Legal nature of taxes and tax relations under the Constitution of Ukraine

Abstract

The article is dedicated to covering one aspect of the
problem of the constitutionalization of public finances
in Ukraine, namely the legal nature of taxes and tax re-
lations under the Constitution of Ukraine. On author’s
oppinion, the tax by its constitutional nature is first of all
a restriction on the constitutional right of private prop-
erty, an encroachment on property to the extent that it
obliges to alienate it. Comprehensive protection of pri-
vate property rights in the Constitution of Ukraine is con-
ditioned by the fact that private entities are obliged to pay
taxes and fees for the property they own, use and dispose.
The article argues that the rules of tax law reflect the
freedom of the state, other public entities in the tax rela-
tionship, contain requirements to another obliged party
(taxpayers) to fulfill the tax obligation, with the obliged
party is only in the functional dependence on the govern-
ing subject and organizationally is not subject to it. It is
emphasized that the Constitution of Ukraine establishes
the starting points of the tax system of Ukraine, deter-
mines the nature and purpose of taxes and tax relations
in Ukraine. A systematic analysis of the Constitution of
Ukraine (Art. 1, 3, 8, Part 3 and 4 Art. 13, Art. 67) shows
that the levying is not a sign of tax. According to Art. 67
of the Constitution of Ukraine, taxes are not levied or de-
leted, and what is levied is no longer a tax. The tax is a
payment, an active action and a consequence of the voli-
tional act of the taxpayer.
It is argued that, according to the Constitution
of Ukraine, restricting the forms of exercise of autonomy
of the will of tax law subjects does not imply the subordina-
tion of the will of some tax law subjects to the will of oth-
ers (unlike some other public-law branches, for example,
of administrative law). The Constitution of Ukraine,
like the Tax Code of Ukraine, does not provide for tax
subordination.