Post by account_disabled on Mar 5, 2024 23:33:15 GMT -8
Is there any reason why, even today, currency evasion (as well as the maintenance of deposits abroad without declaration) should be considered a criminal offence?
At first glance, a negative response to the question could seem alarming and cause some hysteria in the legal community. A more in-depth examination of the problem, however, may bring us pleasant surprises.
In , the year in which Law , was enacted, the Brazilian economy was essentially closed. The current exchange rate policy scared away foreign investment in the name of a fallacious protection of the domestic economy. Brazilian industry, as it was not compelled to compete with imported products, was moving at Jurassic pace (“our cars are carts”, someone once said). Research and technology were guidelines of less importance. The exchange rate did not follow market logic, being taxed artificially (who doesn't remember the news broadcasts announcing three rates for the dollar every day: parallel, official and tourism?). The limitations on the outflow of currency were severe. There was a time when a Brazilian traveling abroad could only purchase BTC Number Data on the official market; the rest of his needs would have to be met, with the connivance of the State, in the parallel market. With such restrictions on the outflow of resources (and, consequently, on the making of profits by multinationals), foreign investments became scarce.
It is understandable that, based on economic guidelines of this dimension, Criminal Law was called upon to protect only the outflow of currency from our country, as well as the clandestine maintenance of values by Brazilians abroad. The illegal entry of assets was not elevated to the status of a crime because, in , this was not a cause for concern.
Years passed and Brazil, at great cost, opened up to the market economy. We have been accustomed to living with relative economic stability and inflation control for at least ten years. In this new context — consolidated mainly at the end of the last century — exchange rate policy had to submit to the rules of the international market. Today, we can say that Brazil, like developed countries, also bases its economic policy on the basic tripod of a market economy: floating exchange rate, primary surplus and inflation targets.
In , it would have been unthinkable to consider any economic loss resulting from the excessive inflow of foreign currency. A different logic prevails today: an exaggerated supply of dollars in our economy can cause instability on the same scale as the excess demand for foreign currency. A bag of soybeans or an imported car with outdated values are as problematic as a bag of soybeans or an imported car that is too expensive. Money follows the same fate as any other product: if there is an excess supply, its price falls; If there is excess demand, its price rises.
At first glance, a negative response to the question could seem alarming and cause some hysteria in the legal community. A more in-depth examination of the problem, however, may bring us pleasant surprises.
In , the year in which Law , was enacted, the Brazilian economy was essentially closed. The current exchange rate policy scared away foreign investment in the name of a fallacious protection of the domestic economy. Brazilian industry, as it was not compelled to compete with imported products, was moving at Jurassic pace (“our cars are carts”, someone once said). Research and technology were guidelines of less importance. The exchange rate did not follow market logic, being taxed artificially (who doesn't remember the news broadcasts announcing three rates for the dollar every day: parallel, official and tourism?). The limitations on the outflow of currency were severe. There was a time when a Brazilian traveling abroad could only purchase BTC Number Data on the official market; the rest of his needs would have to be met, with the connivance of the State, in the parallel market. With such restrictions on the outflow of resources (and, consequently, on the making of profits by multinationals), foreign investments became scarce.
It is understandable that, based on economic guidelines of this dimension, Criminal Law was called upon to protect only the outflow of currency from our country, as well as the clandestine maintenance of values by Brazilians abroad. The illegal entry of assets was not elevated to the status of a crime because, in , this was not a cause for concern.
Years passed and Brazil, at great cost, opened up to the market economy. We have been accustomed to living with relative economic stability and inflation control for at least ten years. In this new context — consolidated mainly at the end of the last century — exchange rate policy had to submit to the rules of the international market. Today, we can say that Brazil, like developed countries, also bases its economic policy on the basic tripod of a market economy: floating exchange rate, primary surplus and inflation targets.
In , it would have been unthinkable to consider any economic loss resulting from the excessive inflow of foreign currency. A different logic prevails today: an exaggerated supply of dollars in our economy can cause instability on the same scale as the excess demand for foreign currency. A bag of soybeans or an imported car with outdated values are as problematic as a bag of soybeans or an imported car that is too expensive. Money follows the same fate as any other product: if there is an excess supply, its price falls; If there is excess demand, its price rises.