Beyond contribution capacity

• Autor(a) principal: Cavalcante, Caio Neno Silva
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Nunes, Cleucio Santos
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Direito & Paz
• Texto Completo: https://revista.unisal.br/lo/index.php/direitoepaz/article/view/1695
• topic: Fundamental duty to pay taxes; Solidarity; Principle; Value; Contribution capacity; Dever fundamental de pagar impostos; Solidariedade; Princípio; Valor; Capacidade contributiva

The concept of fundamental duty to pay taxes has started to appear in Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) decisions, however, in these, it seems like the fundamentality aspect has little theoretical depth. The duty in question has been used in an accessory way, often relying on authoritative arguments, and sticking to justifications that have already been surpassed by the doctrine. In this sense, the present work seeks, through the analysis of the doctrine by way of the hypothetical-deductive method and non-exhaustive research in the jurisprudence of the STF, to provide additional arguments that aim to demonstrate the fundamentality of this duty, with support in the concept of solidarity. To this end, a historical panorama is drawn up to demonstrate how solidarity has been related to the idea of contribution capacity throughout the history of western taxation and, currently, it seems to be moving beyond it, starting to be considered, at the same time, as a principle, in the deontological field, and as a value, in the axiological field. Finally, based on this dual perspective, a proposal is presented to argue on behalf of the fundamentality of the duty to pay taxes, to be used both as a decision-making basis in the Brazilian Courts and as an ethical justification for the improvement of the tax system, focusing on carrying out the Brazilian Republic's fundamental objective of building a free, fair and solidary society.