BUDGET CHANGES AND ADDITIONAL SPECIAL CREDITS: THE UNDERSTANDING OF MINAS GERAIS STATE COURT OF AUDITORS

The Brazilian legal system establishes the principle of precedence of the public budget, by which the budget must be prepared before application. The execution of public expenditure is preceded by a planning. In this scenario, during the implementation of the budget, it must be adapted to the situations that are beyond the ability to forecast when there are in development. The Constitution of the Republic of 1988 brought a number of mechanisms that allow the adaptation of the budget to reality. Some of these mechanisms are intended to suit the budget for decisions as an administrative reform in which organs are extinct and created, while others must be used to make corrections in the budget because of failures in the estimates of revenue and expenditure. Among these instruments, the additional credits stand out and, in the case of unforeseen expenditure originally in the budget, a suitable instrument is the special additional credit. In this study, the use of each of these amendments mechanisms of the public budget will be reviewed and, based on current legislation and doctrinal concepts, will be checked what the requirements are and the purpose of each one, so that it is determined which instrument to use, according to the situation presented. Finally, considerations will be made in the view of the position of the Court of Auditors of the State of Minas Gerais over special additional credits, based on what are the legal requirements for the correct specification of the expenditure in the budget, so that it is concluded the existence of a new expense.