TCESP approves Tarcísio government accounts with a series of reservations

The TCESP (Court of Auditors of the State of São Paulo) approved this Wednesday (17) the accounts of the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, for the year 2025.

The opinion was reported by the magistrate advisor Marco Aurélio Bertaiolli, who approved the accounts presented by the management, but made a series of reservations regarding the financial health and transparency of the State's management.

According to TCESP analysis, the volume of tax benefits exceeded direct investments made by the State between 2020 and 2023.

They expect that from 2026 to 2028 waivers will jump from R$83.05 billion to R$93.77 billion, a growth of 6.26% per year. The pace is higher than government revenue, which should be 5.78% per year.

The rapporteur also detected that around 1% of companies registered as beneficiaries receive approximately 80% of all tax benefits.

The audit also criticized the lack of data crossing.

According to the report, 3,301 companies that received ICMS exemptions or reductions were, at the same time, registered in Cadin (Informative Register of Unpaid Credits). They also showed that 25 large debtors accumulated R$3.9 billion in debts with the State, at the same time that they received R$12.2 billion in tax waivers.

Based on this finding, Bertaiolli ordered the end of secrecy for cases involving the granting of tax benefits to companies. Therefore, the government will have to disclose the CNPJ of all benefiting companies. Furthermore, it recommended that the São Paulo administration avoid constantly reprogramming physical targets and provide more transparency to changes in the budget through decrees.

The rapporteur also drew attention to the acceleration of the concession of public services to the private sector and outsourcing, stating that State supervision and regulation did not keep up with the growth in transfers. He also warned that Tarcísio's management did not create an efficient structure to regulate and monitor the goals and results stipulated in concession contracts and partnerships with the third sector.

"We need to be vigilant and create more effective traceability instruments so that any course corrections can occur as quickly as possible", said Bertaiolli.

Despite complying with the limits established by the Fiscal Responsibility Law for personnel expenses and debt, the TCE demonstrated concern about the evolution of expenses and the burden of social security. According to the Court, the ratio between current revenues and expenses reached 92.43% in 2025, approaching the ceiling allowed by the Constitution, at 95%.

At the end of the session, the other Court advisors made their notes and followed the vote of rapporteur Marco Bertaiolli unanimously.

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Source: CNN