Itau, Santander, Citi strike deals to end Brazilian tax disputes

By Marcela Ayres and Bernardo Caram

BRASILIA, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Brazil’s National Treasury Attorney General’s Office (PGFN) has reached settlement deals with lenders Itau, Santander Brasil and Citi that resulted in about 2.4 billion reais ($458 million) in tax payments in recent weeks. 

Mariana Lellis, PGFN’s chief negotiation coordinator, said the figure reflects net payments after average discounts of 21% on fines, interest and penalties. 

The agreements end court battles that had dragged on for years and deliver a direct boost to federal fiscal results. The total could rise as roughly 70 settlement requests from companies remain under PGFN review.

The latest deals were negotiated under the Integral Settlement Program (PTI), whose proposal deadline closed in December, though outstanding requests are still being analyzed.

Discounts ranged from 10% to 30%, based on the likelihood of recovering the debt, the stage and duration of litigation and the government’s chances in court.

“There is a much larger universe of financial institutions and a much larger stock of debt,” Lellis said, referring to cases still pending assessment.

In disputes over the now-defunct financial transactions tax (CPMF), Santander Brasil paid about 1 billion reais after discounts, while Citi paid roughly 400 million reais.

Itau’s cases involved PIS and Cofins taxes on financial revenues. Although the government won on the issue at the Supreme Court, the lack of a final ruling on the modulation of effects led PGFN to seek settlements. 

Itau’s agreement also covered income tax and CSLL liabilities, totaling about 1 billion reais.

PGFN also settled a PIS/Cofins tax dispute with smaller regional development bank Banco de Desenvolvimento de Minas Gerais (BDMG), which paid about 140 million reais.

All four institutions paid in cash between late December and early this year.

Itau said it in a statement that it “maintains ongoing dialogue with the competent authorities and uses the legal instruments available for resolving tax disputes, always with full transparency and compliance with current legislation”.

The other banks did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

($1 = 5.2387 reais)

(Reporting by Marcela Ayres and Bernardo Caram. Editing by Mark Porter and Mark Potter)