Analysis of the tax break policies in Brazilian municipalities: the case of the installation of Grendene Company in Teixeira de Freitas Municipality

Abstract

Tax incentives are mechanisms used by the State to attract new investments for generating economic growth in its region. However, no one knows for sure if the granting of such benefits actually creates growth for the regions and income for the population. In this context, this study aims at identifying whether the tax incentive policies adopted by the city of Teixeira de Freitas, Bahia State, Brazil, for installing the Grendene S.A. company (Brazilian company of shoe manufacturing) has brought economic growth to the city and generated income for the population. For this purpose, documentary analysis and statistical methods were used. Variables that are influenced by the tax incentive granting, such as Gross domestic product-GDP, admissions and dismissals in the period, industries' behavior, collection and transfer of Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS-Imposto sobre Circulação de Mercadorias e Serviços), and Exercise Tax (IPI-Imposto sobre Produtos Industrializados) transfer were analyzed, as well as the recent survey on the profile of Brazilian municipalities made by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE-Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística). Overall, the data showed economic growth of the studied municipality, which tends to confirm the theoretical premise that the tax incentives effectively generate economic growth. However, it cannot be stated only based on this research that this growth was generated by tax incentives. In this sense, this study contributes to put this matter into evidence and encourage further research.