SPORTS SALES TAX AND FUNDING OF SPORTS POLITICS IN MINAS GERAIS

The Brazilian sales tax known as Tax on Circulation of Merchandise and Services (Imposto Sobre Circulacao de Mercadorias e Servicos - ICMS) is collected by state governments and partially distributed to municipalities. In the case of the state of Minas Gerais, this distribution happens under several criteria, including Sports ICMS (ICMS Esportivo). The purpose of the study is to discuss the role of that tax in funding sports policies based on official documents describing ICMS operation and public data on its distribution between 2011 and 2014. The study concludes that such public funding strategy has several constrains, such as overvaluing sports municipal events.