Tiago Silva
Lawyer at Marcos Martins Advogados
The Federal Supreme Court, when analyzing lawsuits involving the states of Amapá, Minas Gerais and Pará, considered the collection of mineral exploration fees to be valid, thus guaranteeing the maintenance of an annual revenue for these states that exceeds R$1 billion.
Justice Luís Roberto Barroso disagreed with the position adopted by the majority of members of the court, as he believes that the amount charged should be proportional to the cost of the state activity, a situation that did not occur in the case analyzed, since for the state of Minas Gerais alone the collection of this fee represents an amount three times greater than the budget of the environmental secretariats and agencies for inspection.
Obviously, the Court’s decision could result in similar requirements being introduced in other states, requiring all potential taxpayers to take a strategic stance, because although the validity of this charge has been recognized, the issue could still be the subject of new discussions about the limits of its requirement.
For this reason, it will be essential to maintain a fair and adequate tax burden, to question any undue or abusive requirements, and the support of specialized personnel is indispensable, whether to issue opinions or file lawsuits.
When it comes to the Brazilian tax scenario, it’s important to bear in mind that it’s not enough to tackle an isolated problem, such as charging a “new tax”, but rather to analyze the company’s entire tax system in order to identify tax opportunities that had previously been overlooked, thus enabling the company to improve its results.
