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Politics & Regulation

Inspired by Goiás, Piauí will seek ICMS exemption for solar energy in court

In an interview with Canal Solar, Apisolar's president, Marco Melo, spoke about the initiative and its next steps

Inspired by Goiás, Piauí will seek ICMS exemption for solar energy in court

Photo: Freepik

Apisolar (Piauí Association of Solar Energy Companies) is mobilizing to file a lawsuit seeking exemption from ICMS (Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services) for the DG (distributed generation) sector in the state.

In an interview with Canal Solar, the president of the entity, Marco Melo, explained that the tax collection began to be applied by Equatorial-PI in June 2024, making it difficult for the population and productive sectors to access solar technology.

At this time, the executive explains that the association is seeking support from state deputies from ALEPI (Legislative Assembly of the State of Piauí) to make an unconstitutionality action against taxation viable.

The initiative follows the model of a similar movement carried out in Goiás, where the State Court of Justice suspended the collection of ICMS on solar energy in Goiás municipalities, responding to an action brought by the União Brasil and MDB parties in January of this year.

Apisolar's strategy is to use the same legal argument adopted in Goiás – which considered the ICMS charge on DG to be irregular, since the energy generated by these consumers is temporarily transferred to distributors as a free loan, being compensated later.

The understanding is that, in these cases, There is no commercial relationship that justifies taxation with state tax. According to Melo, Apisolar intends to file the request for an unconstitutionality action by the end of February. “The idea is to follow the same model adopted in Goiás, which has already received a favorable opinion from the courts,” he said.

However, he emphasized that only political parties can file this type of lawsuit, which is why the association believes it's essential to have a well-structured agenda with Piauí state representatives. "The association alone can't submit this request. We need the support of political parties to make the lawsuit viable," he said.

Court suspends ICMS collection on solar energy in Goiás

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Henrique Hein
About the Author
Henrique Hein

He worked at Correio Popular and Rádio Trianon. He has experience in podcast production, radio programs, interviews and reporting. Has been following the solar sector since 2020.

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