TAX LAW, POLITICAL CONTROL AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN BRAZIL

THE FRAGILITY OF CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES UNDER THE ANALYSIS OF THE PROTECTION OF ECONOMIC MINORITIES

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This work aims to examine the Brazilian tax system in light of tax reform and its resulting effects on fiscal justice, selectivity, and the protection of economic minorities. Initially, the concepts and modalities of taxes will be presented, primarily addressing the taxable event of selective taxes, social contributions on goods and services, as well as the extinction of taxes. The historical evolution of taxation in Brazil reveals instances where it is possible to observe that the system has always gone beyond a merely revenue-raising function, even functioning as an instrument for the concentration of State power and political control. However, in this context, the discussion revolves around the promise of system simplification, structural inequalities, and the influence of external interests that maintain the monopoly and internal supremacy of the State. This means that the present tax reform is analyzed as an essential element of fiscal planning, highlighting the risks of violating the constitutional principle of selectivity and the limits of the power to tax. Thus, it can be inferred that the tax reform seeks not only to adopt measures that can make the system simpler, but also to highlight the essential importance of the efficiency of its rules, in order to balance the practical issues of daily life. In this scenario, it is concluded that the process governing tax rules proves to be a tool not only for revenue collection purposes, but also directly demonstrates that it is an indisputable instrument of political power, capable of promoting social justice, the factor of which will depend on how it is applied.

Keywords: Tax Reform, Tax Procedure, Power to Tax, Selectivity, Economic Minorities.