\u201cThe rich need to pay more taxes.\u201d
\u201cTax justice means charging more from those who have more.\u201d
\u201cStrong state to guarantee equal rights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These phrases make up the modern mantra of tax policy \u2014 always in the name of justice, equality and the collective good. The problem? They mask a power project<\/strong>, not justice. The discourse of tax justice has become a tool for increase revenue, expand state control and covertly punish individual freedom.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This article will demonstrate why the rhetoric of tax justice is not neutral, nor harmless<\/strong>. It serves a purpose: legitimize the concentration of power in the hands of those who tax, while criminalizing those who try to escape the siege.<\/strong> Tax justice, in Brazil and in much of the world, is not justice \u2014 it is coercion disguised as virtue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The original notion of fiscal justice was linked to proportionality and simplicity. Each person would contribute the minimum necessary to support the essential functions of the State \u2014 security, contracts, defense. There was no intention of forcibly leveling society. Justice was given in the equity of duties and in the freedom of choices.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Over time, this concept was corrupted. It came to mean compulsory income redistribution<\/strong>, as if inequality itself were a crime \u2014 and the State a legitimate moral agent to correct it. But this state morality hides a contradiction: There is no justice in confiscating the fruits of some people's labor to support the privileges of others.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the pillars of so-called tax justice is progressive taxation. The idea is simple: the more you earn, the higher the tax rate. But in practice, what we see is that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe concept of tax justice has been manipulated since its inception<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe political use of progressive taxation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n