Haddad announces R$ 26.9 billion agreement to offset ICMS on fuels

Minister Fernando Haddad, of Finance, announced earlier this Friday afternoon (10) that he managed to reach an agreement with the 27 Brazilian governors to compensate for the loss of ICMS tax collection on fuel last year. According to him, the Union will disburse R$ 26.9 billion to the states and the Federal District, from an amount that initially varied between R$ 18 billion and R$ 45 billion.

“The numbers were too discrepant, the ordinance published at the end of last year did not have technical criteria, and the governors’ account was more grounded. It arrived at a difficult number for us to repair. We had to look into these two numbers to find the mistake, we are talking about the 27 units of the federation, each with its own point of view ”, he explained.

According to the minister, part of this amount is already being compensated by some states that obtained injunctions not to pay installments of debts with the Union. Others, such as São Paulo and Piauí, will receive specific treatment because they are in a less critical fiscal situation – some may even receive contributions from the Treasury.

With that, the financial impact will be R$ 4 billion in this year’s budget and the rest diluted in the next three years, according to Rogério Ceron, secretary of the National Treasury.

Another change so as not to affect the collection of ICMS on fuels in the states is the adoption of the rate “ad rem” on gasoline, which until now was valid only for diesel and biodiesel. The value must still be disclosed by the ministry.

Agreement will be taken to the heads of the Three Powers

Alongside Fernando Haddad during the announcement of the agreement, Governor Rafael Fonteles (PT-PI), appointed from the group of 27 governors to represent them in negotiations with the ministry, said that the agreement will now be taken to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and to the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), to be ratified.

“If there is not really a global agreement, there will continue to be problems and chances of new legislative changes, of some different decision in the STF. That’s why this deal was a little time consuming because it needed to match a lot of different actors,” he said.

Fonteles also said that this ICMS compensation agreement makes room for the discussion of tax reform, which will involve the tax that “needs to be reformed”.