Gasoline price rises by R$0.11 in São Paulo with new ICMS – 06/01/2023 – Market

On the same day that the new ICMS came into force, the price of gasoline in the capital of São Paulo already registered an increase of R$ 0.11, on average, according to a survey carried out by the automatic payments company Sem Parar, at the request of Sheet.

The new rate, which began to take effect this Thursday (1st), is R$ 0.20 per liter higher than the average charged in the previous model in the country. In São Paulo, it is R$ 0.26 per liter, higher than the old one.

According to the survey, the average price of common gasoline rose from R$ 5.00, this Wednesday (30), to R$ 5.11 this Thursday (1st).

The level also represents a growth of 1.70% in comparison with the average prices verified between Monday (29) and Wednesday, which varied between R$ 5.00 and R$ 5.04.

Sem Parar claims to have considered more than R$ 1.072 million liters supplied in the city of São Paulo. The company stated that it does not detail how many stations participated in the survey for strategic reasons.

The survey also registered an increase in the average price of a liter of gasoline with additives, which was R$ 5.61 this Thursday – a 3.73% increase in relation to the average of the previous three days.

The new ICMS is now charged only at the production or import stage and at a single rate for the entire national territory, in reais per liter —instead of percentages of the product’s sales price.

The new model was approved by Congress in March 2022, with the support of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and the fuel sector.

The collection of the tax along these lines already works for diesel and bottled gas since April. In the case of gasoline, the states even proposed a rate of R$ 1.45 per liter, which would put even more pressure on the pump price, but dropped to R$ 1.22 after reaching an agreement with the STF (Federal Supreme Court).

According to Sérgio Araújo, president of Abicom (Brazilian Association of Fuel Importers), the new model of ICMS that is now charged on gasoline is beneficial because it reduces the risk of fraud and tax evasion and gives more predictability to the revenues of states with the single rate.

“The first impression, considering that now we have the price of oil and the low exchange rate, is that there was this increase. Most states had an increase in the tax amount. Before, whenever there was an increase in the price of fuel , automatically there was also an increase in the value of the tax. But now, if a barrel of oil reaches US$ 100, the ICMS on gasoline will continue to be R$ 1.22. I think it is a very positive change”, says Araújo.

According to José Alberto Paiva Gouveia, president of Sincopetro (Retail Trade Union of Petroleum Derivatives of the State of São Paulo), there was a price increase only at the fuel stations that replenished gasoline stocks this Thursday.

“When the value goes up, the first invoice that comes out is already at a high price. [as distribuidoras] they begin to collect the tax at the time they pick up the product. We, who are the last end of the market, don’t have any kind of defense”, he says.