Descripción

The concept and practice of tribute is not something new; on the contrary, from the moment that man began to act as a social being, it was observed that a part of his property had to be ceded to the gods, to a ruler and, presently, to the modern State. With the evolution in the social, economic and political organization of the peoples, the tributes have undergone great transformations in their essence, purpose, forms or mechanisms of collection, and the models of taxation have been consolidated in the historical evolution, developing diff erent concepts, that nowadays they are considered pillars that base the tax act of the country.To ensure that a tax system is harmonious and fair requires that it be based on a series of principles that, on the one hand, give grounds to the existence of tax obligations and, on the other hand, call on the administered to comply. The principles and their axiological content have been widely discussed, and in their development legal sources such as doctrine and jurisprudence of the high courts have played a preponderant role.The purpose of this article is to review the theoretical-conceptual developments on: taxes, tax systems in democratic states and the principles on which the country’s tax system is based, to guide reflection on the coherence between tax practice and the principles that support it. Methodologically, a diachronic revision of the literature is made, based on the documentary analysis on the theme to be developed.