logo
Exclusive: Brazil to establish tax advisory office in China amid deepening ties

Exclusive: Brazil to establish tax advisory office in China amid deepening ties

Reuters5 days ago
BRASILIA, July 21 (Reuters) - Brazil will establish a tax advisory office in China, the Brazilian Finance Ministry said, highlighting the strategic importance of the move as the two nations deepen their ties.
The decision underscores Brazil's growing focus on its relationship with China, its largest trading partner, as tariffs introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump escalate global tensions.
A draft was seen by Reuters of the presidential decree that will create the new post in Beijing, as well as preparatory documents that cite the "growing complexity" of bilateral trade and the need to enhance cooperation on tax and customs matters.
The move coincides with mounting trade tensions between the U.S. and Brazil, after Trump linked fresh 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports to the prosecution of his ally and former President Jair Bolsonaro, leaving limited options for Latin America's largest economy to negotiate a deal.
Tax advisory offices or attaches play a "strategic role" in international cooperation by exchanging information critical to combating tax and customs violations, the ministry said. They also provide technical guidance on Brazilian legislation to foreign investors and citizens abroad, helping to improve legal certainty and the business environment, it added.
While Brazil's trade overtures to the U.S. have gone unanswered so far, relations with China have deepened.
Since taking office in 2023, leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has met with President Xi Jinping three times. The two countries have also agreed to explore transportation integration, including a proposed bi-oceanic rail corridor linking Brazil to the Chinese-built port of Chancay in Peru.
Asked why Brazil is only now establishing a tax office in China - its top trading partner since 2009 - the ministry denied any link to the ongoing trade war.
"There is no political motivation," said the ministry, noting that the initiative reflects the importance of bilateral trade and the need for deeper cooperation on tax and customs issues.
Brazil currently has four tax and customs attachés abroad - in Washington and Buenos Aires, both set up in 2000, and in Asuncion and Montevideo, established in 2002.
The United States remains Brazil's top source of foreign direct investment, while Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay are its Mercosur bloc co-founders.
The Finance Ministry said discussions around the attaché in Beijing began in 2023 and have involved technical reviews by multiple ministries since January 6 this year.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

The tax raids that mean your holiday beers are cheaper than British pints
The tax raids that mean your holiday beers are cheaper than British pints

Telegraph

time8 minutes ago

  • Telegraph

The tax raids that mean your holiday beers are cheaper than British pints

British beer drinkers have been hit with bigger tax raids than anywhere else in Europe over the past six years, The Telegraph can reveal. At 61p per pint of lager, beer excise duties in the UK are among the highest in Europe, and are 9p more than in 2019, according to data from the Tax Foundation. The rate is three times higher than in France, Italy and the Netherlands, which both tax around 19p per pint, and Germany, where consumers pay just 4p. The tax raid contributes to the typically much lower prices holidaymakers will pay for beer on the continent this summer. Whilst the UK has increased duties considerably, most of Europe has kept theirs effectively frozen, with Portugal increasing levies by 4p and France by just a single penny. Exemptions made for draft pints served in pubs reduced duties to around 55p per pint, still almost three times the EU average. Hospitality business leaders warn the combined cost of beer taxes, VAT and Labour's employer National Insurance hike could ultimately see the cost of a pint soar further. The industry has lost 84,000 jobs since the 2024 Autumn Budget, according to the trade body UK Hospitality. Kate Nicholls, the chairman of UK Hospitality, said: 'Beer duty in the UK has been among the highest in Europe, along with our 20% VAT rate for hospitality. 'These taxes and other recently increased business costs, such as the change to employer NICs, will mean that the price of a pint will stay high and potentially become higher, and pubs and bars will have no choice but to pass on costs to customers.' In the Autumn Budget, Rachel Reeves increased the amount employers pay towards National Insurance from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent. The price of a pint has soared by over 28 per cent across the UK since January 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics, with a variety of factors to blame, including inflation and tax. The average price of a pint now stands at £4.83, but this would be just £4.22 without alcohol excise duties, or £4.28 if served in a pub. The figures also hide extreme regional variations, with the average price of a pint in west central London now topping £7.32, according to CGA, a market research company specialising in hospitality. In the EU, minimum beer excise duties are set by Brussels, but the vast majority of EU member states chose to go above this. In Finland, consumers pay roughly 90p per pint of 5 per cent-strength lager, by far the highest in Europe. This is followed by the UK on 61p, Ireland on 55p and Sweden on 48p. At the bottom of the list are Spain, Luxembourg, Germany and Bulgaria, which all charge 4p per pint. The Tax Foundation has monitored duties levied by states since 2019 and just seven states have increased taxes at 1p or higher over the period. Alcohol duties were reformed in 2023, basing them on the strength of the alcohol. This meant tax on certain drinks, such as wine and spirits, increased considerably. Taxes on draught pints were not changed in an attempt to keep prices below supermarket levels. Ms Reeves also cut duties on pints in pubs in the Autumn Budget by 1.7 per cent. But bottled beer served in pubs or bought at supermarkets has not been exempt from tax changes, according to the Tax Foundation's analysis. A spokesperson from HM Treasury said: 'Beer is more affordable in the UK than in much of Europe and in last year's Budget we supported pubs by cutting 1p off duty on draught pints.'

Reeves abandons inheritance tax raid on grieving military families
Reeves abandons inheritance tax raid on grieving military families

Telegraph

time8 minutes ago

  • Telegraph

Reeves abandons inheritance tax raid on grieving military families

Rachel Reeves has abandoned plans to impose new inheritance tax changes on the grieving families of military personnel. The Chancellor has dropped a proposal to tax death in service payments, which are tax-free lump sums given to the families of deceased Armed Forces members. Changes unveiled in the October Budget would have made off-duty death in service payments subject to inheritance tax for the first time, if not going to a spouse or civil partner. It would have meant that children or partners of unmarried servicemen and women would have had to pay death duties on the benefit from April 2027. The Treasury has been forced to abandon the proposals after pressure from Armed Forces organisations, which said the move would have a 'corrosive' effect on trust among servicemen. The Government said that following its consultation, it had decided not to go ahead with the reform. 'Another U-turn' by Labour Mark Francois, the shadow Armed Forces minister, told The Telegraph that he welcomed the decision, 'even though it represents another U-turn by this Labour Government'. He added: 'It was always unfair that married partners of service personnel would be exempted from these changes to inheritance tax liabilities, while unmarried partners, in long-term relationships, would not. 'We highlighted this to ministers, on behalf of service families on multiple occasions and I am pleased for their sake, that common sense has now finally prevailed.' It comes after Ms Reeves's department had to water down proposals to scrap the universal winter fuel payment and reforms to the welfare system. The Government said: 'From 6 April 2027 all death in service benefits payable from registered pension schemes will be out of scope of Inheritance Tax, regardless of whether the scheme is discretionary or non-discretionary.' The HMRC document said that the new plans were 'in line with the broader policy objective of removing inconsistencies in the Inheritance Tax treatment of different types of pension benefits'. Labour 'standing up' for service personnel? Death in service payments are usually a lump sum paid to named beneficiaries of a worker who dies while on the company payroll. It is typically the equivalent of four-times the late individual's salary. For members of the Armed Forces, these are paid whether or not the individual was 'on duty' at the time of their death. Those who die 'on duty' were to continue to benefit from a separate tax-free arrangement on their death in service payments from 2027. But a military worker who dies while technically 'off duty', such as by sudden illness or accident, would have been stung by the proposed inheritance tax rules. Maj Gen Neil Marshall, the chief executive of the Forces Pension Society, told The Telegraph in January that military servicemen and women are unable to put the payment into trust, because they are part of the Armed Forces pension scheme. Labour sought to shore up support from the Armed Forces community at last year's general election, declaring the party would be 'standing up' for service personnel and veterans. The party was successful in winning over voters from military backgrounds, most notably winning in Aldershot, the site of a major garrison, for the first time in more than a century.

Attempt to unseat 24 ‘pro-China' opposition politicians in Taiwan appears to fail
Attempt to unseat 24 ‘pro-China' opposition politicians in Taiwan appears to fail

The Guardian

time38 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

Attempt to unseat 24 ‘pro-China' opposition politicians in Taiwan appears to fail

An unprecedented attempt in Taiwan to unseat 24 'pro-China' opposition politicians and give a parliamentary majority to the ruling party appears to have failed, with early results indicating voters in every seat had rejected the notion. Polls opened on Saturday morning for the first 24 of 31 targeted seats, with voters asked to agree or disagree with a proposal to recall the local legislator and hold a byelection. Polls closed at 4pm local time and within a couple of hours the early results emerged. By 7pm the central election commission said all had failed to pass, reported CNA, the government media outlet. Under the recall laws, for a seat to be vacated the number of voters in favour must be at least 25% of the electorate and outnumber the votes against. All 24 seats, as well as seven yet to hold a recall vote, are held by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), which together with a smaller party has controlled the majority of Taiwan's parliament since the election last year, when Lai Ching-te won the presidency for the Democratic Progressive party (DPP), a pro-sovereignty party that has vowed to push back against China's aggression. The opposition allies used their votes to block DPP bills including defence budgets, freeze court appointments, and propose bills that critics said would weaken Taiwan's defences. The obstructions sparked mass protests from which the recall movement was born. The KMT are likely to be emboldened by their resounding victory on Saturday. A flipping of just six KMT seats could free up president Lai Ching-te and the DPP's agenda, but would also likely see increased hostility from China's ruling Communist party, which despises Lai and his party as 'separatists' for opposing its plan to annex Taiwan. There are a total of 113 seats in the legislature. Seven seats are still to vote on their recall motions in coming weeks, but Saturday's losses will put the pressure on the campaigners to get six to vote 'agree'. William Yang, a senior north asia analyst for the International Crisis Group, said the recall campaign had deepened divisions in Taiwan. 'All sides, including all political parties in Taiwan, will need to seriously reflect on the process of this recall campaign and think about how they may be able to find common ground on issues that are key to Taiwan's security and prosperity,' he said. Yang said it also raised questions about the DPP using the threat posed by China in election campaigning, 'at least at a local level'. 'China may view Saturday's result as a sign that more Taiwanese people are not in favour of the 'China threat' rhetoric promoted by [Lai and the DPP], and this may make them feel like peaceful unification remains a viable option for them to resolve the ultimate 'Taiwan question',' Yang said. 'However, this doesn't also mean that Beijing would dial down the level of military and political pressure that they are imposing on Taiwan.' The unprecedented vote has fired up the island's population, just 18 months after a national election. Large rallies were held in Taipei on the eve of the vote, with tens of thousands turning out to support the two sides. The pro-recall campaign was driven by civil society groups and activists, but since endorsed by the DPP. They had aimed to oust as many as 31 KMT legislators who, they say, are pro-China actors who have risked Taiwan's national security. The KMT denies the accusations. They, like the DPP, oppose annexation by the Communist party of China (CCP), but say the best way to protect the status quo is through friendlier ties with Beijing. The party and its supporters have labelled the recall campaign an anti-democratic power-grab by people who won't accept the results of last year's election. Retaliatory campaigns against DPP seats by the KMT all failed, with dozens of officials arrested over allegedly faking signatures. Senior KMT figures, like party chair Eric Chu, have accused Lai of being a 'dictator' who is 'more communist than the communists, more fascist than the fascists' – comments that were rejected by Lai and criticised by European and Israeli diplomats. Beijing has also denounced the recall campaign. The Taiwan affairs office accused Lai of being a dictator and seeking to achieve 'one-party dominance'. Taiwan's mainland affairs council this week said it was 'evident and clear' that the CCP was trying to interfere in Taiwan's democratic process.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store