Supreme Court upholds tax authorities' access to banking data

Supreme Court justices have upheld the legitimacy of an existing law that authorizes the Federal Revenue Service to access taxpayers' banking data without prior court permission.

In a voting held Thursday (Feb. 18) of an appeal filed by a taxpayer arguing that banking disclosure to tax authorities should be subject to court authorization, Justice Marcos Aurélio was the only justice to hold that the disclosure is a breach of privacy and thus unconstitutional.

The Federal Revenue Service contends that accessing banking data helps counter tax evasion and says it only seeks information from the Central Bank and banking institutions in certain applicable cases established by law. Moreover, a technical note from the tax authority says a tax proceeding must be filed and the taxpayer must be notified.

The trial should continue next week for the votes of the remaining four justices. However, even if they vote against the decision, this does not change the result.

Translated by Mayra Borges