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

LUIS LIMA JR/FOTOARENA//ESTADÃO CONTENT
When a taxpayer falls under the Lion's fine-tooth comb, it means that he made a mistake when filling out the Income Tax return.

Annually, citizens who live in Brazil and receive 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 that actually mean and how to avoid having the declaration in the tax grid? To better understand the matter, the Young pan spoke with some experts to clarify the matter. According to Eduardo Dias, audit partner at Russell Bedford Brasil, falling into the fine mesh means that the Federal Revenue has identified inconsistencies in the Income Tax declaration, whether natural or legal person. Situations that can lead to a fine mesh notification are related to divergences that can occur due to incorrect values, omissions of income, incorrect registration information, divergences between the information presented by the paying source and the source that declared the income taxable by the IR, among others situations. "It can also happen that the Federal Revenue withholds the declaration due to lack of documents that prove the declared information", he clarifies.

CEO of Spot Finance, Nátaly Zamaro points out that falling into fine mesh does not mean that the taxpayer is committing a crime. “Often, people end up getting desperate just thinking about it. Of course, it's not a nice process, but the main thing is that it almost always happens due to some inconsistency in the statement. Then, the Federal Revenue Service will notify the taxpayer so that he can correct the error”, he indicates. Pension manager at the Celesc Social Security Foundation (Celos), Mirian Corrêa da Silva adds examples of common situations that lead people to fall into the fine mesh. “When the person takes the proof of income and, when typing, they make a mistake or reverse the CNPJ of the source, or put an amount 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 son who works in a company and receives income. When filling out the statement, in addition to his medical expenses, you need to include the income he also received. A point of attention is medical expenses from health plans. You have a son and a nephew and you pay for their health insurance. If your nephew is not your dependent on Income Tax, you cannot deduct this amount”, he exemplifies.

In case of any problem in the declaration, the Federal Revenue will forward a notification to the taxpayer, but people can also directly check possible pendencies through the website. To do so, simply access the e-CAC electronic system, select the option “My Income Tax (DIRPF Extract)” and, in the “Processing” tab, choose the item “Pendências de Mesh” to find out if the declaration is under Lion supervision. If there are pending issues to be resolved, the taxpayer must complete an Income Tax rectification statement and, if necessary, submitting documents to the Tax Authorities that prove that everything is correct with the declaration submitted. If the statement falls into the fine mesh and is corrected, nothing happens to the taxpayer. “All of this can be done through the same program used to send the first statement. It is important to point out that the refund is stuck until the necessary corrections are made. That is, the sooner the problem is resolved, the better. And, even with the rectification, when the taxpayer owes taxes, he has to pay a fine to the Federal Revenue Service. If the correction is not made, or if it is considered insufficient, the Federal Revenue can charge the tax due plus 75% of fine on the total amount and interest”, indicates Mirian. In addition to a fine of R$ 165.74 plus 1% per day of delay, depending on the situation, the taxpayer can be denounced for the crime of tax evasion, be prevented from taking 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, it will be included in the Informative Register of Unpaid Credits from State Bodies and Entities (Cadin).” If the Federal Revenue identifies an attempt at fraud in the declaration, the fine rises to 150% on the tax due. If the taxpayer does not respond to the subpoena to provide clarification, the fine can reach 225%. Finally, if he does not send the declaration, maintaining the pendencies with the Federal Revenue, his CPF may be linked in an irregular situation. However, if the taxpayer is sure that there is no error in his statement, it is possible to provide clarification to the Federal Revenue and prove, through official documentation and records, the veracity of the information provided in the Income Tax declaration”, points out . Nátaly Zamaro advises people to control all financial information and not try to hide information. “Everything is cross-checked and verified. We must control what we do already during the year, and not try to remember at the time of the 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 avoid the Lion's bite.”

Tips for not falling into the fine mesh of Recipe

1. Always have your documents at hand;
2. Watch out for typos;
3. Exempt income also needs to be declared;
4. Be careful when declaring your dependents;
5. Always inform the real value of your goods;
6. Inform the balance of your bank accounts correctly;
7. Track the status of your statement;
8. Do not 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 your proof of medical expenses;
11. Do not declare the thirteenth salary with other income;
12. Inform your stock investments correctly;
13. Declare your investments exempt;
14. Have good financial control.