Electric vehicles and the Selective Tax in Brazil: environmental extrafiscality and constitutional inconsistency after the 2023 Tax Reform

Bruno A. François Guimarães and Vittórya Lopes Barros

Chapter 15 in Frontiers in the Low-carbon Transition, 2026, pp 255-273 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter examines the incidence of the Selective Tax on electric vehicles under the constitutional tax framework established by Constitutional Amendment No. 132/2023. Grounded in the constitutional centrality of environmental protection and the directive role of environmental taxation, the study argues that extrafiscality must operate as an instrument for promoting sustainable public policies. An analysis of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions profile, combined with the predominance of renewable sources in the national energy matrix, indicates that fleet electrification is environmentally appropriate and constitutionally desirable. Against this backdrop, subjecting electric vehicles to the Selective Tax reveals a systemic inconsistency, as such incidence neither advances the tax's extrafiscal purpose nor complies with the State's constitutional duty to protect the environment. The absence of technical evidence demonstrating significant environmental harm reinforces the mismatch between constitutional design and infraconstitutional regulation. The chapter concludes that this tax incidence lacks material compatibility with the Federal Constitution and requires legislative revision or judicial scrutiny to restore coherence to the post-reform tax system.

Keywords: Environmental Taxation; Selective Tax; Extrafiscality; Electric Vehicles; Tax Reform; Environmental Protection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781049412115
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781049412122.00025 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 403 Forbidden

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:26021_15

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().