Fiscal federalism in Brazil
Abstract
Brazilian fiscal federalism is heavily marked by the regional inequalities and the
strong municipalist tradition of the country. These aspects were dominant for building the
model finally adopted by the 1988 Constitution, which aggravated the vertical and horizontal
unbalances in the distribution of fiscal resources, bringing new claim for further reforms.
This paper addresses the difficulties faced since then for pushing proposals for redressing the
above-mentioned unbalances and point out the challenges to be met in order to bring the
fiscal decentralization process in line with the ultimate goals of efficiency and accountability
in the use of public resources.
JEL Classification: H20; H77.
Keywords: Fiscal federalismo intergovernamental relations tax