Open AccessPECULIARITY AND ESSENCE OF “ONE-TIME (SPECIAL) VOLUNTARY DECLARATION BY INDIVIDUALS OF ASSETS BELONGING TO THEM” AS A DIFFERENCE OF “TAX AMNESTY”
Author(s) -
Serhii Kuksenko
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
pravova deržava
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2411-2054
DOI - 10.18524/2411-2054.2021.43.240986
Subject(s) - declaration , amnesty , tax law , accounting , withholding tax , capital (architecture) , direct tax , income tax , law , tax avoidance , double taxation , political science , business , law and economics , economics , public economics , archaeology , human rights , history
The article analyzes the essence and peculiarity of one-time (special) voluntary declaration by individuals of their assets in accordance with the Law of Ukraine of 15 June 2021 “On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and Other Laws of Ukraine on Stimulating the Un-Shadowing of Incomes and Increasing the Citizens’ Tax Culture by Introducing One-Time (Special) Voluntary Declaration of Assets Belonging to Individuals and Payment of the One-Time udget Levy”. The author highlights the formal tasks of the proposed voluntary declaration, carries out a scientific analysis of the concepts of “tax amnesty”, “capital amnesty”, and proposed their own generalizing definitions. The author finds that “one-time (special) voluntary declaration” combines features of both “tax amnesty” and “capital amnesty”. The author recapitulates the practice of conducting tax amnesties by different countries and attempts to implement tax amnesty in Ukraine for legal entities in 2015 in the form of a “tax compromise”. To determine the effectiveness of amnesties, the author proposes to take into account not only financial indicators: the amount of legalized capital and taxes paid to the budget, but also factors that change society’s values: increasing legal awareness, improving tax culture and discipline, improving the business climate, expanding the tax base.Based on the analysis of paras 3, 5, 10 of the law on “one-time voluntary declaration” the author concluded that although the majority of citizens will not file a special declaration, the wealth of each citizen (“composition and volume of assets”) will actually be declared as of 1 September 2021. This “zero declaration” will be the starting point for assets calculation, which will be taken into account by the tax authorities in the future.The author draws attention to a number of debatable points of the law, which allow for the possibility of their ambiguous interpretation and may give rise to legal red tape and lawsuits in the future.Based on the analysis of the experience and effectiveness of “amnesties” in different countries, as well as “tax compromise” in Ukraine, the author identified and systematized factors that positively and negatively affect the effectiveness of tax amnesty. It is established that the conduct of “voluntary declaration” will be influenced by both groups of factors. In the conclusions, the author proposes measures aimed at neutralizing the negative factors.