Box 2 is an illegal financial practice, which consists of not record certain inflows or outflows of a cash flow, creating a parallel box.
The money from this parallel box is normally used to finance illegal activities or to avoid the incurrence of value-added tax.
Thus, box 2 is used to refrain from paying taxes due (tax evasion), to finance illegal activities or to do money laundering.
How cashier 2 works
Cash 2 can take place in several ways, such as embezzlement of money or non-declaration of amounts paid or received.
Cash 2 can be made, for example, for an overinvoicing on purchases made or services rendered, to justify the deviation of a certain amount. Cashier 2 can also happen in a situation of under-invoicing the price of a product, when a value that is less than what was actually paid is registered.
Another possibility of cash 2 occurs when there is no invoice issued for a purchase or a service. In this situation, the company does not account for the products or services sold, and taxes are no longer levied on the values as the Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) and at the end of the fiscal period, the Income Tax - Legal Entity (IRPJ).
Electoral Box 2
In the case of electoral box 2, it is usually formed from amounts that originate from donations that are not registered in electoral campaigns, that is, the electoral box 2 is formed by values that will not be declared to the Electoral Courts.
The biggest damage of the electoral box 2 is precisely the political use of these values. For example: large companies or financial agents donate large amounts to certain candidates and political parties and expect to receive a return on these donations in the form of political favors after elections, such as receiving privileged information, bidding processes that favor them, among other activities.
To avoid this type of conduct, the Electoral Law of Brazil does not allow legal entities (companies) to donate amounts for election campaigns. The law only allows donations to be made by individuals, who must be identified.
In addition, to avoid box 2, the Electoral Law established a limit on donation amounts, corresponding to 10% of the gross income earned by the donor in the year prior to the year of donation.
Is cashier 2 a crime?
Yea, the use of box 2 is a crime and the practice can be framed in more than one criminal type. This conduct can be classified as a crime of ideological falsehood, due to false declarations of documents that do not correspond to the financial reality of the company or the electoral campaign.
As a crime against the financial order, there is a penalty for cash 2 in the White Collar Law (law No. 7492/86), in article 11.
Box 2 is also provided as tax evasion in the Law on Crimes Against the Tax Order (Law No. 8137/90), article 1, which can lead to a penalty of imprisonment from 2 to 5 years, plus a fine. The omission of this type of tax information on a company's cash register or political campaign generates an undeclared financial reserve, which, therefore, is not subject to taxes.
the crime of money laundry it also uses box 2, using hidden resources to legalize money that was obtained illegally. The crime of money laundering is provided for in Article 1 of Law No. 9,613/98, with a penalty that can vary between 3 and 10 years in prison.
already the electoral box 2 is a crime provided for in the Electoral Code (law nº 4.735/65), article 350, with a penalty of up to 5 years in prison.
See also the meanings of Money laundry, Corruption and Cash flow.