O DESARRANJO NO PACTO FEDERATIVO FISCAL BRASILEIRO: UMA DISCUSSÃO EM PROL DA EFETIVA TUTELA DOS DIREITOS FUNDAMENTAIS SOCIAIS MEDIANTE O FORTALECIMENTO DA AUTONOMIA FISCAL DOS MUNICÍPIOS

Abstract

The present research focuses on the disorder in the Brazilian fiscal federative pact as a hindrance to the provision of essential public services for safeguarding fundamental social rights. This is justified due to the need to improve the Brazilian federalism in the face of the constant backdrop of social inequality experienced in the national territory since its establishment with the Federal Constitution of 1988. Its relevance lies in its contribution to bringing improvements in the model of organization and functioning of the Brazilian federation, aiming to promote advances in the provision of quality public services in sufficient and equitable quantity throughout this vast country. It is understood that through a healthy federation, with an adequate division of resources derived from taxation, the autonomy of federated entities is ensured so that they can carry out their activities satisfactorily, promoting a higher quality of life for the population and achieving constitutional bjectives. Thus, the general objective of this study is to analyze the interference of the disorder present in the current regime of competencies and distribution of tax revenues among Brazilian federative entities in the realization of fundamental social rights by subnational entities. To achieve this, it is necessary to: historically contextualize the imbalance in the fiscal federative pact since the period preceding Brazilian federalism; discuss the existing asymmetry in the current regime of tax competencies and distribution of tax revenues among the Union, States, and Municipalities, focusing especially on the latter; and demonstrate the negative impact of this fiscal crisis of subnational entities, especially municipalities, on the provision of public services that safeguard fundamental social rights at the local level, pointing out possible improvements. Therefore, through a bibliographical and descriptive legal research, with a qualitative and quantitative approach, it is verified that the current federative arrangement requires integrated changes in the systems of tax competencies and redistribution of tax collection among the entities that compose it, through fiscal equalization criteria for entities that are updated and that follow social complexity, considering that tax competencies concentrated in the Union and criteria for redistribution of collection among entities assigned in a less personalized way, as currently occurs, do not adequately adjust to the Brazilian reality, significantly impacting the financial condition of subnational entities, especially small municipalities, regarding the provision of public services that guarantee the social rights of the population. Therefore, a reorganization of the fiscal federative pact becomes urgent to realize the autonomy of these entities and to achieve the objectives of the Brazilian republic, as contained in Article 3 of the Brazilian Constitution.