Report urges reform of business in Brazil

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Excerpt: Bewildering bureaucracy, endless paperwork and one of the world?s most onerous tax systems mean that thousands of Brazilian businesses can only survive by operating illegally, according to a report published on Wednesday.

The report by the International Finance Corporation finds wide differences among the 13 Brazilian states surveyed but concludes that Brazil needs to radically simplify procedures in order to compete more effectively with other emerging markets.?There is still a big distance between the best Brazil offers and the ease of doing business in cities such as Bangkok and Johannesburg and reforms are necessary,? says the report.

?States should look to combine the best practices inside Brazil ? such as the way the property registry has been computerised in the northern state of Maranh?o, and at the same time look to keep up with the rhythm of reforms in countries like Chile, Vietnam and Slovakia.?

Tax is one of the biggest problems. In one of the most extreme cases the IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank, found that businesses in the state of Rio de Janeiro would face a tax bill equal to more than double their gross profits if they met all their fiscal obligations.

Source: Financial Times (link opens in a new window)