Businesses in Brazil Face a Heavier Tax Compliance Burden Than Anywhere Else in the World
The latest World Bank Doing Business survey shows entrepreneurs in Brazil are spending 2,600 hours per year on their tax compliance: a figure unchanged over the past three years.
London, United Kingdom, November 21, 2015 --(PR.com)-- Published annually, the World Bank Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations for local firms in 189 economies worldwide. Member firms of the Russell Bedford International audit network, including Boucinhas & Campos, Brazil, have again contributed data to the report’s Paying Taxes survey.
The latest report, Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency, shows businesses in Brazil are spending an average 2,600 hours per year on meeting their tax compliance obligations - figure well in excess of the average 361 hours throughout Latin America, and the 176.6 hours in OECD high-income countries. The situation is all the more surprising since companies in Brazil are required to make only 10 separate payments per year – on a par with the 10.1 payments typical across OECD countries.
The situation cannot be attributed, either, to an absence of online filing facilities: the country allows online filing for social security payments, corporate income tax, employers’ payroll tax, property taxes, VAT and others. Value-added taxes appear to be causing the greatest burden in terms of compliance, with entrepreneurs spending an average 1,374 hours per year on this issue alone. Corporate income tax submissions demand a further 736 hours.
Ricardo Furquim de Campos, Partner, Boucinhas & Campos, has an explanation, however: “Taxes in Brazil are levied by the federal, state and municipal governments; it is this decentralization that gives rise to businesses spending so much time in calculating and meeting their tax and ancillary obligations – with particular impacts for the amount of time spent on VAT and corporate income tax compliance. In response to this, the government’s Growth Acceleration Program has, since 2007, done much to promote economic growth throughout the country – specifically by improving tax regulation. The implementation of the Public Digital Bookkeeping System (SPED), in particular, is expected to deliver a much better business environment by modernising a number of procedures for reporting and compliance.”
About Boucinhas & Campos
Founded in 1947 by José da Costa Boucinhas and Eduardo Sampaio Campos, Boucinhas & Campos has since grown to become one of the biggest names in business management in the Brazilian market, specialising in audit, consulting and solutions for retail. The company brings together approximately 400 employees, serving private and public companies across a range of industrial sectors.
Contact:
Ricardo Furquim
Boucinhas & Campos
T: +55 11 3266 3134
E: rfurquim@boucinhas.com.br
W: www.boucinhas.com.br
About Russell Bedford International
Established in 1983, Russell Bedford International is a global network of independent firms of accountants, auditors, tax advisers and business consultants. Ranked amongst the world’s leading accounting and audit networks, Russell Bedford is represented by some 600 partners, 5000 staff and 290 offices in more than 100 countries in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Russell Bedford International is a member of the IFAC Forum of Firms and a member of EGIAN, the European Group of International Accounting Networks and Associations.
Contact:
Kempton Bedell-Harper,
Russell Bedford International
T: +44 20 7410 0339
E: kempton.bedell-harper@russellbedford.com
W: www.russellbedford.com
About the World Bank Doing Business project
The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 189 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level.
The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle.
By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages economies to compete towards more efficient regulation; offers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy.
In addition, Doing Business offers detailed subnational reports, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in different cities and regions within a nation. These reports provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 189 economies that Doing Business has ranked.
The first Doing Business report, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. The new report covers 11 indicator sets and 189 economies. Most indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013 (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where Doing Business, also collected data for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the two largest business cities. The project has benefited from feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business around the world.
The latest report, Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency, shows businesses in Brazil are spending an average 2,600 hours per year on meeting their tax compliance obligations - figure well in excess of the average 361 hours throughout Latin America, and the 176.6 hours in OECD high-income countries. The situation is all the more surprising since companies in Brazil are required to make only 10 separate payments per year – on a par with the 10.1 payments typical across OECD countries.
The situation cannot be attributed, either, to an absence of online filing facilities: the country allows online filing for social security payments, corporate income tax, employers’ payroll tax, property taxes, VAT and others. Value-added taxes appear to be causing the greatest burden in terms of compliance, with entrepreneurs spending an average 1,374 hours per year on this issue alone. Corporate income tax submissions demand a further 736 hours.
Ricardo Furquim de Campos, Partner, Boucinhas & Campos, has an explanation, however: “Taxes in Brazil are levied by the federal, state and municipal governments; it is this decentralization that gives rise to businesses spending so much time in calculating and meeting their tax and ancillary obligations – with particular impacts for the amount of time spent on VAT and corporate income tax compliance. In response to this, the government’s Growth Acceleration Program has, since 2007, done much to promote economic growth throughout the country – specifically by improving tax regulation. The implementation of the Public Digital Bookkeeping System (SPED), in particular, is expected to deliver a much better business environment by modernising a number of procedures for reporting and compliance.”
About Boucinhas & Campos
Founded in 1947 by José da Costa Boucinhas and Eduardo Sampaio Campos, Boucinhas & Campos has since grown to become one of the biggest names in business management in the Brazilian market, specialising in audit, consulting and solutions for retail. The company brings together approximately 400 employees, serving private and public companies across a range of industrial sectors.
Contact:
Ricardo Furquim
Boucinhas & Campos
T: +55 11 3266 3134
E: rfurquim@boucinhas.com.br
W: www.boucinhas.com.br
About Russell Bedford International
Established in 1983, Russell Bedford International is a global network of independent firms of accountants, auditors, tax advisers and business consultants. Ranked amongst the world’s leading accounting and audit networks, Russell Bedford is represented by some 600 partners, 5000 staff and 290 offices in more than 100 countries in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Russell Bedford International is a member of the IFAC Forum of Firms and a member of EGIAN, the European Group of International Accounting Networks and Associations.
Contact:
Kempton Bedell-Harper,
Russell Bedford International
T: +44 20 7410 0339
E: kempton.bedell-harper@russellbedford.com
W: www.russellbedford.com
About the World Bank Doing Business project
The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 189 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level.
The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle.
By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages economies to compete towards more efficient regulation; offers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy.
In addition, Doing Business offers detailed subnational reports, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in different cities and regions within a nation. These reports provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 189 economies that Doing Business has ranked.
The first Doing Business report, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. The new report covers 11 indicator sets and 189 economies. Most indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013 (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where Doing Business, also collected data for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the two largest business cities. The project has benefited from feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business around the world.
Contact
Russell Bedford International
Kempton Bedell-Harper
+44 20 7410 0339
www.russellbedford.com
Kempton Bedell-Harper
+44 20 7410 0339
www.russellbedford.com
Contact
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