The reinstatement of gasoline and ethanol from March is assured, confirmed the press office of the Ministry of Finance. According to the folder, the format of the increase in rates is being discussed between the executive secretary of the Treasury, Gabriel Galípolo, and the board of Petrobras, in Rio de Janeiro, but it is already certain that the collection will be recomposed in R$ 28.88 billion this year, as announced by the minister Fernando Haddad, in January.
The press office informed that the gasoline rate will rise more than that of ethanol, in line with the principle of increasing the burden on fossil fuels. According to the folder, the reencumbrance will have a social character, to “penalize the consumer less”, and economic, to preserve the collection. The format of the reinstatement and the amounts are still being defined between Galípolo and Jean-Paul Prates. According to the press office, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, may hold a press conference to explain the increase in rates as soon as the decision is made.
Last year, former president Jair Bolsonaro zeroed the rates of the Social Integration Program (PIS) and the Contribution for the Financing of Social Security (Cofins) for gasoline, ethanol, diesel, biodiesel, natural gas and cooking gas. On January 1, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the Provisional Measure 1,157which provided for the re-encumbrance of gasoline and ethanol from March 1st and that of other fuels on January 1st, 2024.
Before the exemption, PIS/Cofins was charged as follows: R$ 0.792 per liter of gasoline A (without ethanol mixture) and R$ 0.242 per liter of ethanol. Among the possibilities discussed by Galípolo and Petrobras are the absorption of part of the increase in rates by Petrobras, because gasoline is above the international price, and the redistribution of part of the original rates for gasoline to ethanol.
If this redistribution occurs, gasoline could pay, for example, R$ 0.70 of PIS/Cofins per liter; and ethanol, R$ 0.33.
The effective transfer of increased rates to consumers will depend on distributors and gas stations. At the beginning of the year, when announcing the package with measures to improve public accounts, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, stated that the recomposition of taxes will yield R$ 28.88 billion to the government’s cash in 2023.
In January alone, according to Federal Revenue calculations released last week, the government failed to collect R$ 3.75 billion with the extension of the zero rate.
