Brazil extends appliances tax breaks to stoke jobs

Brazil will extend tax breaks on home appliances for three months in a bid to boost consumption and consolidate a rebound in Latin America's largest economy, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said on Thursday. The tax breaks on refrigerators, washing machines and other home appliances will cost the government 132.1 million reais ($75.7 million) in lost revenue, but should keep prices low, helping demand from low-income consumers, Mantega added.
"This way people will buy more," he told a news conference in Brasilia. The measure will give bigger tax breaks to energy-efficient appliances and the government may announce other incentives related to environmental issues, Mantega said. The government has seen a slump in tax revenues in recent months due to tax breaks to key industries aimed at lifting the economy out of a brief recession.