The federal government announced a possible important change for investors in Real Estate Credit Letters (LCI) and Agribusiness Credit Letters (LCA). Currently exempt from Income Tax (IR), these investments may become taxable starting in 2026, as announced by the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad.
What are LCI and LCA?
LCIs and LCAs are fixed income securities issued by financial institutions. When investing in these securities, the investor is essentially lending money to the real estate sector (LCI) or the agribusiness sector (LCA). The return can be fixed or linked to indexes such as the CDI or the IPCA, and the capital can only be redeemed after a set period, at the risk of losses in case of early withdrawal.
Currently, these investments are quite attractive because they offer returns exempt from Income Tax, which can increase the net gain for the investor.
What will change?
With the provisional measure under discussion, the government intends to end this exemption by applying a fixed rate of 5% on the earnings of LCIs and LCAs. The taxation is expected to apply only to investments made from the date of promulgation of the measure.
In addition, the government is considering changes in other areas, such as increasing the tax rate on betting (from 12% to 18%) and expanding the Social Contribution on Net Profit (CSLL). The creation of a single tax rate of 17.5% for Income Tax on financial investments is also being evaluated, unifying the current graduated rates, which range from 15% to 22.5% depending on the investment term.
And now, what to do?
Given the still uncertain information and the possibility of changes during the processing in Congress, experts recommend that investors maintain their current strategies. "It is difficult to predict what the final package will look like after negotiations," highlights Julio Ortiz, CEO and founding partner of CX3 Investimentos.
Therefore, it is not advisable to make hasty changes to investments in LCI and LCA until there is clarity on the details of the new taxation.
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