Tele.Síntese – 26/02/2026
By Paula Coutinho*
ABES states that the expiration of the Provisional Measure eliminates the budgetary window and that Bill 278/2026 will depend on a project to amend the Budget Guidelines Law.
The failure to vote for PL 278/2026 The Senate's decision by February 25 resulted in the expiration of the provisional measure that supported the Redata And, according to the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (ABES), it eliminated the necessary tax window for creating the incentive as early as 2025.
The assessment comes from Marcelo Almeida, the organization's Director of Government Relations, who followed the project's progress and stated that the immediate consequence is budgetary.
“When I no longer have this provisional measure, I lose this fiscal and budgetary opportunity that was created. And then, for the year 2026, a rule that is in article 29 of the Budget Guidelines Law falls upon it, preventing the creation of tax incentives in the year 2026. That is the detail of the 25th with the entry into force of the provisional measure,” he declared.
According to him, the validity of the provisional measure created a temporary allowance for the waiver of revenue necessary for the program. With its expiration, the scenario changes.
“"What does this mean? It means that project 278-2026, which is the one currently in the Senate, in order to create this tax incentive for import duties and therefore for revenue loss, I will have to remove this prohibition," he stated.
Dependence on changes to the Budget Guidelines Law (LDO)
The press office of the government leadership in the Chamber of Deputies, led by Representative José Guimarães (PT-CE), confirmed to... Tele.Synthesis Given that the provisional measure has expired, it will be necessary to send a bill to the National Congress (PLN) to amend the Budget Guidelines Law (LDO) and allow the creation of the incentive.
Since this matter has a fiscal impact and involves a loss of revenue, the initiative must come from the Executive Branch.
Marcelo detailed the fiscal logic involved: “Every project that interferes with the budget must be authored by the Executive Branch. To create a revenue waiver, it is necessary to say where I will recover that revenue from.”.
In short, while the bill previously depended solely on its passage through the Senate, the Senate's postponement now requires the approval of another matter in the National Congress.
Assessment of the government's strategy
Regarding the government's decision to replace the provisional measure with a bill under constitutional urgency, Marcelo stated that, in his assessment, it was a strategic error.
For him, "it wasn't a self-inflicted wound, it was a wrong choice." And he explained: "The provisional measure had all the necessary elements for us to have had it approved last year.".
According to the director of ABES, the bill was not presented due to governance difficulties in the Senate, but because of internal disagreements about the original text of the Provisional Measure, which had accumulated around 300 amendments.
“"A punch that I don't know where it came from"”
Marcelo also commented on the removal of the topic from the Senate's agenda. Bill 278/2026 was never included in the order of the day.
“"I am convinced that Senator Davi Alcolumbre did not schedule the project for some other reason that has nothing to do with drafting, that has nothing to do with technology," he declared.
ABES reported that it will continue to seek alternatives to make the program viable in 2025, but acknowledges that, with the expiration of the provisional measure, the path necessarily involves adjustments to the Budget Guidelines Law (LDO).
Natural gas as a viable energy source for Redata.
Another possible change to the final text of the Redata bill could result in the inclusion of natural gas as a viable energy source. This issue, introduced through four amendments by Senator Laércio Oliveira (PP-SE), was rejected in the Chamber of Deputies. However, groups linked to the energy sector advocate for the inclusion of natural gas in the Redata bill because they see it as a reliable and stable energy source to meet the demands of data centers.
Regarding the inclusion of natural gas in the text, to Tele.Synthesis, Senator Laércio pointed out that the main requirement for a data center is the guarantee of an uninterrupted power supply. Laércio Oliveira argues that natural gas can fulfill this role, especially in producing states.
“"For a data center to be installed anywhere, the main point is a reliable power supply. So, if they have reliable power, their situation is resolved."”
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*Journalist with over 20 years of professional experience, having worked in mainstream media, including daily newspapers, weekly magazines, radio stations, and TV channels.
