A regressividade do ICMS como obstáculo à efetivação do artigo 3º da Constituição Federal de 1988

Abstract

In a society that intends to approach the ideal of social justice, it is crucial that the imposition of taxes and the application of their resources are in line with the economic capacity of its citizens. This thesis must be even more vigorous in countries whose Constitution has adopted the State of Social Welfare as the beacon of its action in mediating the conflicts caused by the poor distribution of income generated by capitalism. In the case of Brazil, the search for the reduction of social inequalities and the consequent promotion of justice were raised to the condition of Fundamental Objectives of the Republic, verbatim expressed in article 3 of our Political Charter, and should be of obligatory observance in the formatting of national budget management. However, the disproportion on the impostive basis and the preference for the application of consumption taxes as a collection instrument make Brazilian taxation one of the most regressive in the world. Following the Union model, the states have ICMS as their budget flagship, greatly compromising the income of families with lower purchasing power. This scenario requires an urgent exit to better control this imbalance in the division of state costs among taxpayers, in which the selective application of ICMS, at the state level, is an alternative to being more rigorously applied, theme that will be discussed in this monograph.