Epistemic Crisis in Contemporary Tax Law

from the Exhaustion of Normative Formalism to the Risks of Fiscal Solidarity

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the causes and effects of a potential epistemic crisis affecting contemporary Brazilian tax law. It argues that a rupture in the traditional paradigm of tax law is underway, leading to a phase of conceptual disorder and insecurity within this legal science field. The text contends that normative formalism, which historically grounded tax discipline, has reached a point of exhaustion due to social, technological, and economic changes. These changes have generated dissatisfaction with the responses provided by this theoretical tradition in practical tax law issues. Having made this diagnosis, the article proposes a critical analysis of the ongoing paradigmatic transition, highlighting the emergence of a new line of thought termed “Fiscal Solidarism”. This novel proposal, still in the consolidation phase, profoundly alters the assumptions of tax law, justifying taxation through an open interpretation of constitutional clauses limiting the power to tax, thereby posing risks of relativizing fundamental taxpayer guarantees.