Tax Law and Environmental Law
What the exam tests
Tax law questions cover tax principles, tax crimes, and administrative tax infractions. Environmental law covers principles, licensing, and environmental crimes under Lei 9.605/1998. The delegate must know the intersection with criminal law.
Core concepts
- Princípios tributários: legality, isonomy, capacity to pay, and non-retroactivity.
- Crimes contra a ordem tributária: Lei 8.137/1990; sonegação, fraude, and apropriação indébita previdenciária.
- Extinção da punibilidade: payment before denúncia in tax crimes.
- Direito ambiental: prevention, precaution, polluter pays, and sustainable development.
- Licenciamento ambiental: EIA/RIMA for activities with significant impact.
- Crimes ambientais: art. 54 (pollution), art. 56 (illegal extraction), and the responsabilidade penal da pessoa jurídica.
Traps
- Crime tributário requires lançamento definitivo of the tax credit before prosecution.
- Pessoa jurídica can be criminally liable in environmental crimes, but not in tax crimes.
- Princípio da precaução applies when there is scientific uncertainty; prevenção applies to known risks.
- Responsabilidade ambiental is objective in civil scope, independent of fault.
Rule of thumb
For tax crimes, check the administrative finality of the credit. For environmental crimes, identify the protected legal good and whether the conduct caused danos or mere perigo.
Worked example
A company discharges pollutants above the legal limit. Its director and the legal entity may both be criminally liable under Lei 9.605/1998, provided the conduct is attributable to the entity's decision. The exam tests the double liability and the requirement of interesse ou benefício of the entity.