Government and Aneel participate in a hearing in the Chamber of Deputies to discuss solutions to reduce the electricity bill. ICMS cut was defended
Last Thursday, the 12th, in a hearing in the Chamber of Deputies, representatives of the Federal Government and the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel), defended that the ICMS levied on the electricity bill be cut. This would be the best alternative to lower the energy bill throughout the territory national.
How does the ICMS charge on the Electricity bill work?
O Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) it is a tribute charged by states. According to data released by the ring, on average, taxes represent 30.5% of the total electricity bill. Alone, the ICMS represents 21.3% of the total value of the electricity bill of Brazilians.
The hearing took place after the Chamber approved the urgency of the bill that suspends adjustments to the electricity bill. In the state of Ceará, for example, the energy bill will be 24.88% more expensive for consumers.
Domingos Neto (PSD-CE), deputy who presented the proposal, said that consumers are the ones who are being most harmed by consecutive tariff increases by Aneel: “The fact is that, in general, Brazilian consumers have been paying increasingly higher electricity costs and that, in the case of residential consumers, they often greatly exceed their ability to pay”, said the deputy.
Government and energy sector concerned about the project
The possible approval of the project is generating great concern for the electricity sector and the federal government. The main reason is that the readjustments are already foreseen in the contracts with the distributors. In the event of non-compliance with the readjustments, legal disputes may arise, with a high chance of having to pay compensation.
As an alternative to bill, Domingos Romeu Andreatta, Deputy Secretary for Electric Energy at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, defended the approval of a proposal for an amendment to the Constitution (PEC), which is already being processed in Congress, which would limit the ICMS tax rate on electricity bill.
“In the case of Ceará, ICMS represents 28.8% of the final price of electricity. This is also a project that brings us a lot of interest'', defended the assistant secretary.
Meanwhile, Mário Menel, president of the Electric Sector Associations Forum (Fase), rejected the measures that are on the table. According to him, the solution to the problem will only happen with the reduction of taxes, which today already add up to 49% of the energy bill. "Congress approves the subsidies, and Aneel is not to blame”, analyzed.
