Reflexiones sobre la prohibición de confiscatoriedad, cláusula expresa en Brasil y principio derivado en Colombia. Una mirada desde la regulación fiscal ambiental

Abstract

This reflection article (artículo de reflexión) examines the prohibition against confiscatory taxation within the field of environmental fiscal law, contrasting its treatment in Colombia and Brazil. While Colombia lacks an express constitutional clause on this limit—having instead built it through case law based on the principles of equity, equality, and tax justice—Brazil enshrines it directly in Article 150, item IV of the 1988 Federal Constitution. Building on this regulatory asymmetry, the article examines how this disparity affects taxpayer predictability and legal certainty regarding environmentally oriented taxes. The analysis first addresses the theoretical foundations of green taxation from the standpoint of welfare economics and the "polluter pays" principle; second, the design of Colombia's environmental tax framework and the jurisprudential construction of the non-confiscation principle, illustrated through rulings of the Consejo de Estado and the Corte Constitucional; and third, the express treatment of this safeguard under the Brazilian legal system. The reflective analysis concludes by highlighting the structural tension between the deterrent effectiveness of environmental taxes and the constitutional limit on private property, proposing incentives as the preferred approach over fiscal restriction.