President Lula at the May Day events in Sao Paulo this Monday. NELSON ALMEIDA (AFP)
40% of Brazilians who paid income tax last year don’t have to do so this campaign thanks to a decree signed this Sunday, the eve of Workers’ Day, by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who forged his career as a union leader has . In a televised address, the President announced a tax break for low-income taxpayers. Those who earn less than 2,640 reais (480 euros) per month are exempt from reporting. Lula also announced that the minimum wage will increase by 20 reais to 1,320. The leader of the Brazilian left took part in the May Day events in São Paulo this Monday, where he defended equal pay for men and women.
Both measures have a broad impact and are strengthening the left-wing profile of a government that is primarily supported by Lula’s Labor Party (PT). The exemption from income tax affects 13 million taxpayers. And the increase in the minimum wage directly or indirectly affects 25% of Brazilians, according to O Globo newspaper calculations based on official data.
Hours after Lula announced that tax cut, his predecessor, far-right Jair Bolsonaro, made his first public appearance in Brazil since leaving the presidency and returning from the United States a month ago. Acclaimed by his supporters, the former president has attended one of the largest agricultural fairs in the country alongside São Paulo governor Tarcísio de Freitas, the Bolsonarista, who stands the best chance of succeeding him as right-wing leader if he is of the Participation in the upcoming elections excluded. “We are a great country and we can become an agricultural superpower,” the former president proclaimed, reports Portal.
The Riberão Preto Agrishow (300 kilometers from São Paulo) invited Bolsonaro and withdrew the invitation to the Minister of Agriculture. Agriculture is the engine of Brazil’s economy and one of the sectors most supportive of the far-right leader.
President Jair Bolsonaro this Monday at the Agrishow agricultural fair in Riberão Preto, São Paulo, his first public appearance in Brazil since leaving power. CARLA CARNIEL (Portal)
The judicial investigation he is facing has kept Bolsonaro quite busy since his return from Florida, he has already had to give a statement to the police about his role in the Brasilia coup and about the Saudi jewels he wanted to appropriate.
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Lula’s financial announcement is a gesture to a section of the electorate who opposes him because it has swung to the right in recent years, but at the same time puts additional pressure on public finances as Congress has yet to approve the proposed new spending rule from the Government to replace spending cap that Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly skipped.
The government intends to offset the public coffers impact of the tax exemption for lower wages by taxing the benefits of foreign investment made through applications.
Lula decided to add solemnity to the announcement made on Sunday, the eve of May Day. Because in the four months since he came to power he dedicated his first speech on a national network to them (a speech that all television and radio stations are obliged to broadcast).
With this exemption and the small increase in the minimum wage, the leader of the Brazilian left wants workers to have more money to spend and stimulate the economy at a time when interest rates are hovering around 13.75%.
In his televised address, the President underlined his commitment that by the end of his term in 2026, all wages below 5,000 reais per month will be income-free. It was one of his big campaign promises, as was raising the minimum wage annually above inflation, which didn’t happen throughout Bolsonaro’s tenure.
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