The government of Rio de Janeiro reduced the rate of the Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) from 32% to 18%. The measure is in Decree 48,145published today (1st) in an extra edition of official diary of State.
“The maximum rate of ICMS is fixed at 18% (eighteen percent) for operations and internal services with fuel, electricity, communications and collective transport, preserving the lower rates established in Law No. 2.657/1996, for the same operations and benefits”, says the decree.
According to Governor Cláudio Castro, the reduction in the price of gasoline will be, on average, R$ 1.19.
He pointed out that the reduction is coming out by decree, but that it is going as a bill to the Legislative Assembly. “The average price [do litro] of gasoline in Rio de Janeiro today is R$ 7.8. We believe that, with this reduction, there will be a decrease of R$ 1.19, making the average price R$ 6.61”, said Castro.
The governor reported that Procon-RJ starts on Monday (4) Operation Lupa na Bomba, to verify if the reduction was passed on to consumers. The action will be supported by civil and military police forces. “Anyone who doesn’t have the new price on Monday will be fined,” Castro said.
It is estimated that the state will fail to collect R$ 3.9 billion this year alone with the tax reduction.
