Characterization of Fiscal Sacrifice and the Importance of Incorporating Its Cost in the Public Process of Budget: A Phenomenological Approach

Abstract: The following article reveals that the characterization of fiscal sacrifice depends on the interdisciplinary treatment given to the area of tax expenditures and tax benefits. Certain interpretations have arisen from knowledgeable subjects regarding the following questions: How can tax sacrifice be characterized in the regulatory framework of the Venezuelan context? Which tax benefits are considered tax expenditures? To answer these questions, it is proposed that tax sacrifice comprises an economic effort by the State, which directly affects the development of certain economic sectors and the fulfillment of social objectives that are aimed at improving the collective welfare. Furthermore, the dialogical analysis was used as methodology in this article, from Husserl’s phenomenology (1997), as an approach and method, which tries to understand, in an immediate way, the world of man through an intellectual vision based on the intuition of the thing itself. The instruments used to gather information are represented by semi-structured interviews applied to key informants, as well as a structured intentional analysis matrix according to the dimensions of the study. In conclusion, the following categories were revealed: Phenomenological characterization of tax sacrifice; Effects of tax sacrifice on the budget planning process; and Identification of the approach to define the tax references and tax expenditures present in the national taxation regulatory framework.

Key words: tax sacrifice, tax expenditures, public budget, tax expenditure budget

JEL code: E62