The authors would like to thank Bernard Appy, Secretary for Tax Reform at the Ministry of Finance (Brazil) for his comments and inputs. It is well established in the academic literature and suggested by international organizations that a broad-based VAT reduces distortions, increases economic efficiency, promotes growth and simplifies the system (Bird et al, 2007,…
Melina Rocha[1] The long-awaited tax reform to implement a VAT system in Brazil was finally enacted after more than 35 years of discussions and several failed attempts. The main issue that prevented its approval since the late 80’s was the conflict of interest between the Federal entities. Brazilian Constitution shares the jurisdiction to tax consumption…
Since the promulgation of its 1988 Constitution, Brazil has been trying to implement a national VAT. Over the past 30 years, the opposing interests of States and the Federal Government have caused at least three broad tax-reform proposals to fail in Congress. Moreover, several interest groups have also been opposed to changes. Such conflicts of…
