indiretos

Indiretos is a term used in tax policy to refer to taxes whose burden falls on consumption rather than directly on income or wealth. In many Portuguese-speaking countries, impostos indiretos are taxes on goods and services collected at points of sale or production and remitted to the government by intermediaries such as manufacturers, retailers, or service providers. The ultimate economic burden is on the final consumer, while the taxpayer of record is the business.

Common examples include value-added tax (VAT) or sales tax and specific excise taxes. In Brazil, indirect taxes include ICMS (Imposto sobre Circulação de Mercadorias e Serviços), IPI (Imposto sobre Produtos Industrializados) and ISS (Imposto sobre Serviços). Indiretos contrast with impostos diretos (direct taxes) such as income tax, property tax, or corporate tax, where the tax is levied directly on individuals or organizations based on income or wealth.

Impact and policy considerations: Indiretos provide a broad revenue base and can be easier to collect since they are embedded in prices. However, they tend to be more regressive, as lower-income households typically spend a larger share of their income on taxed goods and services. They can influence consumer behavior, inflation, and price competitiveness. Administratively, they centralize collection through sellers, but exemptions, rates, and special regimes can complicate compliance and create distortions.

In practice, indirect taxation is a core component of fiscal policy, used to raise revenue, influence behavior, and subsidize public services, often alongside direct taxes in a diversified tax system.