Critical Tradition in Tax Law

Abstract

There is an important tradition of critical thinking in Brazilian Tax Law. It consists of the habit of critically evaluating theoretical proposals by examining their assumptions, arguments, evidence, and conclusions, which can culminate in the improvement of the criticized theory, by the correction of its errors, or in its abandonment, when its falsehood is demonstrated. At the same time, however, the tax doctrine also coexists with ways to circumvent or neutralize the critical procedure. This article, through examples, explains the critical tradition in tax law, extolling it, and the forms of reactions to this tradition, offering alternatives to avoid it.