The Brazilian Ministry of Finance has announced significant changes to the way it will tax profits sourced from abroad, on 18 October 2013. The stated aim is to increase the competitiveness of Brazil as a business location and bring it into line with other nations. The new rules will be sanction in a provisional law which will need to be approved by Congress within 120 days. The outstanding tax liabilities of Brazilian companies with operations abroad are estimated to be between BRL70bn and BRL100bn (USD32.3bn to USD46.1bn).