According to research from July 2020, the Union's active debt already exceeds R$2.4 trillion relative to defaulting Brazilians. But, how to check my active debts?

It is true that, each year, the number of defaulters grows more and more, especially after the 2020 crisis, amid the pandemic of the new coronavirus.

However, it is not new that the Union's active debt has reached high default rates, but what is this active debt, how does it occur, and what are its consequences? That's what we'll talk about.

That is, all bills that should have been paid to the municipal, state or federal government and were not paid as:

This is because, as taxpayers, we must honor commitments and pay the respective bills, and when we fail to honor them, we become part of a government record.

In this register of debtors, the defaulter's data will be inserted by the government as CPF or CNPJ.

That is, it will be from this register that the government will have all the necessary data to be able to collect the respective debts from taxpayers.

However, for the registration to be carried out, the government will need to inform the Attorney General of the region, as it is the body responsible for issuing the so-called Active Debt Certificate.

So some other examples of how this can happen:

Therefore, this division needs to be respected, so that all data can be stored correctly, and debts calculated in an organized way.

For active debt, there are two categories: Tax and Non-tax, as we will show below.

Law No. 4,320, of March 17, 1964, provides for the definition of the Active Debt of the Public Treasury as taxable or non-taxable.

So let's see:

Initially, the active tax debt is related to any type of tax, no matter what it is, for example, IPTU, IPVA, any other related tax.

On the other hand, non-tax active debt basically includes payments to the government that do not involve taxes, such as services rendered in public places.

That is, as the name itself says, they do not tax, do not indicate taxes of any kind.

The enforcement process in active debt is bureaucratic, so some criteria are necessary before including the CPF or CNPJ.

This is because, in compliance with current legislation, every person has the right to a prior defense, before being enrolled in the register.

So, there is a deadline for analyzing and confirming the debt, so that the process can proceed.

Among the criteria we have:

Other criteria can also be used, depending on each particular cause.

In the States and Municipalities, the active debt will be registered in their respective sections, proceeding with the tax execution process.

This is because, after the friendly collection period, these bodies are authorized to take legal action against defaulters.

To better understand active debt, and how your name can be entered in this register, we will try to illustrate so that you can understand better. Look:

Suppose you owe your car's IPVA for a few months now. Then, you receive a notification requesting payment of the overdue amounts.

In this case, if you are unable to pay the overdue installments, the State Government may file a request to include your CPF number in the State's active debt register.

Likewise, if you owe overdue IPTU installments for your home, you will receive a notification from the city hall requesting payment of the overdue installments.

And, in this case, if you do not pay the overdue installments, the Municipal Treasury Secretary will file a request to include your CPF number in the municipality's active debt register.

And, in addition, fines and interest will be added to the original debt amounts, and in the case of the IPTU, the city hall may even, ultimately, take over the property.

It is important to mention that the execution may fall on the debtor, the guarantor and the successors of the defaulter.

And, in addition, the taxpayer or the company may have alienated and pledged assets, in addition to blocked bank accounts.

This is because the payment of the bills will be made through the attachment that may also fall on establishments, plantations or buildings under construction.

Within the execution process, the attachment order will be:

Therefore, all acts performed within the execution process must respect the legal procedures.

However, depending on the stage at which the taxpayer is, and other particular issues, the attachment order may undergo changes.

To consult the active debt, the taxpayer will receive a notification containing all the information about:

So, one way to confirm the existence of the debt in CPF or CNPJ is to carry out an online consultation on the respective websites of the municipal, state and federal spheres.

That is, the taxpayer contacts the respective sphere to which he is in default with the CPF or CNPJ, to identify the debt.

For this, the debts that are registered with the Union will be inserted on the Federal Revenue website.

Already, the debts that are registered in the Municipality, will be inserted in the website of the General Attorney's Office or City Hall of the Municipality.

In the case of Active State Debt, queries may be made at the State Attorney General's Office or the State Treasury Department.

To settle the active debt, the taxpayer needs to pay attention to the procedures that can be done before and after the debt protest.

This is because they will change according to the situation in which the debt is found, whether or not it was protested by the competent body.

That is, most of the time, the debtor is notified of outstanding debts, and summoned by the protest notary, together with a payment slip for debt discharge.

At this stage, the taxpayer will be able to pay the debts directly at the notary, settling the outstanding issues, before the Union Active Debt Certificate (CDA) is protested.

However, if the taxpayer does not pay the debt, the notary may carry out the so-called Protest of the Active Debt Certificate of the Union.

And, the taxpayer needs to go personally to the appropriate sectionals to know the conditions of payment of the debts, with the documents.

If the debt is still within the administrative phase, the payment of the debts can be made in cash or in installments.

And, in addition, there may be a discount on fines and interest.

That is, it is extremely advantageous for taxpayers to pay debts at this stage.

Already, in cases of debts already filed, the taxpayer will need to go to the competent body to verify the forms of discharge of debts.

Once all of your pending issues have been resolved with the competent bodies, you can request the Tax Regularity Certificate, called CRF.

This document is issued by the PGFN together with the Federal Revenue Service.

And, it serves to certify the tax status of the taxpayer, whether individual or legal entity.

So, this certificate informs that there are no pending issues in the taxpayer's CPF or CNPJ, or, it indicates that there are debts, but that they are not being charged at the moment.

Yes, the active debt prescribes and expires.

This is because, it prescribes when there is no collection by the government, even after finding the default.

So, if within the period of five years, the taxpayer does not pay the debts.

And, if within the deadline, it is not executed by the agency, this taxpayer cannot be charged anymore.

It is important to mention that it will prescribe only when dealing with an active tax debt.

However, if the government found the debt and charged it, however, you did not make the payment, and the agency did not register your name in active debt, after five years, the deadline expires, and he will no longer be able to register.

Therefore, always be aware of the deadlines, so that there are no irregularities when registering for overdue debt.

Then, the taxpayer was notified of the debts with the competent body, and needs to start the payment of these debts, how to proceed?

Once notified, the taxpayer can pay the debt, as well as:

To pay the debts in installments, there is the Special Tax Regularization Program (PERT), created by the Federal Government.

In this program, the taxpayer has access to discounts and conditions to pay the active debts in installments, which can reach up to 180 months, and 90% of interest and 50% of fines in discounts.

Therefore, it is a great option to be able to pay off outstanding debts.

And, in addition, there is also a way to apply for loans to pay off this active debt, with the option of low interest rates.

For this, consult your bank and the special conditions for loans in this case.

It is nothing new that having financial pending in the name brings several disadvantages, mainly active debts.

Yes, they are pending with municipal, state and federal government bodies.

Thus, several consequences may occur such as:

These are just a few consequences, it is important to mention that if it reaches the courts, new consequences may occur.

Enjoy and check out our content about how to consult CPF at Serasa.