What to do if you fall into the Income Tax trap? Find out how to escape and what the consequences are

LUIS LIMA JR/FOTOARENA//ESTADÃO CONTÚDO
When a taxpayer falls prey to the Lion's fine-toothed comb, it means he made a mistake while filling out his Income Tax declaration.

Annually, citizens living in Brazil and receiving income above R$ 28,559.70 per year must declare the Income tax. And a fear that afflicts many people is that of falling into thin mesh of the Lion — which is not an uncommon situation. According to IRS, 1,032,279 taxpayers were caught by the tax authorities in 2022, around 2.7% of the total. But what does this actually mean and how to avoid having the declaration in the tax system? To better understand the subject, the Young pan spoke to some experts to clarify the matter. According to Eduardo Dias, auditor partner at Russell Bedford Brasil, falling into the fine mesh means that the Federal Revenue identified inconsistencies in the Income Tax declaration, whether an individual or legal entity. Situations that can lead to a fine-meshed notification are related to discrepancies that can occur due to incorrect values, omissions of income, incorrect registration information, discrepancies between the information presented by the paying source and the source that declared the income taxable by IR, among others. situations. “It may also happen that the Federal Revenue Service withholds the declaration due to a lack of documents that prove the information declared”, he explains.

CEO of Spot Finance, Nátaly Zamaro highlights that falling through the cracks does not mean that the taxpayer is committing a crime. “Often, people end up becoming desperate just thinking about it. Of course, it's not a nice process, but the main thing is that it almost always occurs due to some inconsistency in the declaration. Then, the Federal Revenue will notify the taxpayer so that he can correct the error”, he indicates. Pension manager at Fundação Celesc de Seguridade Social (Celos), Mirian Corrêa da Silva provides examples of common situations that lead people to fall through the cracks. “When a person takes proof of income and, when typing, they make a mistake or reverse the source's CNPJ, or put a value in the wrong place. This means that the information that comes to us is not the same as what the paying source is reporting. Another situation is when the taxpayer has a child who works in a company and receives income. When filling out the declaration, in addition to his medical expenses, you need to include the income he also received. One point of attention is medical expenses arising from health plans. You have a son and a nephew and pay for their health insurance. If your nephew is not your income tax dependent, you cannot deduct this amount”, he explains.

In case of a problem with the declaration, the Federal Revenue Service will send a notification to the taxpayer, but people can also directly check possible pending issues on the website. To do this, simply access the e-CAC electronic system, select the option “My Income Tax (DIRPF Extract)” and, in the “Processing” tab, choose the item “Pending Mesh” to find out if the declaration is under Lion's supervision. If there are pending issues to be resolved, the taxpayer must complete an Income Tax rectification declaration and, if necessary, presenting documents to the Tax Authorities that prove that everything is correct with the declaration presented. If the declaration falls through the cracks and is corrected, nothing happens to the taxpayer. “All of this can be done through the same program used to send the first declaration. It is important to note that the refund is held until the necessary corrections are made. In other words, the sooner the problem is resolved, the better. And, even with the rectification, when the taxpayer owes taxes, he needs to pay a fine to the Federal Revenue Service. If the rectification is not carried out, or it is considered insufficient, the Federal Revenue Service may charge the tax due plus a fine of 75% on the total amount and interest”, says Mirian. In addition to the fine of R$ 165.74 plus 1% per day of delay, depending on the situation, the taxpayer may be denounced for the crime of tax evasion, prevented from holding public office, prohibited from obtaining a passport and even opening a bank account.

Eduardo Dias also informs that, if the taxpayer does not seek to resolve the situation, he will be included in the Informative Register of Unpaid Credits of State Bodies and Entities (Cadin).”If the Federal Revenue identifies an attempt at fraud in the declaration, the fine increases to 150% on the tax due. If the taxpayer does not respond to the summons to provide clarification, the fine can reach 225%. Finally, if he does not send the declaration, maintaining pending issues with the Federal Revenue Service, his CPF may be linked in an irregular situation. However, if the taxpayer is certain that there is no error in their declaration, it is possible to provide clarifications to the Federal Revenue Service and prove, through documentation and official records, the veracity of the information provided in the Income Tax declaration”, he points out. . Nátaly Zamaro advises that people control all financial information and not try to hide information. “Everything is crossed and verified. We must control what we do throughout the year, and not try to remember it at the time of declaration. You need to know which doctors we went to, if we had any extra work. This is essential so that we don’t forget anything, there are no inconsistencies and we avoid the Lion’s bite.”

Tips to avoid falling into the Revenue’s fine mesh

1. Always have your documents at hand;
2. Be careful with typing errors;
3. Exempt income also needs to be declared;
4. Be careful when declaring your dependents;
5. Always inform the real value of your assets;
6. Enter your bank account balances correctly;
7. Track the status of your declaration;
8. Don't confuse IRRF with your total income tax;
9. Private retirement: do not confuse VGBL (Free Benefit Generating Life) with PGBL (Free Benefit Generating Plan);
10. Always have proof of medical expenses;
11. Do not declare the thirteenth salary with other income;
12. Report your stock investments correctly;
13. Declare your investments exempt;
14. Have good financial control.