Brazil to launch program to boost industrial machinery renewal – minister

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil will launch a program this week to encourage companies to update their machinery and acquire more modern equipment to increase productivity, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Tuesday.

After meeting with acting President Geraldo Alckmin, Haddad told reporters they discussed “a commitment we have to the industry to allow entrepreneurs to deduct (machinery) depreciation from income tax more rapidly than the law currently allows.”

The current tax code allows companies to deduct capital goods purchases gradually as the asset depreciates.

Vice President Alckmin had long been discussing the program as a promise from the leftist government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to boost the industry.

By Thursday, the government will send to Congress measures to offset the fiscal impact of an approved bill that extended payroll tax exemptions for 17 sectors until 2027, Haddad said.