Tax reform and Zanin nomination move week in Congress

In a shorter week because of the Corpus Christi holiday, next Thursday (8), two subjects will dominate Congress. In the Chamber of Deputies, the working group that discussed the tax reform will present the activities report. In the Senate, the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ) will begin discussing the nomination of lawyer Cristiano Zanin for the post of Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). Other topics, such as the complementary bill that establishes the new fiscal framework, will be left for the week after the holiday. Approved by the Chamber of Deputies on the 24th, the proposal is being discussed at the Senate Economic Affairs Committee (CAE), under the rapporteurship of Senator Omar Aziz (PSD-AM). On Tuesday (6), the tax reform rapporteur, Deputy Aguinaldo Ribeiro (PP-PB), will release the report of the working group that discussed the topic. In the last three months, ministers, experts and the extraordinary secretary of Tax Reform at the Ministry of Finance, Bernard Appy, have been heard. The report, clarified Ribeiro last week, will not yet replace the two proposed amendments to the Constitution (PEC) on tax reform that have stalled in Congress. It will only contain a summary of what was discussed in the working group, the consensus points and a 40-year history of tax reform discussion. According to the advisory of the parliamentarian, the substitute will only be presented when a date is defined for discussion in the plenary of the Chamber. The main point of consensus is the creation of the Tax on Goods and Services (IBS). According to Ribeiro, the IBS should have two rates, one for the Union and another for states and municipalities. This tax will unify three federal taxes (Tax on Industrialized Products, Social Integration Program and Social Contribution on Social Security Financing), in addition to the Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS), levied by the states, and the Tax on Services (ISS), the responsibility of the municipalities. According to the coordinator of the working group, Deputy Reginaldo Lopes (PT-MG), the idea is to vote on the tax reform in the Chamber later this month. Vacancy for the STF In the Senate, the main highlight will be the beginning of the process of nominating lawyer Cristiano Zanin for the Federal Supreme Court (STF). Appointed last Thursday (1st) by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Zanin will occupy the vacancy opened by Minister Ricardo Lewandowski’s retirement, if his name is approved. Last week, the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), said that there is a possibility that the CCJ will question Zanin this week. The nomination needs to be approved by the committee to go to the Senate floor, but Pacheco said that the procedure should only continue after the Corpus Christi holiday. Regarding the new fiscal framework, Pacheco informed that the start of work at CAE should be postponed until after the holiday. However, he undertook to complete the vote on the proposal later this month. “It is very important to deliver [o projeto] during the course of June. Next week there’s a holiday, it’s hard to appreciate the framework. But already in the week of the 12th, it is very important that work on the CAE begins. Voting for CAE, we immediately take it to the plenary”, declared Pacheco last Thursday. *With information from the Chamber and Senate agencies

Agência Brasil