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Petrobras Lowers Gasoline And Diesel Prices For The Third Consecutive Time At Refineries, But Why Doesn’t This Price Reach The Final Consumer?

Written by Paulo Nogueira
Published on 02/02/2020 at 17:40
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On Social Media, The Current President Stated That Petrobras Is Doing Its Part, But State Governments Do Not Want to Lose Revenue Through ICMS

President Jair Bolsonaro today (2) emphasized that Petrobras has reduced fuel prices at refineries (gasoline and diesel) for the 3rd consecutive time, but under popular inquiry, he placed the responsibility on the governors of each state to reduce the largest of all taxes, ICMS (Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services). See here some ICMS rates in RJ as an example.

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In an attempt to ensure these reductions reach the final consumer and do not solely depend on Petrobras, the president wants to change the legislation so that the tax is collected differently, directly at the “source”, to prevent state surcharges. Understand Bolsonaro’s explanation better below:

“For the third consecutive time, we have lowered gasoline and diesel prices at refineries, but prices do not decrease at gas stations, why?

Because governors charge, on average, 30% of ICMS on the average price charged at gas station pumps and update it only every 15 days, harming the consumer.

As a rule, governors do not admit to losing revenue, even if the price per liter at refineries drops to R$ 0.50 per liter.

What can the president of the Republic do to then lower the price of diesel/gasoline for the consumer?

Change the legislation through Complementary Law so that ICMS is a fixed value per liter, and no longer based on the average of gas stations (in addition to other measures).

And now? How long? What about the interests of the governors? Etc …

The President of the Republic will submit a proposal to the Legislature and will fight for its approval”, concludes the president.

Paulo Nogueira

Graduated in Electrical Engineering from one of the country's technical education institutions, the Instituto Federal Fluminense - IFF (formerly CEFET), he worked for several years in the offshore oil and gas, energy, and construction sectors. Today, with over 8,000 publications in online magazines and blogs on the energy sector, the focus is to provide real-time information on the Brazilian job market, macro and microeconomics, and entrepreneurship. For questions, suggestions, and corrections, please contact us at informe@clickpetroleoegas.com.br. Please note that we do not accept resumes at this contact.

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