Some days has been circulating in the news the intention of the Attorney General of the National Treasury to edit an Ordinance to regulate the registration debt with the Federal Government in the databases of Serasa.

In fact, there are times that the databases of Serasa have been supplied with lawsuits information, including those relating to the collection of debts owed to the federal government. The novelty would be the record in Serasa debits in outstanding debt, even before the filing of the lawsuit.

Serasa which calls itself a public character entity is private company (multinational), aimed at providing service registration information and credit to customers with whom it has an agreement. It makes no judgment on archived data, neither is considered responsible for the quality of the information stored in their databases.

The federal government, meanwhile, already has record to point the debts of legal entities and individuals before the federal agencies and entities, called CADIN – Informative of Unpaid Credits of Public Sector Federal and allowing the Federal Public Administration standardize procedures for the granting of credit, guarantees, fiscal and financial incentives, and also to by contracting bidding processes in general.

proliferate, rightly, criticism of the intended initiative of Attorney .

The use of Serasa is a means unauthorized coercive for the Union to force the payment of tax debts by taxpayers ( as is the unjustified refusal Clearance Certificate issued Debit), when there is already specific register for this purpose, regulated by federal law.

After all, experience shows that it can be extended the list of reasons for the Union to include corporate and individual taxpayers in such in “bank accounts”, mentioning, as example, customary misunderstandings in cases of tax offsets, authorized by law, which are often not properly computed by the IRS, causing undue inscriptions Debts, with losses for the initiative Private.

Consider also that most federal taxes (IR, CSLL, PIS and COFINS) is declared periodically by the taxpayer himself (DCTF), and if calculated difference between a taxpayer’s declaration and payment of the tax guide, the IRS sends the case to the Prosecutor of the National Treasury, which today enters the debt in Outstanding Debt Union. If implemented the new Attorney project, the debt would also be recorded in Serasa.

The setting tends to be dark, because currently, the error rate for the inscriptions Debts by the Prosecutor’s Office very high, so that the judiciary is overwhelmed with lawsuits filed by taxpayers for the cancellation of debts improperly levied by the Union.

On the other hand, considering that the tax debts have proper and effective arrangements for the collection, the only objective to be achieved with the new appointment seems to be the adoption by the General Attorney of the National Treasury, policy enforcement (not tax) to the taxpayer, absolutely rejected by the courts, including the Supreme Court.

The embarrassment of the company to see its activities limited by the “negativity” in Serasa, will lead to immediate discharge by her debts, including those improper and subject to discussion.

Another aspect to be considered is the type of note that would consist of the Serasa database. To date, information about registered tax debts in outstanding debt are only made available by the Attorney the taxpayer or their attorneys, preserving the necessary confidentiality.

From the new initiative of the Prosecutor, this information private character, will become public, as will be available for all consultants universe of Serasa.

It is argued, however, that before the new embarrassment mechanisms for the exercise of private sector institution, as the inscription in Serasa, the better it would be if the power of the Attorney General of the National Treasury was directed to the real problems that affect the tax authorities regard – Contributing to unstick business activity in the country, which would result in the collection of more taxes, ultimately .
Sandra Kauffman Zolnerkevic
Partner Del Manto, Kauffman & amp; Menezes – Law Firm
Article sent to Task Force on Tax Law of Amcham (American Chamber) in 10:12:07