Operation dismantles tax evasion scheme in Montes Claros.
The government of Minas Gerais, through the State Finance Secretariat (SEF), the Public Prosecutor's Office, and the Military Police, launched the special operation "Sulanca" to combat a tax evasion scheme involving a group in the retail clothing sector, operating in the northern region of Minas Gerais. Seven search and seizure warrants were executed at the group's stores, six in Montes Claros and one in Janaúba. The amount of taxes not collected by the State treasury in the last three years, due to the fraud, exceeds R$ 4 million.
Mines 247 - The government of Minas Gerais, through the State Finance Secretariat (SEF), the State Public Prosecutor's Office and the Military Police launched, this Thursday (16), the special operation "Sulanca", to combat a tax evasion scheme involving a group in the retail clothing trade segment, operating in the North of Minas Gerais. Seven search and seizure warrants were executed in the group's stores, six in Montes Claros and one in Janaúba. The amount of taxes not collected by the State coffers in the last three years, due to the fraud, exceeds R$ 4 million.
The tax inspector for the Regional Tax Office of Montes Claros, Gilmar Soares Barbosa, explained that the scheme was based on the purchase and sale of goods without invoices. "The investigations began six months ago, based on repeated complaints from consumers themselves, who did not receive the tax document when making purchases at the group's stores, and through the monitoring that the State Revenue Service conducts in this sector," he said.
The investigations also identified irregularities in the structuring of the business group, which involves opening several establishments in the names of "straw men" in order to qualify them for a more advantageous tax regime, the Simples Nacional – which provides preferential conditions and tax reductions – and to conceal the true owner. The frauds had been occurring for at least three years.
State tax inspectors seized documents and electronic equipment for data analysis and to gather further evidence of crimes committed against the tax system. The establishments targeted in the operation were not shut down and continue to operate.
The group of stores is quite well-known in the region, focused on the popular clothing trade. Hence the name of the operation. The neologism "sulanca" was created in the 1960s and means "clothes made with inexpensive, commonly used fabrics".
The operation involved 15 tax auditors from the State Revenue Service, ten military police officers, and one public prosecutor.