In Brasilia, David Almeida defends the autonomy of municipalities in the Tax Reform

Tax reform

Medium and large municipalities, including Manaus, may lose their autonomy in managing the ISS

Brasilia DF) – The mayor of Manaus, David Almeida, was, this Tuesday (8), at the Federal Senate, in Brasília, as part of the delegation of the National Front of Mayors, who met with the president of the House, Rodrigo Pacheco, and later with the rapporteur for the Tax Reform, senator Eduardo Braga.

They presented proposals to change the text of the reform, which brings the unification of two taxes, the Tax on Services (ISS), municipal, with the Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS), state, forming the new Tax on Goods and Services (IBS).

The way the Tax Reform is, medium and large municipalities, including Manaus, may lose their autonomy in managing the ISS. For Mayor David Almeida, this change is detrimental to the continuity of public services.

“At the meeting with the President of the Senate, under the articulation of Senator Omar Aziz, we had the guarantee that the municipalities will be heard. We have proposals for changes to defend to senators. We also took it to the reform’s rapporteur, Eduardo Braga. We want to show parliamentarians that, as it is, medium and large Brazilian municipalities, which represent 75% of the GDP and 65% of the entire Brazilian population, will have a death blow with the discontinuity of their services, because we will lose autonomy in the administration and in the management of our main tax, which is the ISS”,

declared the mayor.

Almeida also pointed out that the municipalities would be dependent on the transfer of resources collected within the cities by the Union. And he cited practical examples of how harmful this tax unification could be, if the text of the reform is not modified in the Senate.

Thus, he explained that the Mobile Emergency Care Service (Samu), which is a federal program administered by the municipalities, has a monthly transfer from the Federal Government, however, it is a minimum amount in view of the annual expense.

“The municipality of Manaus spends an average of R$ 98 million per year with Samu, but the Union only transfers from R$ 5 to R$ 8 million per year. The rest is paid with city hall money, with ISS, IPTU. If you take away this autonomy, the service can be harmed”,

clarified the mayor.

He also mentioned the annual expenses with Maternidade Moura Tapajóz, which reach R$ 100 million/year and the Federal Government only transfers R$ 10 million/year, with the city hall having to contribute R$ 90 million from municipal coffers.

“We will also have discontinuity of this service, as well as garbage collection, public transport, impacting the lives of people in our city. We will continue in this defense, together with the Frente de Mayors, to reverse this harmful change for most Brazilian cities”,

concluded David Almeida.

*With advisory information

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