(Image: REUTERS/Adriano Machado)
The federal government achieved a significant victory for public accounts this Wednesday, when the Federal Supreme Court (STF) decided that the Executive has the right to reduce the reimbursement intended for exporters linked to the Reintegra program (Special Regime for the Reintegration of Tax Values).
With the decision, according to a source from the Ministry of Finance and a document seen by Reuters, the government will no longer return 7.3 billion reais a year to exporters, totaling 42.6 billion reais.
By seven votes to two, the STF ministers rejected actions filed by the National Confederation of Industry and the Instituto Aço Brasil that challenged the fact that the Executive could manage the rates of tax residues for exporting companies.
The leading vote was from Minister Gilmar Mendes, rapporteur of the action and dean of the STF, who argued that Reintegra is a tax benefit, aimed at encouraging exports and national development, and for this reason the decision to reduce the reimbursement percentage is a political-economic option of the Executive.
The program was created to encourage the export of manufactured products by returning part of the taxes paid during production.