Non-discrimination and inevitability of liability as principles of tax law

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of issues of effective and proper application of such principles of tax law as "the principle of equality and non-discrimination of taxpayers" and "the inevitability of liability" in relation to the exercise of the right to a tax credit using the example of a specific case. The relevance of the work is due to the fact that during the period of the martial law legal regime, the legislator makes changes to the tax legislation, and this leads to the actual discrimination of one taxpayer in comparison with another taxpayer due to the imperfection of the legislative technique. The research is based on the hypothesis regarding the legality of applying financial and legal liability to a VAT payer in cases where the laws’ provisions have subjected him to discrimination. The study is based on a com­prehensive analysis of the provisions of the Tax Code of Ukraine, using a comparative legal method along with an analysis of the legal approaches of the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the European Court of Human Rights, and regulatory definitions. It is substantiated that tax legislation establishes certain restrictions in the recognition, implementation, and use of the right to a tax credit for a VAT payer while simultaneously granting benefits to another participant in the aforementioned legal relationship. There is a violation of the principle of preventing any manifestations of tax discrimination as understood in the provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On the Principles of Preventing and Counteracting Discrimination in Ukraine". The determining criterion that should be taken into account when resolving the issue of liability for the untimely registration of tax invoices is the ability of the payer to fulfil his obligations. The obtained results demonstrate that the subjects of the studied legal relations should have the same conditions under which they can avoid liability by registering tax invoices in the appropriate transitional period within a single term for both parties to the legal relations.