Senator Fernando Bezerra (MDB-PE) had today (2) another round of conversations with representatives of the finance secretaries of the states about the possibility of limiting the application of the Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) on goods and services related to fuels, natural gas, electricity, communications and public transport.
Bezerra is the rapporteur of the Complementary Law Project (PLP) 18/2022, which deals with this topic and was approved by the House . One of the consensuses that emerged from the meeting was the possibility of voting on the PLP 18 before the 14th.
“They [os secretários de Fazenda] prefer to advance in the understanding so that the report that we will produce can be appreciated before the 14th. So that this report, supported and approved here in the Senate, can be the basis for a broad understanding that is intended in a new meeting of conciliation on the 14th”, said Bezerra after the meeting.
According to the senator, “if this climate of understanding and collaboration continues”, the report can be voted on in the session on Tuesday (7) or on Wednesday (8). After the meeting with Décio Padilha, president of the National Committee of State and Federal District Finance Secretaries (Comsefaz), Bezerra will still meet with the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes. “I will translate what were the negotiations carried out here”, he added.
According to the proposal, the fuel, natural gas, electric energy, communications and public transport sectors would be classified as essential and indispensable, leading to the setting of the ICMS rate at a maximum level of 17%.
The bill also provides for compensation to states for the loss in tax revenue. According to the text, there will be, until December 31, 2022, compensation paid by the federal government to the states for the loss of tax collection through discounts on installments of refinanced debts of these federated entities with the Union.
Also present at the meeting, Senator Jean Paul Prates (PT-RN) said that the talks advanced in what he calls the structural part. The telecommunications and energy sectors would only be classified as essential from 2024 onwards. Diesel, gasoline and cooking gas would enter this classification immediately. The issue of compensation to the states, however, has not advanced.
“For now, no account or fund source or even direct transfer from the federal government to the states has been accepted to compensate for this. The government thinks it doesn’t have to make this contribution at this time,” said Jean Paul.
The senator highlighted the limited impact of these measures on the final price of fuel to consumers. “The tax dimension has a small scope, we are talking about a decrease of R$ 0.10 to R$ 0.18 in the price of gasoline. I think we can evolve to other dimensions as well.”
