Lira cites increase in state collections to defend ICMS reduction

In a new offensive against governors, the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), cited data on the increase in state collections to defend the reduction of the ICMS (Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services) as a way to contain the high of fuel prices.

Lira, an ally of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), used a social network to ask for a joint effort to try to control the increase in fuel prices, which, he said, makes food more expensive.

“In the wake of what I’ve been saying for months, the collection of the States has increased significantly, which justifies the reduction, on the part of the governors, of the ICMS rate on fuel”, he said.

“It’s time to join efforts to ensure food on the table. Expensive fuel implies expensive freight, which puts a strain on the price of food,” he continued.

Then Lira posted a report on the topic. “The collection of states with ICMS on oil, fuels and lubricants was R$ 109.5 billion, a value 36% higher than the R$ 80.4 billion collected in 2020”, he indicated.

Later, in an interview after the leaders’ meeting, Lira stated that, more important than discussing PEC texts in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, is to find “a way out of a problem that exists.”

“We have a problem with inflation, we have a problem with high interest rates, we have a problem with the impact of fuel on inflation,” he added.

“I think that if we had already ended the discussion of ICMS, the pressure would have already decreased. And the federal government is proposing to discuss its taxes on fuel and cooking gas. So if we manage to bring all these situations together in the PLP [projeto de lei complementar] it is faster, with a less qualified quorum, in a more appropriate way than a discussion in a PEC in one House, with the other, which later has to meet, if identical texts are identified.”

“It will take a lot longer, spend a lot more time on something that can be resolved more pragmatically.”

According to him, the exit via a complementary bill is considered by the president of the Chamber to be more economical. “I think that this exit has to be negotiated by the two Houses without vanity, without protagonism, individually speaking, and that we have a practical solution regarding this matter, which is what everyone wants.”

Lira said he would meet with Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) this Thursday or next week.

The president of the Chamber defends the approval of the project that freezes the collection of ICMS on fuels before Congress advances in the discussion of the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) that affects federal taxes.

THE leafhe stated that Congress should “focus on the text of PLP 11, which the Chamber voted and is in the Senate, so that we can modulate the freezing of ICMS prices at a value that is fair for the population.”

“Then we follow a more rational discussion of the PECs”, he said.

The reduction of taxes on fuels is the subject of two PECs, filed in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The different texts generated disputes in the government and in Congress.

Faced with the obstacle, the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) administration is now considering the possibility of including the authorization to reduce taxes on diesel in a complementary bill already being processed in the Senate, according to government officials heard by the Senate. leaf.

The possibility of changing the strategy to deliver the reduction in fuel taxes desired by Bolsonaro comes after the government itself split between two different proposals in Congress.

The PEC of the Chamber, presented by deputy Christino Áureo (PP-RJ), but which was written in the Civil House, has difficulties to advance.

The Senate proposal, filed by Senator Carlos Fávaro (PSD-MT) and nicknamed “PEC kamikaze” by the economic team, exceeded the minimum number of signatures. She received the endorsement of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), son of the president and government leaders, in addition to having the support of ministers from the political wing.

In addition to relieving taxes, the senators’ proposal increases expenses with gas assistance, subsidies for bus fares and creates a diesel assistance for truck drivers. Guedes’ team calculates an impact of more than BRL 100 billion.

In view of this, government officials believe that the best way may be to concentrate efforts on the project that deals with the change in the collection of ICMS on fuels.

The project provides for a fixed charge of ICMS per liter of fuel, whose ceiling would be the value obtained from the current rate over the average price of the two previous years.

The idea now is to include in the text the possibility for the Union to exempt taxes on diesel without the need for compensation required by the LRF (Fiscal Responsibility Law). This would be possible because the LRF is also a complementary law.

The diesel tax exemption has a significantly lower cost, around R$ 17 billion.