding tax collection, job creation and the number of companies supported, and all investments are fully monitored by the CVM”, added Franklin.
More good law
Dr. Manoel dos Santos, Legal Director of ABES, said that the government could give much more incentive to innovation and that the Lei do Bem should reach more companies. Another criticism made is the delay in the evaluation of the accountability reports, with contested expenses that demand that the company collect taxes with fines. In addition, the challenge does not provide clear justifications for the rejection, so the company does not know how to improve the use of the Lei do Bem. "We should expand the list of innovation activities stimulated and likely to benefit from the Lei do Bem", he argued. “And why can't companies that collect for the presumed profit benefit from this legislation?”, asked the executive.
Innovation as a strategy for Brazil
Andriei Gutierrez Director of Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs, IBM Brasil. Coordinator of the Regulatory Committee of ABES and of Movimento Brasil, País Digital, highlighted the importance of considering the Lei do Bem as a strategy for a country that wants to participate in global value chains based on innovation. “If the country wants to generate employment, income and improve competitiveness, government incentives for R&DI projects, such as Lei do Bem, must exist and need to be improved”. Andriei also mentioned several IBM projects in the areas of IoT, blockchain and artificial intelligence, among other technologies, bring results in the generation of patents and that the participation of Brazilian researchers in the innovations generated by the company, inserted in the international R&DI ecosystem, has grown.
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