Pacheco says project that limits ICMS on energy is a ‘smart’ proposal to reduce prices

The president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), said this Thursday (26) that the project that limits the ICMS (Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services) on energy and fuels seems to be a “smart” proposal to reduce of prices.

Pacheco, however, said he will seek to hear the governors, who have been resisting a proposal that establishes a fixed tax rate. The states promise to pressure senators and even go to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to bar the proposal.

“The intention of the National Congress, Chamber and Senate is to seek intelligent, effective solutions to reduce fuel prices and, once voted in the Chamber, even out of respect for the Chamber of Deputies, we will give full attention to the project”, said the President of the Senate, arriving for the plenary session.

The president of the Senate then said that he will take advantage of the presence in Brasília next week of the bench leaders, because of the concentrated effort, to define the procedures. In particular, the hammer will hit whether the proposal will pass through the House committees or whether it will go straight to a vote in the plenary.

“We are going to sit down at the table and define the course of this project. But we will obviously give it the due importance because it seems to be an intelligent instrument for reducing fuel prices,” he said.

Pacheco also said that he will get the governors to discuss the issue. He stated that representatives from states such as the Federal District, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo have already shown their willingness to discuss the matter.

“Let’s listen to them and what we really have to seek is this consensus. We don’t want to sacrifice any of the parties, not the federal government, not the states, not Petrobras. But the consumer cannot be sacrificed. So, in this priority criterion, we have to give this priority to consumers, but building a solution through this search for awareness and the participation of governors is fundamental”, he added.

On Wednesday night (25), the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill that classifies fuels, natural gas, electricity, communications and public transport as essential goods and services. With this, it would be worth understanding the STF that limits the incidence of the tax on these items to a range of 17% to 18%.

The Chamber’s final proposal began to provide for compensation to states in case of loss of revenue. For indebted entities, the Union will deduct from the value of the installments of the debt contracts the collection losses greater than 5% in relation to 2021. The deduction goes until December 31, 2022 or until the debt runs out.

States in a tax recovery regime will have their revenue losses fully compensated. Debt-free states are left without compensation.

The proposal was sponsored from the beginning by the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL).

Pacheco and Lira even met last week to address the issue, but they had not reached an agreement. Behind the scenes, interlocutors pointed to resistance from the president of the Senate and the senators, one of the reasons being the fact that Lira shelved the project that originated in the Senate and which provides for the creation of a compensation account whose resources would be used to mitigate the impact of fluctuations in fuel prices.

“This Thursday, I received the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira, to discuss PLP 18/22, which changes the classification of fuels, electricity, telecommunications and transport for essential goods and services”, wrote the senator in occasion on their social networks.

“I pledged to bring to the leaders the topic that can contribute to reducing the impact of state taxes on fuel prices. I also highlighted the importance of the stabilization bill, approved in the Senate, in PL 1472/21, as a measure to be considered by the Chamber”, he added.