THE EVOLUTION OF NORMATIVE PRODUCTION OF THE FEDERAL REVENUE OF BRAZIL (1988-2020): EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS AND REGULATORY IMPLICATIONS

Abstract

The present study consists in an empirical quantitative analysis of the Brazilian Federal Revenue Office’s (RFB) rulemaking activities between 1988 and 2020. Using data collected in the electronic portal of the RFB for 13,273 normative acts and employing programming techniques and natural language processing tools, the article seeks to answer the following research question: how has the rulemaking activities of the RFB evolved over the period in question, both in terms of the quantity of rules created and in terms of the size of the acts that were approved and the complexity of the resulting system? The data shows not only a significant increase in the number of normative acts published each year, but also an increase in the average length of these acts, suggesting a process of densification of the network of rules that affect the federal tax system. The results also suggest that the normative production of the RFB is becoming increasingly complex, which could imply a significant increase of the regulatory role of the RFB. Concomitantly, this expansion of federal tax regulations directly affects the costs of tax compliance, thus requiring the adoption of instruments of analysis and control of the production of norms by the RFB.

Keywords
Empirical research; Brazilian Federal Revenue Office’s; normative production; tax regulation; compliance costs