Overview

• Brazil's lower house has approved a major tax reform aimed at simplifying the nation's notoriously complicated tax system.
• The reform, which President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has championed, is expected to boost economic growth and facilitate investment.
• The new tax system will merge the five main levies into two value-added taxes: one federal and another to be shared between states and municipalities.
• The reform was initially approved by deputies in July, but had to be voted on again after the Senate made changes to the text.
• The reform will be signed into law in a joint session of Congress expected to take place next week.