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In a Maneuver to Install the New Heineken Factory in Passos, the City Hall Created the “Heineken Law,” Granting the Company Immunity from About R$90 Million in Taxes
Right after a lengthy competition with other cities in Minas Gerais to be the new headquarters of the brewery Heineken, the City Hall of Passos, in Southern Minas, made a move to firmly establish the company’s new factory this Tuesday, the 18th. Mayor Diego Oliveira signed the Heineken Law on Wednesday afternoon, which will exempt the brewery from paying approximately R$ 90 million in municipal taxes for 15 years.
The bill, proposed by the Executive Branch in August, was unanimously approved by the ten city councilors on Monday, the 17th, and includes the main taxes in Passos. According to Juliano Beluomini, the municipal secretary of Finance in Passos, the exemptions will be recovered in three to six months after the company begins operations, expected in 2025.
HOW IS HEINEKEN BEER MADE?
EXEMPTIONS GRANTED BY THE CITY HALL TO HEINEKEN
The mayor of the city stated that the moment he learned that Heineken intended to set up a factory in the city, his radar was on, and several companies from various sectors were looking at the city and seeing it as an attractive place. He further commented: “Undoubtedly, [the exemption] was worth it.” Below, check out the list of the “forgiven” exemptions for Heineken.
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- Exemption from IPTU for 15 years for all properties occupied by Heineken;
- Exemption from ISS for six years for companies involved in installing the new brewery;
- Exemption from ITBI for 15 years, starting in 2024;
- Exemption from OOAU, regarding the recharacterization of rural lands — when rural property is transformed into urban — for owners of lands acquired by Heineken;
- The city hall will also transfer approximately R$ 26 million to the company concerning the area that the brewery acquired, which will be paid with a portion of the ICMS passed from the State to the municipality;
- Granting of the right to use the space and infrastructure at the water intake and pumping station of the Autonomous Water and Sewage Service (Saae) along the banks of the Rio Grande and on the Passos/São João Batista do Glória road;
Environmental Licensing
Approximately six months after announcing that it would establish itself in Passos, Heineken is awaiting the environmental licensing for the factory. According to the State Secretariat of the Environment and Sustainable Development (Semad), the process was formalized in August 2022 and, according to a note from the agency, “an on-site inspection was carried out and a report was prepared regarding the compensation for intervention in the Atlantic Forest Biome.”
Currently, the process is undergoing a technical and legal analysis and awaits a response from the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) and the State Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage of Minas Gerais (Iepha).
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