The Fundamental Duty to pay (lawfully) Taxes

Significance, Range and Analysis of Carf’s Precedents

Abstract

The fundamental duty to pay taxes has been used as the basis for some decisions of the Administrative Council for Tax Appeals (Carf), when analyzing taxpayers’ appeals in lawsuits challenging tax assessment notices arising from aggressive tax planning. The present study intends to analyze the objective limits of the application of the theory to specific cases considered in the scope of the federal tax administrative process, to identify its use as a legal basis for tax assessments and application of penalties, in addition to observing its correlation with the general Brazilian anti-avoidance rule and legal acts and transactions carried out to avoid the birth of tax obligations, as well as in other cases of legal pathologies resulting from deceit, fraud, simulation or abuse of rights.