The joint committee reviewing the provisional measure on the end of the "blusinhas tax" approved this Wednesday the text that eliminates the 20% charge on international purchases of up to US$ 50. The inclusion of the PM on this week's voting agenda was made possible by a political agreement between the leadership of the Legislative branch and the Palace of the Presidency.
The measure is expected to be analyzed by the plenary sessions of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate still this Wednesday. Ending the charge of this tax is one of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's (PT) main electoral banners for the re-election campaign.
The issue divided the Palace of the Presidency in 2025. On one hand, the then Finance Minister, Fernando Haddad, feared the backlash from the productive sector over the measure. On the other hand, Minister Sidônio Palmeira, from the Secretariat for Social Communication of the Presidency (Secom), saw in the removal of the tax a way to gain voter support.
Given the assessment that the tax charge was politically harmful to Lula, the measure was reversed and now advances through the National Congress.
