Method of tax law and its characteristics

The tax law is the most important branch of jurisprudence from the point of view of research of the sphere of tax legal relations, training of personnel for it, and also realization of the state priorities in the field of regulation of these communications. What are the features of the subject and method of this industry? What are the nuances in the interpretation of these terms?

What is tax law?

Before considering the method of tax law, we will consider what this legal branch is. The corresponding term can be understood in 3 different contexts:

- as an academic discipline;

- as a branch of science;

- as a section of national law.

All these interpretations of the concept of "tax law" are interrelated. So, the relevant academic discipline and the branch of science study, above all, the marked section of national law. In turn, the publication of regulatory legislation, as well as law enforcement practice, largely depends on the qualifications of lawyers, largely acquired in educational institutions, as well as the level of scientific elaboration of certain problems that are relevant to tax law.

Subject of tax law

It can be noted that for all 3 interpretations of the corresponding term, a common subject is common: a set of legal relationships that are formed with the participation of state bodies and taxpayers in the status of individuals or legal entities. The subject of these legal relations can be the procedure for establishing, calculating, transferring to the budget, as well as collecting various taxes, as well as exercising control over their payment and implementing measures of responsibility for violations of the relevant branch of legislation.

The corresponding legal relations can, thus:

- to be investigated at the level of scientific discipline;

- reflected in the training materials;

- be in the jurisdiction of tax legislation.

These types of communications can be implemented using different methods of tax law. Let's study their specifics.

Essence of methods of tax law

The method of tax law is, in accordance with the traditional approach, a set of legal mechanisms that allow certain subjects to some extent to influence the subject of tax law. For example, representatives of science - to study legal relations, teachers - to interpret them within the framework of the academic discipline, to the legislator - to reflect in normative acts.

We will study how the method in question can be understood in the context of its consideration as a section of national law.

Method in the context of national law

In the relevant context, the tax law method is usually characterized as the legislator's approach to regulating various legal relationships in the field of taxes and fees. He can be:

- Publicly-legal;

- civil.

In the first case, the legislator applies the mechanisms of compulsion of certain persons established by the current regulatory enactments to comply with the instructions for paying taxes. In this way, an imperative method of regulating legal relations is involved. In the second, the actions of the legislator are reduced, mainly, to recommendations and approvals. In fact, a dispositive method is implemented in the tax law, according to which certain subjects of legal relations have the opportunity to choose the mode of conduct in certain communications.

Consider the key features that characterize the method in tax law.

Signs of the tax law method

First of all, it has a public law character. Tax liabilities of citizens and organizations are regulated at the level of federal, regional and municipal legislation, which, as far as regulation of basic communications is concerned, is normative. This can be explained, first of all, by the fact that collection of taxes is a procedure that is key from the point of view of the formation of the state budget and the material provision of the basic institutions of the state. This feature of understanding the essence of the corresponding payments predetermines the emergence of the priority of public interests over private ones. Obligations to pay taxes, therefore, are imposed equally on all citizens, and privileges for them are determined in a normative order for persons with the same status.

Choice of tax law method

The specific method of tax law matters from the point of view of the state choosing the most effective mechanisms to ensure that citizens fulfill their obligations to transfer certain payments to the budget. In this case, the priority can be the application of precisely those approaches that can be characterized as imperative, presupposing the issuance by the competent authorities of prescriptions for taxpayers that are mandatory for execution.

The ratio of imperative and dispositive mechanisms

At the same time, increasing the effectiveness of the management of legal relations in the field of paying taxes to the budget may require the state to use civil mechanisms as well. The study of the degree of their influence can be included in the composition of the problem of the method of tax law, which is relevant both for the sphere of practical lawmaking, and, in particular, for the field of scientific research.

The way in which dispositive and imperative approaches are to be correlated is determined by taking into account many factors that are often found only after the introduction and application of legal norms. They can be socio-economic, institutional, predetermined by internal processes or, for example, foreign policy.

Priority of imperative method

But, one way or another, in the Russian legal system there is a situation in which more imperative methods of tax law receive a higher priority. This or that subject of legal relations receives, thus, public or personal - in the order established by regulatory enactments, instructions regarding their actions in the context of meeting obligations to pay taxes and fees to the budget.

The value of the dispositive method

If necessary, the legislator applies various methods of interpreting the norms of the tax law, fixes them in recommendations and documents of an explanatory nature, if the law in certain provisions of the law is dispositive. In some cases, this approach can be even more effective than imperative regulation. As a rule, it is practiced if one or another type of communication is difficult to regulate at the level of federal regulations.

In this case, the competent authorities - most often the Federal Tax Service, apply certain means and methods of interpreting the norms of the tax law, and then fix the results of the work done in letters and other legal acts that are published in due course. In many cases, the content of such documents is considered by taxpayers first of all, while the prescriptions of federal normative acts are not applied de facto as regulative, although they are of great legal force.

Dispositive norms in the federal legislation

There are federal regulations in the Russian legislation, which are dispositive in their legal nature. For example, these are the provisions of the Tax Code regarding the choice of the system of taxation by entrepreneurs. Provided that the activities of the firms they set up on turnover and the number of staff meet certain criteria, they can, in particular, work under a simplified system and thus pay substantially less taxes than in the case of general taxation.

In turn, when determining the procedure for calculating the amounts of specific payments to the budget by tax law methods, just the same imperative mechanisms: the relevant rules of law prescribe how the tax base, rate, tax period and other conditions for transferring payments to the state budget are established.

In general, the regulation of legal relations in the field of taxes and fees is regulated at the level of federal legislation of Russia. But there are possible options in which the method of tax law and its characteristics will be determined based on the norms of regional sources of law. Consider this nuance in more detail.

Methods of tax law in the application of regional legislation

Indeed, the bulk of the rules governing the procedure for the performance by citizens and organizations of obligations in terms of paying taxes and fees is set at the level of federal legal acts - primarily the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. But in a number of cases, the provisions of the Tax Code should be supplemented by the rules adopted by the authorities of the Russian regions.

For example, this feature characterizes the regulation of the payment of property tax on physical persons represented by real estate. The procedure for calculating the appropriate payment in terms of its main components is determined at the level of the Tax Code. But a number of key elements of the property tax are determined taking into account regional norms of law. So, up to a certain point, it is the authority of the RF subject who determines whether the appropriate payment will be calculated on the basis of the inventory or cadastral value of the property. In turn, regardless of which particular option the regional authorities choose, they also set rates for the tax in question - but within the limits set by the RF Tax Code.

Ratio of regional and federal legislation in choosing the method of tax law

Thus, from the point of view of the operation of regional sources of norms, the tax law method will be as imperative as if federal legislation were applied: taxpayers registered in the relevant region will be required to follow the provisions of the legislation approved in the constituent entity of the Russian Federation. In its turn, from the point of view of the RF Tax Code, the norms determining, firstly, the scheme for calculating the property tax, and secondly, the rate for it, can be applied only if the specific provisions of the sources of law establishing these payment elements , Are not accepted by the regional legislator.

To determine whether a particular method of tax law is actually imperative at the federal level in a number of cases is possible only when determining the patterns of correlation of the relevant norms of law with those adopted at the regional level. So, from the point of view of the RF Tax Code, certain norms are adopted only if the regulations regulating the same sphere of relations are not adopted by the authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation. In turn, regional legislation in this case can be regarded as a source of equivalent to the federal mandatory norms, despite the fact that its legal force is lower than that of the Tax Code.

Normativeness of legal acts in tax law

It will be useful to study another aspect of the application of the method in the tax law: the normative nature of the provisions of acts issued by the authorities. The method of tax law is usually characterized as a way to regulate legal relations through just the same regulatory sources submitted by federal or regional laws, in some cases - by-law sources.

In turn, in many cases, the corresponding method can be represented by non-normative sources. They are also issued by the authorities, however, their action is directed at a certain circle of persons or even a particular citizen or organization. For example, such a source may be an order for payment of a tax that was not transferred by a certain person on time, as a result of which a shortage was formed. However, any prescription of the relevant type - whether it is 1 in the account, 2 or 3 (tax law, subject, method, location, its sources can thus be determined at the level of non-normative acts), should be based on provisions, in turn, Legal acts. That is, to be legitimate and justified.

Thus, both mechanisms for managing legal relations in the field of taxes and levies - normative and non-normative, are also closely related.

Summary

So, we have studied what the specifics of the subject and method of tax law are. First of all, it matters in which context they are considered - scientific, educational or institutionally-legal. As for the subject of tax law, it retains its integrity in all 3 contexts.

In turn, the method of the relevant branch of law will differ depending on who it is used by - the researcher, the teacher or the legislator. Its use will predetermine the order of actions of one or another communication subject. For example, if it is a legislator, then in accordance with the chosen method of tax law - imperative or dispositive, provisions of normative acts issued by the authorities for the purposes of regulating legal relations in the field of payment of taxes and fees will be formed.