Representatives of the Federal Government and the ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) defended on Thursday night (12), during a hearing in the Chamber of Deputies, o ICMS cut (Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services) na Brazilian electricity bill.
The initiative seeks reduce the cost of electrical energy in the country amid a series of increases. Currently, Brazil has the second most expensive electricity bill in the world, behind only Colombia.
According to ANEEL, on average, around 30,5% of the total value of an electricity bill corresponds to taxes, with the ICMS alone s for 21,3%.
When defending a temporary tax reduction, the Agency's Tariff Management superintendent, Davi Antunes Lima, said that the measure could reduce the value of consumer tariffs by up to 5%.
Another alternative defended by the superintendent at the hearing was the full use of tax credits referring to undue Pis/Cofins charges, since, according to Lima, only a fifth of these resources (R$ 12 billion of the R$ 60 billion) were used to mitigate the effects of tariff adjustments in recent years.
Suspension of electricity bill adjustments
The debate over cutting the state tax took place after deputies approved the urgency to vote on the decree that vetoes the tariff adjustment proposed by the Agency in Ceará.
The proposal is viewed with concern by the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy), according to the department's deputy secretary of Electric Energy, Domingos Romeu Andreatta.
During the hearing, the executive stated that the measure could cause legal uncertainty and impact the future costs of electricity in the country, as the adjustments are approved to maintain the economic-financial balance of the distributors.
In line with the ANEEL, Andreatta defended the approval of a PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution), currently being processed in Congress, which, according to him, reduces the ICMS rate on electricity tariffs by 10%.
