The City That Cannot Be Taxed: An Essay on the Constitutional Limits of Municipal Taxation, the Nature of Indivisible Public Services and the Civilizing Role of Tax Legality

Abstract

This article examines the legal impossibility for municipalities to impose fees intended to finance the maintenance of public roads, a service that is inherently indivisible and collectively enjoyed. The analysis begins with the constitutional framework of tax categories, particularly the requirements of specificity and divisibility necessary for the lawful characterization of a fee. A qualitative approach and deductive method were adopted, grounded in the Federal Constitution, the National Tax Code, and classical tax doctrine, which emphasizes the need for a direct connection between state action and taxpayers. The study demonstrates that road maintenance constitutes a typical uti universi service, incompatible with fee-based charging because it does not allow individual measurement of the benefit received. It also addresses the inadequacy of certain municipal bases of calculation, often linked to vehicle characteristics, a practice that improperly approximates the fee to taxes such as the IPVA. The article highlights the human and social impacts of unconstitutional charges, which may hinder vehicle licensing and impose disproportionate burdens on taxpayers. It concludes that attempts to tax indivisible services through fees violate the internal coherence of the tax system, disregard the federal pact, and undermine legal certainty. In this context, tax legality plays a civilizing role by establishing limits on the power to tax and safeguarding the integrity of the relationship between the State and its citizens.