Law that exempted brokers from heavy tax burden turns 4 years old.

Goiás 247 - Complementary Law 147/14, which freed 450 small and medium-sized companies from more than 140 economic segments, including insurance brokers, from a heavy and unfair tax burden by allowing them to join the SuperSimples (Simplified Tax Regime), celebrates four years since its publication this Wednesday, August 08th, and is being commemorated by former federal deputy Armando Vergílio and federal deputy Lucas Vergílio, both from the Solidariedade party.

Known for universalizing access to the simplified tax payment system, the law reduced the tax burden by up to 40% and is a historic milestone for the companies that benefited, particularly insurance brokers, who for more than a decade fought for the right to join the SuperSimples (Simplified Tax System).

The achievement came after intense and tireless work by leaders, such as then-federal deputy Armando Vergilio (on leave as president of Fenacor), who, in 2011, had presented a bill to include insurance brokers in the SuperSimples tax regime and subsequently chaired the special committee of the Chamber of Deputies in which the proposal was analyzed and adjusted, being decisive for its approval. "I have always considered this issue of the SuperSimples tax regime as the reason for my mandate as a federal deputy," Vergilio stated at the time.

It is no coincidence that, at the ceremony where the law was enacted, the then Minister of Micro and Small Enterprises, Guilherme Afif Domingos, made a point of citing Armando Vergilio as one of the main people responsible for the approval and enactment of the bill.

It's worth remembering that, at the time, both insurance brokers and other sectors benefiting from the law were suffocated by an absurd tax burden and possibly wouldn't have been able to withstand the severe economic crisis that hit Brazil months later, in 2015.

In the specific case of insurance brokers, the achievement was even more significant, because, thanks to an amendment presented by Armando Vergilio, the category was able to adhere to Table III of the SuperSimples, considered the most favorable.

The resources saved from the reduced tax burden were then invested in job creation, modernization and training of the company and its employees, business development, prospecting for new opportunities, and expanding the client portfolio, not to mention the advantages created by having a single, significantly reduced tax rate, with all taxes, including municipal ISS (Service Tax), being collected in a single payment slip.

The new profile of brokerage firms that emerged from this process was also vital for the segment to be better prepared for the changes that came to the insurance market in the wake of technological innovations.

Shortly after the enactment of this law, a new threat emerged for insurance brokers, as Complementary Bill 25/07 proposed removing the category from Table III and transferring it to Table V, which is much more unfavorable, significantly burdening insurance brokerage companies and negating the advantages previously obtained.

This did not happen thanks to the swift action of federal deputy Lucas Vergilio, current vice-president of Fenacor and president of Sincor-GO, who, as vice-president of the special commission that analyzed the matter, managed to approve an amendment and thus guarantee the maintenance of insurance brokers in the most favorable table.

A study prepared by Fenacor and the Brazilian Institute of Tax Planning (IBPT) at the time indicated that the mandatory transition to Table V would have negative impacts on 70% of active insurance brokers in Brazil.

This means that this achievement benefited approximately 30 insurance brokerage firms. "This action by Congressman Lucas Vergilio saved thousands of new insurance brokerage firms opened in 2015 from bankruptcy, when the number of registered companies in this sector grew by 60% compared to the previous year," revealed Armando Vergilio.