Government extends until 2018 tax exemption for cell phones and tablets

After a series of meetings between representatives of the electronics industry and the Government, the Ministry of Finance announced on Thursday (21) the extension of the law of right (No. 11,196/05) until 2018. The measure, which would expire at the end of this year, exempt from PIS-Cofins purchases of computers and smartphones, tablets and represents a tax waiver of $ 7.9 billion in 2015.
In the opinion of the President of the Brazilian Association of electrical and Electronics Industry (Abinee), Humberto Barbato, the extension is another achievement for the industry. He said he held a series of meetings with the Ministers Mauro Borges, Paulo Bernardo development, communications, and yesterday, with Guido Mantega, who had already anticipated the Government's decision to extend the law of right.
"The exemption allowed the reduction in prices of equipment, increasing production and sales of these goods. At the same time, despite the exemption, there has been a significant increase in arrecadatória base via other taxes, "says the Director, in a statement.
The President of Abinee stands out, too, that the law of right served to reduce the gray market of computer equipment. A year before the implementation of the measure, the panorama of the personal computer market was alarming. "In 2004, the illegal fitters once enjoyed a 73% of sales in the country, leaving a representation of 38%, in 1996," according to Barbato. From the law of right and intensification of surveillance initiatives, there has been a sharp decrease in participation of computers marketed in the grey market.
More measures the announcement of the extension of the law of right adds to other recent achievement in the sector of information and communications technology, the extension of the benefits of computer Law until 2029. "The effects of these public policies for the entire economy are priceless," said Humberto Barbato.
The President of Abinee stresses that the scenario that you draw with the internet of things makes digital inclusion even more present in people's lives. "The entire legal framework in the area of Icts will be increasingly essential because electronics will be in all the places and objects", he adds, in a note.