Govt. grants tax exemption for PC Connected program

Brazil's government has decided to waive taxes on PCs bought through the PC Connected digital inclusion program, cutting the price for each unit to 1,270 reais (US$477) from 1,400 reais, the communication ministry said in a statement. The taxes affected are the Pis and Cofins social security taxes, which accounted for 9.25% of the former price. The PC Connected program also allows buyers to pay off the purchase in 24 monthly installments of approximately 50 reais after an initial 10% down payment. Furthermore, the government will provide low interest loans of 2% a month for PC purchases through the workers' assistance fund FAT. The PC Connected program will be launched in April and projects annual governmental investments of 200mn reais (US$73.3mn) to subsidize the purchase of computers for low-income groups. The federal government is hoping the program will appeal to 7 million families in socio-economic class C and 1.8 million small and medium-sized companies, according to the communication ministry statement.