A materialidade do imposto sobre a propriedade de veículos automotores – IPVA: Acepção e extensão do termo “veículos automotores”

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to analyze the material criterion of the hypothesis of incidence of the Tax on Property of Automotive Vehicles – IPVA, whose provision is stamped by the article 155, item III, of the Federal Constitution, notably regarding the “automotive vehicles” complement. Notwithstanding the importance of this tax and its frequent presence in the daily lives of a large portion of the Brazilian population, there are few studies and approaches to it – compared to other taxes –, both in the doctrinal and jurisprudential fields, motivating the present investigation, which will be provided to elucidate which is the most appropriate concept for the term “automotive vehicles” to, in sequence, verify its scope for the purposes of IPVA taxation. Therefore, primarily, a brief report will be made about Positive Law, going through the hierarchy and coordination relationships established between legal norms, thus highlighting the normative peak present in the legal system: the Federal Constitution, which is responsible for founding a new State (completely dissociated from the previous one), bringing new principles, guidelines and determinations. Then, will be addressed the tax competences, reserved and granted to the federative entities by the Republican Charter of 1988. Starting from this point, the IPVA theme will be deepened, presenting its historical trajectory and the current regulation conferred by CF/88. A summary of the functions reserved to the supplementary law by the article 146 of the Supreme Law will be made and, after reporting the lack of any legislation of this category in relation to the IPVA, the matrix-rule of tax incidence for the mentioned tax will be presented. Then, will be given a greater focus specifically to the term “automotive vehicles” – inserted as a complement to the material criterion of the current tax –, at which time its concept will be established and, consequently, its range, verifying the framework – or its absence – of other means of transportation in this sense (for example, vessels, aircrafts and other contemporary means of transportation), in order to examine the constitutionality of imposing the IPVA on them. In the course of this explanation, will be pointed out practical cases and trials decided by the Supreme Court, leading, finally, to the conclusion of the present paper