IT companies begin negotiations to leave Aracaju.

Valter Lima, from Sergipe 247 – With the withdrawal of the benefit that reduced the Service Tax (ISS) for Information Technology companies based in Aracaju, the association representing the sector (Assespro) began talks this Tuesday (19) with managers of municipalities in Greater Aracaju to make it possible to transfer these businesses to other locations. This change will result in a loss of R$ 1,5 million in taxes for the capital city.

The first meeting took place with representatives from the São Cristóvão City Hall. According to the president of Assespro, businessman Roger Dantas Barros, the sector's demands were presented to the city hall, along with a document containing suggestions for actions the city needs to take to facilitate the relocation of companies to the municipality.

"The city hall of São Cristóvão showed great willingness to meet our requests, as it understands the importance of the IT sector, and sees the installation of these companies as generating employment and income and developing the local workforce to serve the sector," he said. A new meeting will be held in the first week of March, when the city hall will present its responses to the document submitted by the business owners.

Currently, there are around 100 IT companies operating in Aracaju. Assespro brings together 30 of them, which hold 90% of the market. "The migration of all Assespro companies would already be a shock, as they are the largest," emphasizes the organization's president. According to him, the annual transfer of R$ 1,5 million to the Aracaju City Hall through the ISS (Service Tax) from IT companies is R$ 1.5 million.

The Aracaju City Hall had granted a reduction in the ISS tax rate from 5% to 2% last year; however, the current mayor, João Alves Filho (DEM), submitted a bill to the City Council earlier this year revoking the benefit. The proposal was approved by the City Council.

“Business owners are very disappointed, as we fought for years to obtain this benefit, and with the arrival of the new administration, we are already feeling this setback,” stated Roger Dantas Barros. He emphasizes that the business owners attempted, through official letters, even before the project's approval, to schedule a meeting with the Secretary of Finance, Nilson Lima, but have yet to receive a response.

“From the moment a benefit is granted and then withdrawn, it creates an uproar within the business community, which is apprehensive about the city hall's next actions,” he emphasizes. Representatives from the municipalities of Barra dos Coqueiros and Nossa Senhora do Socorro have already contacted the association to begin a dialogue about more favorable conditions for IT companies.

“We will be directing ourselves towards whichever is best. As companies have been fighting for this for a long time and there has been this frustration, the matter has become urgent. At most, within the next 60 days, we will define a course of action,” he states.

Via Twitter, the president of the Sergipe Commercial Association (Acese), Alexandre Porto, mocked the measure taken by the mayor of Aracaju. "I've come to the conclusion that João Alves continues to be a great supporter of SergipeTec. Ten years ago, he created it and now he's making another major contribution. João Alves is encouraging companies to relocate there by increasing the ISS (municipal service tax) in Aracaju for IT companies," he stated.

Photo: Infonet Portal

Article updated at 22:43 pm on Tuesday (19) to include statements by Alexandre Porto