Brazil's federal tax authorities reported a 3.56% real-terms increase in tax revenue for January compared with the same month a year earlier, bringing collections to 325.8 billion reais ($62.87 billion) - the largest January total on record, the tax revenue service said on Tuesday.
The outcome arrived in the first month after a sweeping adjustment to the income-tax system that aims to deliver relief to the middle class while raising new sources of funds from capital and high-earner incomes. The package includes a wider exemption for monthly taxable income and fresh withholding levies directed at dividend flows, both abroad and domestically.
The government did not publish a detailed allocation of proceeds from the new 10% withholding tax on dividends remitted overseas, nor from the identical 10% withholding applied to dividends in excess of 50,000 reais that are paid to an individual by a single Brazilian company. Those elements form part of the revenue changes bundled into the broader reform.
At the same time, the reform expands the exemption threshold for monthly income, now covering earnings of up to 5,000 reais - a figure equivalent to slightly more than three times Brazil's minimum wage. To offset the fiscal cost of that broader exemption, the government introduced a minimum tax on annual incomes above 600,000 reais, featuring a progressive structure with rates that can reach up to 10%.
Officials noted that the newly created minimum tax will not be applied during filings for the current tax year. Instead, the minimum tax will be assessed in next year’s income-tax returns, calculated on income earned this year; taxpayers who have paid below the applicable minimum rate under the new rules will settle the difference with the tax authority when they file next year.
The tax revenue service drew attention to a sharp rise in collections from taxes on capital income, reporting a 32.56% jump to 14.7 billion reais in January. The government attributed that increase to stronger collections linked to fixed-income securities and investment funds, as well as to payments connected with a common form of shareholder compensation in Brazil known as interest on equity, or JCP.
As part of the fiscal measures approved alongside the reform, the tax rate applied to JCP was increased to 17.5% from 15% starting in January. Those rate changes were instituted to lift revenues and attempt to bring public accounts closer to balance amid rising social expenditures, according to the government.
Exchange-rate notation used in the report set $1 = 5.1819 reais.
Contextual note: The tax revenue service's announcement covered January collections and the immediate effects of the new tax measures; certain elements of the reform - including the administration and final assessment of the minimum tax - will only be reflected in filings and settlements in the following tax year.