On November 3, 2021, the PEC 23/2021, called the PEC dos Precatório, was approved in the first round of the Chamber of Deputies, by 312 votes to 144. Deputies must approve the highlights before the proposal is voted again and sent to Senate.
PEC 23 was presented on August 10, 2021 by the Executive Branch, seeking to modify the system for payment of debts arising from lawsuits in which the government was defeated – the precatório. The original proposal provided for the possibility of installment payments, however, the substitute made by the Rapporteur, Deputy Hugo Motta (Republicans - PB), discards this possibility and establishes a maximum amount that can be spent on payment of court orders. The Union Liabilities Settlement Fund was created, which anticipates precatories and requisitions in installments[1] and the payment of the federal public debt, using the Union's assets[2]. The proposal also changes the calculation of the Expenditure Ceiling (which regime will be valid until 2036) and starts to correct the precatory values by the Selic Rate[3].
Thus, the government – which currently has R$89.1 billion in court orders to be paid in 2022 – would have 48 million reais free for other projects, according to calculations by the Executive Branch itself[4]. According to the original text of the PEC, the Federal Budget was seriously compromised not only because of the precatories, but also due to the pandemic and recent court decisions with a significant fiscal impact, such as General Repercussion Theme n. 69, which excluded the PIS/COFINS tax base from ICMS.
According to an analysis by the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), the approval of the PEC opens the budget space for the extension of the Social Security Contribution on Gross Revenue (CPRB) - the so-called payroll exemption - in 2022, as proposal in PL 2541/2021, presented in July this year and under the rapporteurship of Deputy Marcelo Freitas (PSL-MG)[5].
PL 2541/21 provides for amendments to Law n. 12,546/2011, maintaining the payroll tax exemption until 2026. Among the justifications for maintaining the tax exemption are the increase in economic competitiveness, the protection of national industry, generation of employment and income and reduction of the tax burden in some sectors, impacting positively your finances. Currently, 17 sectors (among them, industry, services, transport and civil construction) contribute at rates between 1 and 4.5% on gross revenue. The Social Security Contribution on Gross Revenue is nothing more than a change in the calculation of the social security contribution, which is normally made on the payroll, at a rate of 20%. The "payroll tax exemption" is guaranteed until December 2021.
There still remains a complex path in the processing of the PEC, as it should be voted on in the 2nd round in the Chamber and then in the 1st and 2nd in the Senate.
The Legal Department will keep associates informed about the processing of this standard and is available to associates to address the issue.
The entire content of PEC/23 can be found at: https://www.camara.leg.br/proposicoesWeb/prop_mostrarintegra?codteor = 2054008 & filename = PEC+23/2021 . Accessed on November 5, 2021.
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[1] based on the provisions of art. 100, §20 and art. 101 A of the Transitional Constitutional Provisions Act.
[2] It should be noted that the expenses borne by the fund will not be subject to the expenditure ceiling established in art. 107 of the ADCT.
[3]Art. 3 of the PL: "In discussions and convictions involving the Public Treasury, regardless of their nature and for purposes of monetary restatement, remuneration of capital and compensation for arrears, including the precatory, there will be incidence only once, until the effective payment , of the reference rate index of the Special System for Settlement and Custody - Selic, accumulated monthly"
[4] BRAZIL. Chamber of Deputies. Chamber Approves the Basic Text of the PEC of Precatório. Brasília: November 4, 2021. Available at: https://www.camara.leg.br/noticias/823353-camara-aprova-texto-base-da-pec-dos-precatorios/ . Accessed on November 4, 2021.
[5] BRAZIL. Chamber of Deputies. Bill No. 2541/2021. Presented by Deputy Efraim Filho. Available in: https://www.camara.leg.br/proposicoesWeb/prop_mostrarintegra?codteor=2044072&filename=PL+2541/2021 Accessed on November 5, 2021.
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