Tributação ambiental: a parcela dos municípios na proteção ambiental

Abstract

The aim of this study is to demonstrate the integration between Tax Law and Environmental Law in order to reach the maximum constitution of environmental defense. It is demonstrated through a research carried out in the municipality of Morro Agudo, State of São Paulo, that it is possible to use the money collected from the taxpayers to enable improvements to the environment without harming the economic, social, and cultural development. Several taxes, through their features of quasi-fiscal processes, like ITR (Imposto sobre a Propriedade Territorial Rural – Rural Property Tax), under national competence, and the ICMS Verde (Imposto sobre Operações de Circulação de Mercadorias e sobre Prestação de Serviços Interestadual e Intermunicipal e de Comunicação – Tax on Circulation of Goods, on Interstate and Intercity Services, and on Communication), under state competence, are already returned to benefit protected environmental areas. It is intended to demonstrate the possibility of using municipal tax to achieve environmental protection objectives, which are often forgotten due to the belief that economic development must come first. Key-words: Tax Law; Environmental Law; Tax; Environmental Protection