Guatemala: Eficacia recaudatoria vrs equidad y justicia tributaria. El aporte fiscal sectorial
Published date | 05 July 2022 |
Author | Mario Estuardo Archila |
Law Firm | Consortium Legal |
Ponencia disertada en el VI Congreso Anual de Tributación Empresarial, junio 24 de 2022.
Mucho se habla y escribe de la equidad y justicia tributaria al momento de los cobros de impuestos. Dos artículos de nuestra Constitución establecen estos principios como fundamentales para la validez de los tributos que imponga el Congreso. Tristemente, uno ni otro son realmente respetados en las sentencias de la Corte de Constitucionalidad.
A lo largo de la historia de la Corte de Constitucionalidad, es decir de 1986 a la fecha, se han impugnado tributos por diferentes razones sin que esos argumentos sean del todo comprendidos o resueltos en la realidad por este alto tribunal.
Dentro de los fallos -dicho como errores- más importantes de nuestra jurisprudencia constitucional podemos mencionar que se siguen manteniendo impuestos como:
- IUSI,
- IETAAP o ISO,
- Retenciones del Impuesto Sobre la Renta,
- Impuestos al consumo
Entre la lista de los que han sido discutidos constitucionalmente y han obtenido fallos desmeritando dichas acciones.
Un breve análisis de cualquiera de ellos deja claramente expuestos los vicios constitucionales, teóricos y prácticos, que sufren estas leyes impositivas. El IUSI es un impuesto a perpetuidad sobre bienes que no representan necesariamente riqueza “disponible”. Se paga por vivir en lo que es propio, sin conexión alguna con la “aptitud subjetiva de ser sujeto pasivo de obligaciones tributarias”, como se define usualmente la capacidad contributiva.
En los impuestos como IETAAP o ISO, se grava la riqueza pasada, sin atención alguna a la situación económica del sujeto en el hoy.
Las retenciones, que doctrinariamente son una institución de pagos a cuenta, resultan acá un juego de pagos definitivos que tienen poco o nada de relación con la capacidad real y no ficticia -palabras de la propia Corte de Constitucionalidad- para enfrentar adeudos tributarios.
Y el catálogo de impuestos al consumo, que en algunos casos sí ha sido considerado inconstitucional, se ha dejado vigente en varios casos por argumentos como “los intereses del fisco” o tecnicismos alejados de la realidad económica de la repercusión del tributo en el consumidor, lo que también es un elemento desatendido de la justicia y equidad tributaria.
No es poco común que se hable de “los deberes del Estado” para justificar las exacciones a través de los impuestos. Ahora bien, el principio de equidad y justicia tributaria es el punto culminante de la capacidad contributiva. Cuando los tributos se estructuran conforme al principio de capacidad contributiva es cuando logramos la equidad y justicia en el contribuyente. Abandonar dicho principio, por tanto, está constitucionalmente prohibido, aunque los tribunales constitucionales tiendan a defender sus feudos y sus salarios, permitiéndolos con antojadizos argumentos. No obstante, la equidad y justicia tienen un lado fiscal. No basta con estructurar los tributos y el sistema tributario conforme a la equidad y justicia, sino que debe también ser fiscalmente justo y equitativo.
Equidad y justicia fiscal
El tema de la equidad y justicia fiscal se ha tratado poco, considero, en la literatura académica. Quizás es más sencillo encontrar estudios y análisis sobre lo que se ha denominado “moral tributaria” que no es más que un término para encuadrar el sentido de cumplimiento de las obligaciones tributarias. Término con el que no estoy de acuerdo, ya que los tributos, en general, tienen siempre orígenes inmorales y deben sufrir un proceso legal y ético que los legitime.
Citando a Victor Mauricio Castañeda Rodríguez[1] “La decisión de pagar impuestos no sólo es económica, de modo que la probabilidad de que se realice una auditoría a un individuo o el monto de las sanciones que se le imponen cuando evade no son los únicos factores a tener en cuenta para explicar su grado de cumplimiento tributario (Torgler y Schaltegger, 2005). De hecho, autores como Cullis, Jones y Savoia (2012) indican que es más probable que un contribuyente acepte la carga tributaria que por ley le corresponde cuando sus conciudadanos también cumplen sus obligaciones fiscales, aunque lo inverso asimismo es cierto, es decir, que un agente podría justificar la evasión si establece que en su comunidad ésta es una práctica común (Frey y Torgler, 2007).”
En Guatemala estamos acostumbrados a escuchar el mensaje que “los ricos no pagan impuestos” y con eso, por lo que los autores citados indican, se justifica que los “no tan ricos” paguen. Si bien, esa situación no es correcta, dado que un minúsculo grupo de unos 6,000-7,000 NITs representan el 85-90% del total de la recaudación del país. Sin embargo, el negocio de los gobernantes está, precisamente, en permitir este esquema de injusticia en la tributación.
La Constitución Política de la República llama a contribuir al...
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