9. Sustainable Tax Behavior on Future and Current Emerging Markets: The Case of Romania and Brazil

Taxes are an important element in amending the economic, social, and environmental sustainability levels of societies across the world. The chapter brings into discussion the concept of sustainable tax behavior in Romania and Brazil, both connected to the realities of emerging markets. We establish that a tax compliant behavior may be regarded as sustainable tax behavior, since not only it promotes fair taxpaying which finances the quality of living conditions, but it also supports sustainable well-being. With data provided by international organizations and country-specific sources, we analyze the attributes of sustainable tax behavior by addressing aspects like adherence to sustainability principles, sustainability levels, characteristics of tax systems, compliance requirements, and green taxation. As shown by the analyses, both countries have taken steps forward on the way to encouraging sustainable economic activity, with Brazil registering noticeable progress especially in sustainability levels and green taxation. The assessment of tax systems (total tax rate; time to comply; number of payments) reveals that authorities in both countries need to make additional progress in incentivizing citizens to display a sustainable tax behavior, particularly Brazil which requires a considerable simplification of its tax requirements.