The central question of the current study was: what measures could be implemented in the Brazilian legal and fiscal system regarding indirect taxation in order to adapt it to the digitalization of consumer transactions? The path we chose to answer this question was to divide our reflections into two distinct moments. In the first part of the study, we sought to determine whether the Brazilian consumption taxation system (specifically, ICMS and ISS) is capable of meeting the challenges posed by economic digitalization. And, in order to do so, we had to first identify, through the creation of a risk matrix, the main challenges that electronic commerce of intangibles poses to tax systems, as well as specify which beacons would be used. We chose the OECD's VAT Guidelines as the normative framework. These are normative rules that, despite being softlaws, have a significant impact worldwide on the adaptation of VAT systems to electronic commerce. In addition, we dived into a critical examination of the European IVA system, specifically as it relates to digital commerce, in order to provide us with more elements to analyze the Brazilian system currently in place. We concluded due to the structural inadequacy of the Brazilian system to International Directives, as well as to risks posed by economic digitalization. We enter the second part of the reseach, with a more purposeful nature on possible directions to be taken by the tax legal system, armed with both the guidelines to be taken into account and some elements captured from the European experience. We prioritize addressing the main risk, which is the platforming of the economy, in our debates. Taking this stance, we structured the main directions related to the role of digital platforms in tax collection that are being built internationally, specifically by the OECD, so that we could consider whether they could be implemented in the Brazilian system in the final part of the work. Prior to that, however, it was necessary to decide whether such considerations would be made under the current taxation system or the one proposed in tax reform projects. And it was here that we made our first proposal: the implementation, in accordance with the current system, of a tax on the consumption of intangibles. From this perspective, we concluded the research with the understanding that, under certain conditions of the Brazilian tax system, it is possible to establish the tax liability of marketplace platforms for the collection of tax on the consumption of intangibles.
Date of Award | 8 May 2023 |
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Original language | Portuguese |
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Awarding Institution | - Universidade Católica Portuguesa
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Supervisor | Sérgio Vasques (Supervisor) |
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- VAT
- E-commerce
- Digitization of the economy
- Consumption taxation
- Tax liability
- Digital platforms
Tributação indireta na era digital: e o Brasil nisso? : propostas para o e-commerce de intangíveis
Uhdre, D. D. C. (Student). 8 May 2023
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis