The Equality Test Applied To The Brazilian Limited Taxation System For Microentrepreneurs

Abstract

Most Legal Principle varies in time and space, influenced by social values of a given society at a given time. It is precisely what happens with the Principle of Equality. While at first, equality solely demanded the law to be applied uniformly in all cases, it later became, in many jurisdictions, a guideline to Governments, demanding the promotion of equal opportunities to all citizens.

When it comes to taxation, the Principle of Equality requires the tax burden to be divided fairly among taxpayers, what implies that differences, whether imposing a higher or lower taxation, may never be made on arbitrary basis but rather on Constitutional grounds. Taking the Principle of Equality seriously can assist in building simpler and more fair tax systems.

It is not always easy to observe the Principle of Equality on taxation, as it may be difficult to stablish comparability criteria and framing taxpayers as equals, once taxpayers are hardly equal.

While difficult, it is possible to establish a few premises that can assist on the task of comparing taxpayers and understanding if the differences on the law are compliant with the Principle of Equality.

This is precisely the purpose of our article: drawing a few premises that can help us understand in concrete cases if the discriminations promoted by the legislation are compliant with the Principle of Equality. After drawing such premises, we will try applying our “equality test” to a concrete case: the microentrepreneurs taxation regime.