Can Lula fix Brazil’s fiscal mess?
Reform of the world’s most complicated tax system will cut businesses’ costs—if lobbies permit it
An overhaul of consumption taxes passed by Brazil’s Congress in December has been called “historic”, “revolutionary” and a “miracle”. “Nobody believed this would be possible,” boasted President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, to a standing ovation in Congress. For once, the superlatives are not misplaced. More than 30 years in the making, the reform will simplify the world’s most complicated tax system. But can Lula’s government withstand the pressure from special-interest groups in order to implement it fully?
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This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “A red-tape hellscape”
From the February 3rd 2024 edition
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