IMPACTO NO CONTRABANDO DE CIGARROS DEVIDO DIFERENCIAÇÃO TRIBUTÁRIA ENTRE BRASIL E PARAGUAI

Abstract

In 2019, Paraguay produced 2.5 billion cigarette packs. Domestic consumption was estimated at 371 million and around 300 million cigarette packs were exported to Latin America. Accounting for these amounts, we are left with the question: where did more than 1.8 billion cigarette packs go?  Due to the profits from cigarette smuggling, especially to Brazil, organized crime - OrCrim - has set up a structure using the labor of residents of the triple border between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. These residents carry out the activities of loading cigarettes onto boats and vehicles, transportation and monitoring the activities of public security forces in order to succeed in committing the crime. In addition, according to seizures made by the Polícia Rodoviária Federal (PRF), the vehicles used have been stolen or stolen and have cloned license plates. Among the possible causes and solutions is the tax differential between Brazil and Paraguay. This difference in taxation causes tax evasion, increased demand on the Unified Health System (SUS) and financial losses of billions of reais a year. The purpose of this study is to find out: what is the impact on cigarette smuggling due to the tax differential between Brazil and Paraguay?