A consulta fiscal como de conformidade cooperativa entre a Receita Federal do Brasil e os contribuintes

Abstract

The relationship between the tax authorities and taxpayers has always been arduous and controversial. Recognizing that cooperation can be beneficial for tax authorities and taxpayers, several countries are implementing cooperative compliance programs. For taxpayers, it provides greater legal certainty and reduces the costs of complying with tax obligations, and for the State, it ensures greater foresight in tax collection and reduction of the tax deficit. It is a bold and painful transformation for Tax Administrations and taxpayers, but it is growing. In Brazil, practices of this type are multiplying, with relevance to the Confia project of the Receita Federal of Brazil (RFB), among others created in the State Tax Administrations. This creates a possibility to reassess the traditional model of control towards a cooperative relationship that, as opposed to confrontation, is based on transparency, good faith, trust and cooperation. This research examines the value of building a new paradigm in the relationship between the Tax Authorities and the taxpayer and seeks to verify whether the RFB's strategies would be aligned with the guidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the principles of the New Public Service (NSP) and whether the program suggested by this organization would be extended to the Brazilian federal Tax Administration and what would be the most important problems to be faced. In order to achieve these objectives, bibliographical research was carried out on this subject, mainly based on the literature of the OECD and the Inter-American Center for Tax Administrations (CIAT). Based on questionnaires answered by taxpayers and RFB employees and on the analysis of their results, the need to cange the relationship between the RFB and taxpayers was demonstrated. It is concluded that despite the alignment of the RFB strategies, recently adopted, with the OECD guidelines and with several NSP principles, there is a way to go before the implementation of such a program. We found that the greatest uncertainties in this process are related to equality between taxpayers, the relationship between the RFB and taxpayers and the issue of communication between them. As a practical measure, this work suggested the use of federal tax consultation as a communication tool to increase cooperative compliance between RFB and taxpayers. The role of tax consultations was examined in a context of doubts in the interpretation and use of tax legislation, its potential to increase communication between the RFB and taxpayers and to prevent discussions. From the examination of the characteristics of the federal tax consultation system, we sought to record the main obstacles to its use as a communication tool between the RFB and taxpayers, propose changes to this tool that allow reflection on viable points of improvement of the institute in Brazil to be used for the purpose proposed here