Gasoline and ethanol will rise in price next week, March 1, with the end of the exemption from the Social Integration Program (PIS) and the Contribution for the Financing of Social Security (Cofins), which has been in force since the second half of the year past.
The head of the Federal Revenue’s Center for Tax and Customs Studies, Claudemir Malaquias, confirmed the reinstatement at the end of the month. The date appears in Provisional Measure 1,157, signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on January 1st.
“In fact, the MP predicted that the exemption rate would be in force until the end of this month. The reenactment is foreseen according to the rule that is in force”, said Malaquias during the interview.
The provisional measure extended until February 28th the PIS and Cofins exemptions levied on gasoline and fuel alcohol and until December 31st the exemptions on diesel oil and biodiesel. These exemptions had been granted last year by former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula met with the president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, to discuss the readjustment of fuel prices. With the end of the exemption, the previous rates are back in force, of R$ 0.792 per liter of gasoline A (without ethanol mixture) and R$ 0.242 per liter of ethanol. The transfer to consumers, however, will depend on distributors and fuel stations.
The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, stated that the recomposition of taxes will yield R$ 28.88 billion to the government’s cash in 2023. In January alone, according to calculations by the Federal Revenue released today, the government failed to collect R$ 3.75 billion with the extension of the zero rate.
