Brazil tax collection down 7.1% in April

Brazil's federal tax revenues for April registered its lowest value for the month in six years: $31.3 billion, down 7.1% from the same month last year (official inflation deducted). The figures were released today (May 19) by the Finance Ministry.

In the first four months of the year, tax collection added up to $119.8 billion—a slip of 7.81% from the same period in 2015.

The whys and wherefores

The downturn in the country's economic activity is still the main factor behind the lower tax revenues this year. Among the reasons, Brazil's Revenue Service mentions a 11.68% plunge in the industrial output in the first four months of the year, along with a decline of 9.87% in the sales of goods and services, and a fall of 33.53% in the dollar price of imports. The country's payroll was up 5.68% in the same four-month period.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira