Pacheco receives governors to discuss tax reform this Tuesday (29)

The president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), will receive governors this Tuesday (29) to discuss the tax reform (PEC 45/2019). The debate session will take place in the plenary of the House, starting at 10 am. All 27 state executives were invited. So far, 16 have confirmed their presence, with the participation of the governor himself or the deputy.

Governors Carlos Brandão (Maranhão), Romeu Zema (Minas Gerais) and Helder Barbalho (Pará) have already informed that they will not participate, informed the Senate Agency. Pacheco said he considers it a “priority” to listen to federation entities about the tax simplification proposed by the reform. In addition to the governors, the Senate should also promote a debate session with representatives of the mayors.

“We are discussing a political option for a unified taxation and for the aggregation of the Federation around a balanced and less complex collection. For this, there are sacrifices. This ends up imposing the recognition of all entities that the resource is for the Brazilian State, and it must be distributed within the reality of each one. The reform must be guided by a desire to give in, not to conquer”, said Pacheco this Monday (28) after participating in an event of the Group of Business Leaders (Lide), in São Paulo .

PEC 45/2019 proposes the extinction of five taxes, including ICMS (state) and ISS (municipal), and the creation of a single tax, the Tax on Goods and Services (IBS). The division of the IBS between states and municipalities would be made from a body created specifically for this purpose. Governors and mayors fear losing autonomy over their own revenue with this new design. Governors and vice-governors will be able to use the tribune and will speak in alphabetical order of the names of the states, divided into blocks of up to six speeches. Senators will have the floor between the blocks.

The governors have already confirmed their presence: Paulo Dantas (Alagoas); Clécio Luís (Amapá); Wilson Lima (Amazonas); Jerônimo Rodrigues (Bahia); Elmano de Freitas (Ceará); Ronaldo Caiado (Goiás); Mauro Mendes (Mato Grosso); Eduardo Riedel (Mato Grosso do Sul); Ratinho Júnior (Paraná); Raquel Lyra (Pernambuco); Rafael Fonteles (Piauí); Eduardo Leite (Rio Grande do Sul); Jorginho Mello (Santa Catarina); and Wanderlei Barbosa (Tocantins).

In addition to them, vice-governors Sérgio Gonçalves (Rondônia) and Zezinho Sobral (Sergipe) should also attend. Until this afternoon, the governors of Acre, Federal District, Espírito Santo, Paraíba, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Roraima and São Paulo had not yet confirmed their presence.