Chamber insists on compensation to states for ICMS ceiling and postpones vote

Federal deputies insisted this Tuesday (24) that states receive some form of compensation for the eventual 17% cap on ICMS on energy, fuel and transport and, even after a full day of negotiations, there was no agreement in time to vote. the bill on the subject in the plenary of the Chamber.

This compensation would be financial and supported by the federal government, with the intention of parliamentarians.

Until 10 pm, there was not even a report ready and filed in the Casa’s system. The expectation is now that the matter will be taken up again and voted on this Wednesday (25) in plenary.

parliamentarians heard by CNN claim to be in favor of the inclusion of fuels among essential services, one of the points of the bill discussed, but argue that establishing a ceiling for the ICMS levied on the affected products will generate substantial losses in the collection of states.

Although the articulators of the project project a reduction in the price of fuel – therefore, a popular agenda, even more so in an election year –, the matter ends up being thorny before the current governors and allies of those who will run for state governments.

The municipalities, which receive part of the state resources, calculate an impact of R$ 15.4 billion with the change in the rate for the four sectors, if, in addition to the three already mentioned, the area of ​​telecommunications was included. The survey is from the National Confederation of Municipalities (CNM), which states that the categories represent 1/3 of the total collection of the state tax.

To try to unlock the text, the deputies negotiate the creation of a kind of compensation transition by the federal government. The idea is that, if the states’ revenue loss is above 5% of previous amounts, the Union would cover the percentage or even the entire amount that was not collected for six months after the presidential sanction of the project.

The calculation of how much the federal government would have to pay to the states is still under discussion. According to a deputy involved in the negotiation, one of the problems is the lack of budget forecast for these resources.

One of those responsible for articulating the matter, deputy Danilo Forte (União Brasil-CE) was annoyed with the request from part of the parliamentarians for compensation.

Behind the scenes, he even considered that the “trigger” was a way for the government’s own base in Congress to try to prevent the vote on the text under pressure from the governors.

At the end of the afternoon, the government leader in the Chamber, Ricardo Barros (PP-PR), stated that there had to be some agreement and that, until then, there was not even a consolidated text to be voted on.

Meanwhile, the opposition presented a list of counterparts and tried to buy time for further discussions. One of the requests of the deputies against the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government was, in addition to the compensation fund, the end of the price policy that uses import costs to define the calculation of Petrobras fuels. The acceptance of the proposal is seen as unlikely.