篇章：巴西稅收的不確定性

　　Brazilian firms fight huge and unpredictable tax bills

　　2023年年中，巴西首富埃克巴蒂斯塔的商業(yè)帝國受到?jīng)_擊。他所控股的巴西油氣公司稱井源產(chǎn)油比預(yù)期少。到年底，巴蒂斯塔的資產(chǎn)減少了三分之二，變?yōu)?24億美元。目前，他又遭受一個打擊。1月8日，他的采礦公司MMX被要求為其2007年的活動支付38億雷亞爾的賬單，包括公司收入稅，社會保險，利息以及罰款。

　　IN MID-2023 Eike Batista, until recently Brazils richest man, saw his empire battered. OGX, an oil firm he controls, said its wells were less productive than it had thought. By the end of the year Mr Batistas fortune fell by two-thirds, to $12.4 billion. Now he is under attack on another flank. On January 8th MMX, his mining company, said it had been handed a bill relating to its activities in 2007, for 3.8 billion reais for corporate income tax and social security, plus interest and fines.

　　MMX公司堅持將同這些完全毫無根據(jù)的收費抗?fàn)帯Ｍ?dāng)?shù)囟悇?wù)機(jī)構(gòu)有大額數(shù)目爭議的巴西公司又多了一家。在前一天，巴西一家化妝品直銷公司- 大自然公司宣稱對6.3億雷亞爾的聯(lián)邦銷售稅有異議。十二月，巴西紙漿公司Fibria以及物流公司Santos Brasil也分別被追討17億雷亞爾與3.3億雷亞爾的公司所得稅。四家公司均沒有漏繳，也宣稱不可能支付。

　　MMX says it will be fighting these totally baseless charges. That adds it to a growing list of Brazilian firms battling the tax authorities over huge sums. The previous day Natura, a direct-sales cosmetics firm, said it was disputing 630m reais in federal sales taxes. In December Fibria, a paper-and-pulp firm, and Santos Brasil, a port operator, said they were being chased for 1.7 billion and 330m reais, respectively, in corporate income tax and social security. None of the four companies has made loss provisions; all say they regard the risk of having to pay as remote.

　　巴西的稅收爭議就如同比基尼或者桑巴一樣普遍。國家控股的石油巨頭-巴西石油公司正在同一項與1999年到2002年租借石油平臺一事相關(guān)的價值48億雷亞爾的賬單抗?fàn)?采礦巨頭Vale同海外收入稅總價305億雷亞爾的4項賬單以及30億雷亞爾版稅抗?fàn)帯Ｒ陨蟽杉夜就悇?wù)機(jī)關(guān)的抗?fàn)幊掷m(xù)多年，最后訴諸公堂。圣保羅一家法律事務(wù)所-馬托斯費里奧律師事務(wù)所的律師Andrea Bazzo說爭議數(shù)額越來越大，原因很簡單，因為巴西的大公司越來越多。這些事件也變得越來越普遍，因為變成電子存檔之后更易查出錯誤。犯錯痛苦而簡單。世界銀行認(rèn)為巴西的稅收名目是全世界最復(fù)雜的。

　　Tax disputes are as Brazilian as string bikinis or samba. Petrobras, a state-controlled oil giant, is fighting a bill for 4.8 billion reais relating to the leasing of oil platforms between 1999 and 2002. Vale, a mining giant, is fighting four bills totalling 30.5 billion reais for tax on its foreign earnings and another for 3 billion reais in royalties. Both battles have lasted years and ended up in court. The amounts under dispute are getting bigger, says Andrea Bazzo of Mattos Filho Advogados, a So Paulo law firm, simply because there are more big Brazilian firms. They are more common because a shift to electronic filing makes errors easier to spot. Erring is painfully easy: the World Bank rates Brazils tax code as the worlds most complicated.

　　另一家法律事務(wù)所Pinheiro Neto的律師 Luiz Peroba 稱：稅務(wù)工作者一旦發(fā)現(xiàn)可能的錯誤便立刻發(fā)布違規(guī)報告，而不是直接同公司聯(lián)系。即使收益并未減少，解釋并不成立，也如此操作。大自然公司說到最近一期 同公司結(jié)構(gòu)有關(guān)的爭議。其商業(yè)與工業(yè)分公司自從1994年分開一直沒變，但2005年卻收到了相似的賬單，這一爭議最后勝訴。

　　Tax officials generally issue infraction notices as soon as they spot a potential mistake, says Luiz Peroba of Pinheiro Neto, another law firm, rather than discussing it directly with the firm. This is true even if there has been no loss of revenueand even if their interpretation is unlikely to prevail. Natura says its latest dispute relates to its company structure, with a split between its commercial and industrial arms, which has not changed since 1994. It received a similar bill in 2005, which it disputed successfully.

　　這些違規(guī)通知包括利息以及75%的罰款。若錯誤得到證實，罰款變?yōu)?50%，數(shù)額龐大，無力支付。比如MMX公司最近的爭議賬單是其總市值的90%。因此公司只能抗?fàn)帲瑒e無選擇。若是走到對簿公堂這一步，輕而易舉的就打發(fā)了15年。

　　Such infraction notices include interest and a penalty of 75%, or 150% if fraud is suspected. That often makes them unpayably vast: MMXs disputed bill is 90% of its entire market value. So firms have little choice but to fight, which can easily take 15 years if the argument ends up in court.

　　Peroba先生說，相比總體的負(fù)擔(dān)，外商更擔(dān)心巴西稅收的復(fù)雜以及不可預(yù)測性。本 國公司認(rèn)為長期的稅收爭斗是經(jīng)營的另一項花費。不過幾乎沒有人擔(dān)憂稅務(wù)人員會讓自己破產(chǎn)。近幾年，政府通過幾項稅收大赦政策，大幅度削減利息，罰金，并且 允許分期支付違約金。Peroba先生說，除非進(jìn)行稅收改革，否則大赦是唯一保持稅收系統(tǒng)運行的方法。巴西人知道會不時受到這些賬單，即使最終必須支付 也不會是全部金額。

　　Foreign businesses worry more about the complexity and unpredictability of Brazils taxes than the total burden, says Mr Peroba. Locals regard long tax battles as just another cost of doing business; few worry that the taxman will bankrupt them. In recent years the government has passed several tax amnesties, slashing interest and fines and letting infractors pay in instalments. Without tax reforms, amnesties are the only way to keep the system going, says Mr Peroba. Brazilians know these bills will come from time to time, and if they eventually have to pay it wont be the full amount.

　　篇章：巴西稅收的不確定性

　　Brazilian firms fight huge and unpredictable tax bills

　　2023年年中，巴西首富?？税偷偎顾纳虡I(yè)帝國受到?jīng)_擊。他所控股的巴西油氣公司稱井源產(chǎn)油比預(yù)期少。到年底，巴蒂斯塔的資產(chǎn)減少了三分之二，變?yōu)?24億美元。目前，他又遭受一個打擊。1月8日，他的采礦公司MMX被要求為其2007年的活動支付38億雷亞爾的賬單，包括公司收入稅，社會保險，利息以及罰款。

　　IN MID-2023 Eike Batista, until recently Brazils richest man, saw his empire battered. OGX, an oil firm he controls, said its wells were less productive than it had thought. By the end of the year Mr Batistas fortune fell by two-thirds, to $12.4 billion. Now he is under attack on another flank. On January 8th MMX, his mining company, said it had been handed a bill relating to its activities in 2007, for 3.8 billion reais for corporate income tax and social security, plus interest and fines.

　　MMX公司堅持將同這些完全毫無根據(jù)的收費抗?fàn)?。同?dāng)?shù)囟悇?wù)機(jī)構(gòu)有大額數(shù)目爭議的巴西公司又多了一家。在前一天，巴西一家化妝品直銷公司- 大自然公司宣稱對6.3億雷亞爾的聯(lián)邦銷售稅有異議。十二月，巴西紙漿公司Fibria以及物流公司Santos Brasil也分別被追討17億雷亞爾與3.3億雷亞爾的公司所得稅。四家公司均沒有漏繳，也宣稱不可能支付。

　　MMX says it will be fighting these totally baseless charges. That adds it to a growing list of Brazilian firms battling the tax authorities over huge sums. The previous day Natura, a direct-sales cosmetics firm, said it was disputing 630m reais in federal sales taxes. In December Fibria, a paper-and-pulp firm, and Santos Brasil, a port operator, said they were being chased for 1.7 billion and 330m reais, respectively, in corporate income tax and social security. None of the four companies has made loss provisions; all say they regard the risk of having to pay as remote.

　　巴西的稅收爭議就如同比基尼或者桑巴一樣普遍。國家控股的石油巨頭-巴西石油公司正在同一項與1999年到2002年租借石油平臺一事相關(guān)的價值48億雷亞爾的賬單抗?fàn)?采礦巨頭Vale同海外收入稅總價305億雷亞爾的4項賬單以及30億雷亞爾版稅抗?fàn)?。以上兩家公司同稅?wù)機(jī)關(guān)的抗?fàn)幊掷m(xù)多年，最后訴諸公堂。圣保羅一家法律事務(wù)所-馬托斯費里奧律師事務(wù)所的律師Andrea Bazzo說爭議數(shù)額越來越大，原因很簡單，因為巴西的大公司越來越多。這些事件也變得越來越普遍，因為變成電子存檔之后更易查出錯誤。犯錯痛苦而簡單。世界銀行認(rèn)為巴西的稅收名目是全世界最復(fù)雜的。

　　Tax disputes are as Brazilian as string bikinis or samba. Petrobras, a state-controlled oil giant, is fighting a bill for 4.8 billion reais relating to the leasing of oil platforms between 1999 and 2002. Vale, a mining giant, is fighting four bills totalling 30.5 billion reais for tax on its foreign earnings and another for 3 billion reais in royalties. Both battles have lasted years and ended up in court. The amounts under dispute are getting bigger, says Andrea Bazzo of Mattos Filho Advogados, a So Paulo law firm, simply because there are more big Brazilian firms. They are more common because a shift to electronic filing makes errors easier to spot. Erring is painfully easy: the World Bank rates Brazils tax code as the worlds most complicated.

　　另一家法律事務(wù)所Pinheiro Neto的律師 Luiz Peroba 稱：稅務(wù)工作者一旦發(fā)現(xiàn)可能的錯誤便立刻發(fā)布違規(guī)報告，而不是直接同公司聯(lián)系。即使收益并未減少，解釋并不成立，也如此操作。大自然公司說到最近一期 同公司結(jié)構(gòu)有關(guān)的爭議。其商業(yè)與工業(yè)分公司自從1994年分開一直沒變，但2005年卻收到了相似的賬單，這一爭議最后勝訴。

　　Tax officials generally issue infraction notices as soon as they spot a potential mistake, says Luiz Peroba of Pinheiro Neto, another law firm, rather than discussing it directly with the firm. This is true even if there has been no loss of revenueand even if their interpretation is unlikely to prevail. Natura says its latest dispute relates to its company structure, with a split between its commercial and industrial arms, which has not changed since 1994. It received a similar bill in 2005, which it disputed successfully.

　　這些違規(guī)通知包括利息以及75%的罰款。若錯誤得到證實，罰款變?yōu)?50%，數(shù)額龐大，無力支付。比如MMX公司最近的爭議賬單是其總市值的90%。因此公司只能抗?fàn)帲瑒e無選擇。若是走到對簿公堂這一步，輕而易舉的就打發(fā)了15年。

　　Such infraction notices include interest and a penalty of 75%, or 150% if fraud is suspected. That often makes them unpayably vast: MMXs disputed bill is 90% of its entire market value. So firms have little choice but to fight, which can easily take 15 years if the argument ends up in court.

　　Peroba先生說，相比總體的負(fù)擔(dān)，外商更擔(dān)心巴西稅收的復(fù)雜以及不可預(yù)測性。本 國公司認(rèn)為長期的稅收爭斗是經(jīng)營的另一項花費。不過幾乎沒有人擔(dān)憂稅務(wù)人員會讓自己破產(chǎn)。近幾年，政府通過幾項稅收大赦政策，大幅度削減利息，罰金，并且 允許分期支付違約金。Peroba先生說，除非進(jìn)行稅收改革，否則大赦是唯一保持稅收系統(tǒng)運行的方法。巴西人知道會不時受到這些賬單，即使最終必須支付 也不會是全部金額。

　　Foreign businesses worry more about the complexity and unpredictability of Brazils taxes than the total burden, says Mr Peroba. Locals regard long tax battles as just another cost of doing business; few worry that the taxman will bankrupt them. In recent years the government has passed several tax amnesties, slashing interest and fines and letting infractors pay in instalments. Without tax reforms, amnesties are the only way to keep the system going, says Mr Peroba. Brazilians know these bills will come from time to time, and if they eventually have to pay it wont be the full amount.