Repartição de competências na execução fiscal em Moçambique: Administração Tributária e Tribunal Fiscal

This article analyses the allocation of powers in Mozambican tax enforcement proceedings between the Tax Administration and the Tax Court. The problem arises from the interaction between Article 179 of Law No. 2/2006 of 22 March, which classifies tax enforcement as a jurisdictional process, and a model in which Tax Administration bodies initiate, conduct and materially carry out enforcement acts directly affecting the debtor’s assets. The research asks whether conferring powers of initiation, procedural management and coercive enforcement on the Tax Administration is compatible with the jurisdictional nature of the proceedings and with the reservation of the judicial function. The general objective is to assess the legal and procedural conformity of this allocation of powers. The study is basic, qualitative, exploratory, bibliographic and documentary, using legal methodology and systematic interpretation of the Constitution, the General Tax Law, the Tax Courts Act and the Tax Enforcement Code. It concludes that administrative intervention is compatible with the jurisdictional nature of enforcement when confined to acts of initiation, procedural management and material enforcement, while the Tax Court retains the power to settle disputes and ensure effective judicial review of harmful acts. The main weakness lies in the fragmentation and obsolescence of the procedural framework.