Almost 10% of MEIs have active Union debt

A survey made by the MaisMei application, which helps individual microentrepreneurs (MEI) to perform management tasks, showed that 9,41% of CNPJs of this taxation regime are in active debt. The average value of the MEI debts with Union is R$ 2,574.00, even according to the data analyzed in the CNPJs database registered in MaisMei, which currently has 2.6 million users.

Kalyta Caetano, head of Accounting at MaisMei, explains that when a natural or legal person is in debt with a public body, whether at the Municipal, State or Federal level, she may have this pending written into the active debt after the administrative collection period. In these cases, it is necessary that the MEI regularize as soon as possible, so that the debt does not increase and, finally, the entrepreneur loses his benefits.

“In addition to interest for late payment, this registration results in other penalties to the debtor, including legal collection. It is important to debunk a myth that after five years a debt “caduca”, the debt does not disappear after this period, but the creditor loses the right to collect in court. However, it is not mandatory to remove the debtor's name from the credit protection agencies automatically after 5 years. That is, your company will continue and, to avoid all problems caused by the debt, it is better to make an agreement to settle it”, explains Kalyta Caetano.

Although in most cases it is not impossible to pay debts, as shown by the average, MaisMei identified, in its internal survey, debts that exceed R$ 50 thousand.

MEIs owed to the Union may also have the debt entered in the Active Debt of the municipality or state, depending on the category of the business. Among the penalties, are:

• Cancellation of the CNPJ, which makes it impossible to issue invoices, carry out commercial operations, move company bank accounts, obtain loans and participate in bids.
• Debt linked to the microentrepreneur's CPF, with 20% of increase due to charges;
• Losing social security benefits such as retirement, maternity salary, temporary disability assistance (the old sickness benefit), among others.

Regularization

When the MEI has its debts registered in the Active Debt of the Union, a legal notification is sent to the address registered in the IRS system, which can be by physical (Post) or electronic (Electronic Tax Home (DTE). But for those who want to consult whether or not they are with the debt and understand the modalities and conditions for discharge, just access the portal Regularize (https://www.regularize.pgfn.gov.br/home) or the Open Debt application, both from the Federal Government.

Another free tool that can also be used is the “DIagnostic MEI”, launched by MaisMei. With this resource, the entrepreneur has access to all real issues related to CNPJ, if any. The company also provides legal and accounting advisors to answer questions from individual microentrepreneurs and assist in the regularization process