TAX CREDIT LIMITATION AND EXTINCTION OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY: AN ANALYSIS ORIENTED BY THE HERMENEUTIC CRITIQUE OF LAW
Tax crimes; extinction of punishment; tax limitation period; Hermeneutic Critique of Law.
The present research addresses a recurring interpretative contradiction within Brazilian Tax Criminal Law: while the extinction of criminal liability through full payment of the tax debt, as provided in Article 9, §2 of Law No. 10.684/2003, is widely accepted by the case law, the prescription of the tax credit does not produce the same legal effect. This asymmetry, which results in unequal treatment of taxpayers in materially equivalent situations based on factors unrelated to the culpability of their conduct, raises a central hermeneutical and constitutional question: is it permissible, in light of the principles of equality, coherence, and integrity of the legal system, to uphold such interpretative distinction? In response to this issue, the present research seeks to analyze the constitutional admissibility of recognizing the prescription of the tax credit as a cause for extinguishing criminal liability, based on the theoretical framework developed by Lenio Streck (Critical Hermeneutics of Law – CHD). The study departs from the hypothesis that denying penal effects to tax prescription, even after the consummation of the offense, constitutes a violation of the principles of equality, proportionality, and legal certainty. The specific objectives include reconstructing the legal-philosophical trajectory from legal positivism to CHD; examining the legislative evolution of the rule on extinguishment of criminal liability through payment; problematizing the fiscal function of criminal law; discussing the independence of legal spheres; analyzing doctrinal and jurisprudential positions; and ultimately supporting, through a constitutionally adequate interpretation, the legitimacy of tax prescription as a cause for extinguishing criminal liability. This is a basic research study with a qualitative approach, using a hypothetical-deductive method and exploratory purpose. It employs bibliographic and documentary analysis of legal doctrine, legislation, and case law from the Superior Court of Justice. The conclusion reached is that recognizing tax prescription as a cause for extinguishing criminal liability is not only hermeneutically required, but also constitutionally mandated by the principles of equality, proportionality, coherence, and integrity of the criminal legal system.