Toffoli promises to ask for a new ICMS judgment

Minister Dias Toffoli, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), told governors this Wednesday (1) that he will suggest to the court that the decision to prohibit differentiated ICMS charging for the energy and telecommunications sectors will only take effect in 2024.

Governor Camilo Santana, from Ceará, stated that ministers Alexandre de Moraes and Gilmar Mendes also participated in the meeting and agreed with the proposal. The states calculate that the measure could represent a loss of annual revenue of BRL 27 billion.

Toffoli undertook to ask the president of the court, Luiz Fux, to convene a session to discuss changes in the outcome of the trial held in November this year, in order to benefit state and municipal funds.

The decision in question vetoed that governors charge higher rates for the two sectors in relation to the others. The heads of state executives, however, went to the STF to meet with the three ministers and press for the change not to take effect immediately.

After the meeting, Santana stated that a new decision by the Supreme Court on the subject is necessary because the case does not only impact state funds, but also municipal ones, because ICMS is distributed to city halls.

“The ministers made themselves available to accept the governors’ proposal, which is the modulation to be carried out in accordance with the Pluriannual Plan, because practically all the states have already voted on next year’s budget. This would disrupt all the planning that has already been done” , he said.

In the judgment criticized by the states, the Supreme Court won Lojas Americanas against a 1996 law in Santa Catarina that established a 25% tax rate for the telecommunications and electricity sectors, compared to the 17% levied on ICMS in general.

The magistrates analyzed an appeal with recognized general repercussions, which means that the decision applies to all ongoing processes in the country that deal with the issue.