A transparência da Secretaria Especial da Receita Federal do Brasil: um estudo a partir dos limites do sigilo fiscal

Abstract

The research aimed to propose actions that favor the expansion of transparency in the Secretaria Especial da Receita Federal do Brasil (RFB) in harmony with the limits imposed by tax secrecy. To this end, it was conducted in two areas of investigation, analysis of active transparency and passive transparency. To assess the active dimension of transparency, the mandatory disclosure of tax installments granted under the RFB and tax representations for criminal purposes sent to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office was observed. To achieve these objectives, direct observation was made on the Federal Revenue of Brazil website on the world wide web, internet. Regarding the investigation of the passive dimension of transparency, the research aimed to evaluate the fulfillment, by the RFB, of the citizens' demands through the Citizen Information Service – SIC in the Fala.BR system. To achieve this specific objective, two blocks of information requests to the RFB were prepared. In the first block, requests were prepared, whose required information could not be categorically considered by the RFB as subject to tax secrecy. In the second block, the survey repeated requests for information already formulated in a previous survey, before the RFB and the Ministério da Economia (Fazenda) joined the Fala.Br system, whose access was denied by the RFB on the grounds of tax secrecy. It was necessary to assess whether the adherence of the RFB, through the Ministério da Economia (Fazenda), to the centralized system of access to public information managed by the CGU would have altered the passive transparency of the RFB in any way. The research concluded that transparency, in the two dimensions studied, can still evolve, and actions should be developed for its expansion, even because transparency is a value established by this public agency to achieve its institutional mission.