Manifesto defends the inclusion of firearms and ammunition in the selective tax created by the tax reform

Civil society organizations have signed a document requesting an amendment to the draft bill to mitigate public health impacts

Foto: Tânia Rego / Agência Brasil

In a recently published manifesto, civil society organizations are requesting the inclusion of firearms and ammunition in the selective tax created by the tax reform, currently under processing in Congress through an Ancillary Law Draft Bill (PLP, Projeto de Lei Complementar).

In the text, the organizations argue that the current text of the selective tax determines that it is to be levied “on the production, extraction, commercialization or import of goods that are harmful to health or the environment”. Hence, it would be necessary to include firearms and ammunition in the draft bill.

According to a survey carried out by Instituto Sou da Paz, the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) spent BRL 41 million with firearm injury victims in over 17,000 hospitalizations in 2022 alone. Furthermore, the survey found that the mortality rate for those injured by firearms is 3.4 times larger than the mortality for injuries caused by other instruments, which reveals how they are a blight on health.

The undersigned organizations state in the manifesto that taxation on firearms and ammunition can and should be used as a means to limit access by the population to said goods by raising their prices and, thus, reduce the circulation of these products.