Consulting firms that promise easy solutions to tax debts put businesses at risk

Altair Heitor warns of signs of fraud in tax offsets and installment proposals

Consulting firms offering unrealistic promises of tax compensation should be viewed with caution. The abuse of fictitious credits, as highlighted in recent Federal Revenue investigations, reveals a disturbing pattern of simulations without any documentary or technical support.

“If the proposition sounds too good to be true, it’s probably a lie. Tax credits are not made up, they are proven with solid documentation and technical analysis. And what the IRS is investigating now is exactly the opposite, offsets made based on fictitious credits and unsupported simulations,” says Altair Heitor, CFO of consulting firm Palin & Martins.

The alarm directly reflects the operation announced this week by the Federal Revenue Service of Aracaju, which identified R$ 200 million in tax fraud involving 30 municipalities in Sergipe.

The scams occurred through Declarations of Compensation (DCOMP) used to pay off social security debts confessed via DCTFWeb, with credits that, according to the Revenue Agency, simply did not exist. The fake offsets involved old payment guides (GPS) and attempted to validate Social Security credits that were not supported by the federal revenue system’s own systems.

For Altair, cases like this expose the real risk that public and private managers will outsource tax responsibility to consultancies without technical support. “The problem begins when reason is externalized. The legitimate tax credit does not appear in miracle spreadsheets. It is the result of precise accounting, controls and complete documentation. When this is replaced by promises already made, the taxpayer takes on serious legal risk,” he warns.

How to identify safe advice?

The expert recommends that companies and municipalities adopt rigorous technical criteria when choosing the subjects who will provide tax advice. “No serious consultancy guarantees automatic success in tax compensation. What can be guaranteed is the quality of the technical process, documentary analysis and compliance with legislation. Otherwise it is an illusion or a fraud.”

Among the main measures Altair suggests: verifying the history of the company and its technical partners; request formal opinions with detailed calculations; be wary of proposals based exclusively on success clauses without prior verification; and ensure the contract includes clear clauses on technical responsibility and support in case of tax issues.

Danger signs

For Altair there are classic signs that something is wrong with the tax compensation proposal. The main ones include promises of immediate regularization without any prior documentary analysis, proposals based on accumulated credits that are not certified or originating from third parties, the disregard of formal validation protocols with state or federal tax authorities and, furthermore, the absence of clear contractual clauses on the technical responsibility of the operation. These signals, according to him, should raise an immediate alarm for any public or private manager.

Legal consequences

In addition to the financial risk, the abuse of compensation can lead to criminal sanctions, especially in the case of proven fraud. “Article 142 of the National Tax Code allows the Revenue Agency to review compensation in case of fraud at any time. This means that the problem can arise years later, when the company or municipality is already dependent on the irregularly used credit,” explains Altair.

In the most serious cases, the practice can be considered a crime against the tax system and lead to liability of the directors, loss of mandate, freezing of assets and acts of administrative improbability.

Regularization and caution

The recent approval of PEC 66/2023, which establishes a special installment model for Municipalities, does not automatically regularize previously undue compensation. “Installments are a legitimate form of regularization, but they do not validate previous frauds. If the credit does not exist, the compensation is null and void. And, in this case, the problem only increases,” he says.

The Federal Revenue Agency has already positioned itself to offer technical support to municipalities and has reiterated that the safe path is to seek clarification through official channels. Altair agrees: «The Revenue Agency has the tools to guide taxpayers. Anyone who wants to do it well has something to count on. The error starts when you look for shortcuts off the map.”

For him, the best path always remains the professionalization of tax management. “The culture of tax compliance must be taken seriously. Legitimate tax credit is a benefit. But if built on fraud, it becomes a legal and reputational liability. And this costs much more than any debt to the tax authorities.”

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Source: Terra

Rose

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