A transparência da Secretaria Especial da Receit Federal do Brasil: um estudo a partir dos limites do sigilo fiscal

Abstract

The research aimed to evaluate the transparency of the Secretaria Especial da Receita Federal do Brasil (RFB), according to criteria of visibility and infeasibility, in harmony with the limits imposed by tax secrecy. To this end, it was conducted along two lines of investigation: the analysis of active transparency and passive transparency under the criteria of visibility and inferability. To assess the active dimension of transparency, the mandatory disclosure of tax installments granted under the RFB and tax representations for criminal purposes sent to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office was observed. To achieve these objectives, direct observation was made on the RFB website on the world wide web, internet. Regarding the investigation of the passive dimension of transparency, the research aimed to evaluate the fulfillment, by the RFB, of the citizens' demands through the Citizen Information Service – SIC in the Fala.BR system. To achieve this specific objective, two blocks of information requests to the RFB were prepared. In the first block, requests were prepared, whose required information could not be categorically considered by the RFB as subject to tax secrecy. In the second block, the survey repeated requests for information already made in a previous survey, whose access was denied by the RFB under the allegation of tax secrecy. It was necessary to assess whether the adherence of the RFB, through the Ministério da Economia (Fazenda), to the centralized system of access to public information managed by the CGU, in addition to the long period of time since the previous survey, would have altered the passive transparency of the RFB in any way. The research concluded that transparency, in the two dimensions studied, presents high levels of visibility restriction and inferability and that actions should be developed for its expansion, even because transparency is a value established by this public body to achieve its institutional mission.