CATS Seminar - Rethinking the Tax Paradigm: Tax Reform, Legal Transplants, and Inequality in Brazil and the Global South.
The Critical Approaches to Taxation and Society Network (CATS Network) invites scholars, practitioners, and members of the interested public to participate in its first seminar, entitled “Rethinking the Tax Paradigm: Tax Reform, Legal Transplants, and Inequality in Brazil and the Global South.” A Swedish fika will be served for in-person participants following the seminar, providing an opportunity for informal discussion and networking.
This seminar builds on discussions initiated at the international conference Rethinking the Tax Paradigm (CATS 2025), where Joana Pedroso (Senior Lecturer in Tax Law, University of Gothenburg) addressed critical aspects of Brazil’s ongoing tax reform. In particular, she highlighted the risks associated with legal “transplantation” from European tax systems—such as the introduction of a Brazilian “selective tax” closely modelled on European excise duties—as well as concerns regarding the limited representativeness of vulnerable groups in the legislative process. Given the central role of tax law in shaping climate action and social justice, the design and underlying values of tax reforms may either entrench existing inequalities or serve as a tool for a more equitable and sustainable transition.
Against this background, the seminar seeks to rethink tax paradigms from both Global South and Global North perspectives, fostering mutual learning across different legal and socio-economic contexts. From a Global South standpoint, it critically examines how transplanted legal models may fail to address structural inequality and local socio-economic realities. From a Global North perspective, the discussion is equally important for understanding how so-called “European” models of sustainable taxation may overlook these realities, raising broader questions for global tax governance, development policy, and international economic relations.
The seminar will feature two leading Brazilian experts: Professor Leonel Cesarino Pessôa (FGV Law School, São Paulo) and Luis Peroba (Pinheiro Neto Advogados), both actively engaged in the Brazilian tax reform. Their contributions offer a unique insider perspective on how tax law design intersects with inequality, democratic governance, and long-term sustainability.
Conducted in English, the seminar is open to students, academics, practitioners, and members of the CATS network with an interest in critical tax law. An informal reception following the seminar will provide further opportunities for discussion and exchange.
The event is financed through remaining funds from the CATS network.
SPEAKERS AND MODERATOR
Speaker: Leonel Cesarino Pessôa holds a law degree from the University of São Paulo (1990), a degree in Philosophy from the University of São Paulo (1994), and a PhD in Law from the University of São Paulo (1999). He has been a visiting researcher at the Università degli Studi di Milano (Milan, Italy), the New School for Social Research (New York, USA), the Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi (Milan, Italy), and the Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College London (London, United Kingdom). He has also been a research fellow at the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA). He is a professor at the São Paulo School of Law of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV Law SP). He served as a judge at the Tax Appeals Court (Tribunal de Impostos e Taxas – TIT) of the São Paulo State Department of Finance from 2012 to 2019. His research and teaching focus on tax law and legal theory.
Speaker: Luiz Roberto Peroba is a Tax Partner at Pinheiro Neto Advogados. He holds a specialization certificate in law from New York University (NYU) and a Master’s degree in Constitutional Tax Law from PUC-SP. He served as a special advisor to Federal Deputy Sandro Mabel during the discussions of PEC 233/2008, one of Brazil’s landmark tax reform proposals, and currently co-coordinates the Tax & Technology Research Group at FGV São Paulo, alongside Professor Eurico de Santi, one of the co-authors of Brazil’s current consumption tax reform. He advises domestic and international clients across multiple industries on tax planning and strategic advisory, as well as on administrative and judicial tax disputes. He has extensive experience in the taxation of the digital economy, including marketplaces, software, SaaS, streaming, online advertising, and cross-border digital business models.
Moderator: Joana Pedroso is a tenured Senior Lecturer in Tax Law at the University of Gothenburg. Her research and teaching focus on the intersections among taxation, sustainability, and environmental governance, including emerging challenges associated with the increasing use of artificial intelligence. She holds a Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) in Tax Law from the University of Gothenburg, an LL.M. in International Tax Law from Uppsala University, an LL.M. in International Environmental Law from Stockholm University, and a Bachelor of Laws from PUC-PR (Brazil). She is currently a postdoctoral researcher funded by SkatteNytt (Sweden), where she examines the EU VAT system in the context of the climate crisis, with particular attention to its potential to support environmental integration and just transitions.