On November 27, 2015, it was published in the Official Gazette the State Law No. 7,116/2015, approved by the Governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro, establishing the Amnesty Program to waive or reduce penalties and interest related to tax and non tax debts already enrolled. The Program is also applicable to: (i) ICMS substitution regime debts; (ii) penalties related to non compliance with ancillary obligations; (iii) other non tax debts not enrolled; (iv) remaining balance related to previous installment programs.

The amnesty program applies to all debts in which the tax event occurred up to October 31, 2015. Partial payments of debts under the same assessment or debt note are not allowed.

The payment of the debts which the amount is up to R$ 10,000.000.00 (R$ 10 million) might be made as follows:

(i) in a lump sum, with 100% of reduction of both fines and interest;

(ii) up to 60 installments, with reduction of 80% of fine and interests;

(iii) regarding debts related to non compliance with ancillary obligations, with reduction of 35% or 15% of penalty and interest, in a cash basis or installment payment, respectively;

(iv) each installment must be superior than R$ 500,00, in case the taxpayer is a legal entity.

In respect of the debts amounts superior than R$ 10,000.000.00 (R$ 10 million) the installment payment is authorized, without any reduction of fine and interest.

The debts and installments of legal entities from the same economic group can be unified. The installment amount will be established based on the gross revenue of the previous month, not inferior than 2% , respecting the minimum of 100.000 UFIR-RJ per installment.

Regarding manufacturing or trading group established by limited companies, individual company with limited responsibility, or close market, enrolled at the State of Rio de Janeiro, it is possible to consolidate the debt into only one State Enrolment, in order to comply with the percentage of the gross revenue.

It is important to stress that all companies of the group are joint debtor of the consolidated amounts, according to section 124 of Brazilian Tax Code.

The instalment adoption subjects the debtors to several conditions, such as: (i) authorization of unlimited access to information regarding its financial transactions, occurred from the instalment request date; and (ii) tax specific monitoring procedure, with periodic information to be provided through magnetic file.

Finally, the judicial deposits and other judicial guarantees associated to the debts to be direct paid or under instalments cannot be used in order to benefit from the amnesty program.

The final date for application purposes is December 18, 2015, being possible to postpone it for more four months.

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Founded in 2001, Tauil & Chequer Advogados is a full service law firm with approximately 90 lawyers and offices in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Vitória. T&C represents local and international businesses on their domestic and cross-border activities and offers clients the full range of legal services including: corporate and M&A; debt and equity capital markets; banking and finance; employment and benefits; environmental; intellectual property; litigation and dispute resolution; restructuring, bankruptcy and insolvency; tax; and real estate. The firm has a particularly strong and longstanding presence in the energy, oil and gas and infrastructure industries as well as with pension and investment funds. In December 2009, T&C entered into an agreement to operate in association with Mayer Brown LLP and become "Tauil & Chequer Advogados in association with Mayer Brown LLP."

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This article provides information and comments on legal issues and developments of interest. The foregoing is not a comprehensive treatment of the subject matter covered and is not intended to provide legal advice. Readers should seek specific legal advice before taking any action with respect to the matters discussed herein.