Lula Unveils MEI Support Package Days Before Runoff

Overview

• The government unveiled a multi-part package for microempreendedores individuais (MEIs) on Tuesday that includes proposed tax-debt forgiveness, a one-off direct transfer called “Pix MEI,” expanded credit renegotiation and changes to MEI rules.
• Officials put headline costs at about R$12.6 billion for debt forgiveness and roughly R$5 billion for the Pix MEI over four years with additional budget effects from raising the MEI revenue cap and Desenrola 3.0 operations.
• Key elements — the debt amnesty, the Pix payments, and higher MEI revenue limits and hiring rules — are legislative proposals or require later regulation and cannot start until Congress and regulators act.
• The announcements drew sharp political reaction: Senator Flávio Bolsonaro accused the government of trying to buy votes while also reversing his stance to back a separate Senate PEC on the 6x1 work schedule, a move Lula’s campaign is using for contrast.
• Legal scholars and economists warn that a string of late-stage spending promises raises fiscal risk and tests the limits of electoral law, and that the measures’ details, eligibility and timing remain unclear for the roughly 17.6 million active MEIs and the roughly 3.6 million debtors in the Union’s Dívida Ativa.