Brazil tax revenue hit lowest point in 6 years

Brazil's federal tax collection totaled 1.29 trillion reais (411 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, the lowest figures registered since 2010, the country's Secretariat of Federal Revenues said on Friday.

According to the Secretariat, tax collection registered a fall of 2.97 percent from 2015, considering the inflation rate in the period.

"We are going through a recession period and this recession is reflected in the tax collection," said representative Claudemir Malaquias. "The 2016 scenario deteriorated in comparison to 2015."

In addition to the general poor performance of the Brazilian economy, Malaquias pointed that the country also imported less in 2016, which affected taxes charged on imported goods.

Furthermore, the collection of taxes for financial operations was lower in 2016 as well, due to the economic deceleration and the shortage of available credit, while unemployment rates also rose during the year, affecting the public's purchasing power. Enditem