In Brasilia, Wilson Lima defends egalitarian tax reform with guarantees for the ZFM

Defense of AM

The governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, and the heads of the Executive of the other 26 states and the Federal District (DF), met this Wednesday (24th), in Brasília, to discuss the proposed tax reform

Manaus (AM) – The governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, and the heads of the Executive of the other 26 states and the Federal District (DF), met this Wednesday (24th), in Brasília, to discuss the proposed tax reform. Wilson Lima once again defended that the text under construction needs to provide guarantees for the maintenance of the Manaus Free Trade Zone (ZFM), which generates more than 115,000 jobs and contributes to keeping 98% of the Amazon’s forest cover intact.

“We cannot give up this model and we are concerned about tax reform. She has to preserve this model. An activity that has maintained the state’s economy, which has guaranteed the preservation of environmental assets”.

Participating in the meeting were federal deputy Aguinaldo Ribeiro (PB), rapporteur for the matter in the Chamber; and senator Rodrigo Pacheco (MG), president of the Senate, in addition to other parliamentarians – including those from Amazonas – who are part of the tax reform working group.

Wilson Lima pointed out that the proposal needs to provide express guarantees on how the Free Trade Zone will be preserved, which represents 70% of the state’s economic activity and gives Amazonas the status of exporter of goods to the rest of the country, and recalled that the economic model it is also beneficial for the states of Acre, Amapá, Rondônia and Roraima.

“We had an important meeting with our Amazon consortium, with the governors, so that we can transmit to this working group what we think about the tax reform and how our model needs to be preserved”,

said Wilson Lima. The defense of the model was reinforced by the governor of Amapá, Clécio Luís.

The original text of the proposed tax reform provides for the replacement of IPI, PIS, Cofins, ICMS and ISS (incidents on consumption) by two new taxes. One of them is the Tax on Goods and Services (IBS), similar to the Value Added Tax (VAT) charged in most developed countries. The other would be the Selective Tax, which would apply to goods that are harmful to health, such as beverages and cigarettes, and goods that are harmful to the environment.

The governor of Amazonas pointed out that the state has 15 local aviation routes, which is only possible due to the differentiated taxation of ICMS that the State grants to companies. Without this incentive, he said, regional aviation would be compromised, further isolating the state, which already has land access impaired due to the conditions of the BR-319.

For Wilson Lima, it is necessary to find a compensation path so that states like those in the North are not penalized with revenue losses due to the tax reform.

“The reform has to be egalitarian and contemplate Brazil as a whole”,

declared Governor Wilson Lima.

In his speech, the rapporteur Aguinaldo Ribeiro announced that the guidelines of the text of the tax reform proposal should be presented on June 6th to the working group and said that several states need a different look, like Amazonas, citing the speech by Governor Wilson Lima regarding the ZFM.

UK

In addition to the governors and parliamentarians, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom, James Cleverly, participated in the meeting and gave a speech praising the Brazilian diversity represented by the heads of State Executives; highlighted the history of friendship between the countries; recalled the cooperation for the production of the Astrazeneca vaccine; and that Brazil is the second largest partner in the area of ​​science and technology, with investments of 75 million pounds sterling (approximately R$ 460 million).

Legal Amazon Consortium

Also this Wednesday, Governor Wilson Lima will meet with the governors that make up the Legal Amazon Consortium, at the invitation of the president of the entity and governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho, to discuss matters of interest to the Amazon region in relation to the Tax Reform .

*With advisory information

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