Transcarbon regulation as an element of socio-economic modernization in modern world practice

The modern global economy is faced with a number of serious challenges, including de-globalization, environmental problems and the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the ways to interpret them is the theory of modernization. In this regard, it becomes necessary to establish its mechanisms, features and catalysts for starting this process in modern conditions, including the embedding of tax systems into the concept of renewal of society. The harmonization of the fiscal institution becomes of particular importance, which in the new reality begins to fulfill unconventional roles for itself, for example, stimulating or as an element of hidden protectionism. The paper con-siders the points of view on modernization, which are characteristic of representatives of various directions of economic thought and provides a typology of socio-economic transformations. The role of the tax institute is analyzed as an element of trade protectionism in the realities of the modern economy on the example of transcarbon regulation being imposed by the European Union since 2026. The unique differences of the current role of the “carbon” tax in the EU have been investigated and proved, which turn it into an instrument of hidden protection