Tax Obligation, Tax Liability, and the Ordinance PGFN No. 948/2017

Abstract

This article aims at investigating the interaction of legal rules that can affect the tax obligation, especially the respondent’s composition. In this sense, we will study the PGFN Ordinance No. 948/2017, which regulates the Administrative Procedure for Recognition of Liability – PARR, for its acronym in Portuguese. Based on the Theory of Law and the Civil Law, we argue that tax liability rules, although complementary to the basic incidence rule, have the autonomy to focus on their own assumptions and different procedural requirements. Thus, we indicate that the tax assessment is a procedure related to the tax debt’s constitution – not to be confused with administrative liability procedures. Such proceedings, while presenting similarities, as the need to observe the due process of law, have some substantial differences, particularly regarding the competent body to issue them. In the end, we conclude that the procedure established by the PGFN Ordinance No. 948/2017 is fully valid.