Tax reform: Lira wants to vote despite resistance – 7/5/2023 – Market

The mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), has been telling allies that he intends to put the tax reform to a vote by the end of the week even if resistance to the proposal continues.

To closest deputies, Lira expressed that the topic needs to be analyzed by the Chamber – whether to approve or reject the proposal.

“The moment is for dialogue and for us to accept the suggestions of governors, mayors and society. We are not going to transform the tax reform into a political-partisan battle nor take advantage of it to gain momentary notoriety”, wrote the president of the Chamber in a social network this Wednesday (5).

The scenario presented by him is one of optimism. The evaluation of those around the president of the Chamber is that the articulations, mainly with governors, this week have helped to reduce doubts in relation to the project and the tendency is for the pro-tax reform climate to improve in the next few hours.

After criticism from other states, the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), now admits the possibility of supporting centralized tax collection in the tax reform. After a meeting with Minister Fernando Haddad (Finance), he said this Wednesday that the clearing house is not a “workhorse”.

Party leaders, however, assess that it is still necessary to construct and thoroughly debate the text with parliamentarians. So far, they say, there are not enough votes to approve the reform. As it is a PEC, the matter needs the favorable vote of 308 deputies in two shifts in the plenary of the House before going to the Senate.

Lira’s prediction is that the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) that changes the tax system in the country may begin to be voted on in the plenary of the Chamber this Thursday (6). The expectation is that the rapporteur of the matter, Deputy Aguinaldo Ribeiro (PP-PB), will finalize the last adjustments of the text on the night of this Wednesday (5).

The centrão, led by Lira, has criticized the government’s lack of political articulation in favor of tax reform. President Lula (PT) was not in Brasília in the first two days of the week – considered decisive for economic issues of interest to the Planalto Palace.

To allies, Lira has stated that he is conducting negotiations around the tax, leaving the other two matters on the economic agenda to party leaders. The parliamentarian has positioned himself as a kind of guarantor of the reform, in an attempt to imprint that mark on his tenure as head of the House.

Members of the Planalto Palace have prioritized negotiations to unlock the vote on the PL (bill) that deals with the resumption of the so-called casting vote in CARF (Administrative Council of Tax Appeals) and the conclusion of the project that creates a new fiscal framework ( which was returned to the House after passing the Senate).

The government rules out postponing these two issues (Carf and framework), which have not yet reached consensus in the Chamber. If the vote on the tax reform is left for August, it would not, in the view of Lula’s assistants, be a defeat for the government.

Government organizers claim that the most important thing is the fiscal framework, as Lula depends on this change in public accounts to prepare the 2024 Budget – the first that he will formulate from the beginning.

But, in order to vote on the framework, it is necessary to assess the Carf project, which has been blocking the agenda of the Chamber since the last 21st (because it is being processed under an urgent regime).

Parliamentarians from the PT’s allied base and members of the Ministry of Finance rule out the possibility of withdrawing the urgency of Carf —to advance the discussion on the framework. In the words of one of Lula’s ally, it is necessary to maintain the urgency as a way of pressing for the consideration and approval of the PL.