The Federal Revenue Agency discovers a physical therapist who “works” 24 hours a day and charges R$502 an hour

The federal tax authorities discovered a physical therapist from Mato Grosso who, in order to justify allegedly receiving BRL 4.4 million from his clients, had to “work” 24 hours a day and charged BRL 502 per hour of service. He said he has customers in seven states by 2021.

The physiotherapist is among a group of 472 healthcare professionals and 35,230 reporters who reported R$350 million in notional payments – “notional healthcare expenses” – to the tax authorities in the years 2018-2022.

He was identified in Operation Pathogen, triggered by the IRS this Thursday (4) to combat income tax return fraud for individuals involving declarers who “reported false healthcare expenses to reduce income tax owed.”

“In order to receive the stated income, he (the physical therapist) would have to work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and charge an average of R$ 502 per hour,” the examiners point out.

In another case, a dentist with tax domicile in Rio de Janeiro stated that from 2018 to 2022 he received approximately 5.5 million BRL from clients in 5 different states (Bahia, Sergipe, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro and Roraima).

The Department of Institutional Communications of the Tax Office in São Paulo pointed out that “although the professionals have indicated the income in their own statements, the comparison with other tax, asset and financial data has led to suspicions of fictitious payments”.

“Since some taxpayers receive refunds, the impression is created that the intermediary is doing what it promised,” says the tax office. “However, given that the financial authority has 5 years to conduct the audit, it is likely to detect fraud of the kind that occurred in this operation.”

Revenue tracking shows that São Paulo state has 87 health professionals under “suspicion” alongside 6,353 declarants.

A list of 10,931 reports of payments to suspected professionals is currently being analyzed, totaling BRL 41.8 million in “fictitious healthcare expenses”, an average of BRL 3,826.00 per reporter.

In the capital, São Paulo, the IRS is targeting 2,002 reporters – 3,274 reports involving payments to suspected professionals, totaling R$14.6 million in notional healthcare expenses, or an average of R$4,471.00 per reporter.

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