The presidents of the Chamber and Senate, respectively Arthur Lira (PP-AL) and Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), did not reach an agreement on the proposal that sets a ceiling of 17% for the ICMS rate, a state tax, on fuel and electricity.
Lira and Pacheco met this Thursday afternoon (19) to discuss the issue. The federal deputy is pressing for the Senate to speed up the processing of the proposal when it reaches the House – the forecast is that it will be voted on in the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday (24).
The text, by deputy Danilo Forte (União Brasil-CE), seeks to limit the maximum rate of ICMS (state tax) levied on these sectors to 17%.
“This is not a political or ideological debate. It is a country debate. I will call on all powers to reflect on the emergency reality of today’s world, which affects the people and requires institutional actions with a vision of the nation”, wrote Lira in a social network.
Earlier, during the Chamber session, Lira said that next Tuesday he will hold meetings of opposition and grassroots leaders. “This plenary will have the opportunity to really take a decisive step to contribute in relation to the abuse of taxes in relation to telecommunications, energy, fuel and transport”, he said.
Lira stated that the Senate and other Powers will also participate in the debate to relieve and reduce taxes on the sectors. “Then we will have the real clarity of who wants to reduce the price of fuel, energy, transport and telecommunications in Brazil”, she pointed out.
“I hope that we can organize, next week, in a republican way, an exit from Congress, together with the Judiciary, with the Executive, with society, so that we can really have an impact measure in the fight against the decrease in prices, which are inflationary and world.”
The Senate president, however, has told interlocutors that he is against the measure. Pacheco recently raised his tone against states for not following the new rules provided for in a bill approved this year by Congress.
Despite this, the Senate, closer to the governors, resists even more incisive measures on state tax rules.
In addition, Pacheco has expressed that he will defend the proposals coming from the Senate — such as the one that creates the stabilization account.
After the meeting, the Minas Gerais senator used his social networks to comment on the meeting with Lira, without indicating that he would put a lot of effort into processing the proposal.
“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.
“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.
The bill that creates the stabilization account was a point of divergence between the two Houses, still far from being digested by the senators. The proposal foresaw the creation of an account, which would be supplied through various sources, such as oil royalties. These funds would be used to mitigate the impact of fluctuations in fuel prices.
However, the text is stuck in the Chamber. Lira himself has publicly said he opposes the use of oil royalties not just to hold down fuel prices, but also for other proposals in general. In March, shortly after the bill passed the Senate, Lira said the proposal was “completely under the radar.”
The mention of the fuel bill project, therefore, was seen as an indication by the president of the Senate that each legislative house has a project of its own.
In addition to the meeting with Pacheco, Lira also met with Minister André Mendonça (of the Federal Supreme Court), who this week granted an injunction suspending clauses of a rule contrary to the law that established a single ICMS rate on diesel oil for all states. , in reais per liter, charged only at the production stage.
Mendonça responded to a request from President Jair Bolsonaro, presented through the AGU (Advocacy-General of the Union), which was trying to guarantee the reduction of ICMS on fuel provided for in a law passed by Congress in March, but which was the target of maneuver by the states. to maintain the collection.
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