Requirements of the Principle of Legality in the Field of Taxation // Zahtjevi principa zakonitosti u oblasti poreza

Abstract

The principle of legality of taxation is among the greatest rule of law, which not only provides protection against the arbitrariness of the authorities, but also, in a political sense, ensures the legal certainty of citizens, their rights and freedoms. The legal meaning of the principle of legality of taxation manifests in the establishment of taxes and the determination of the important tax components, tax rate interpretations, determination of taxes and the prohibition of the retroactive effects of tax laws. The very complexity of tax matters requires that certain questions regarding the entire process of taxation are further regulated by subordinate legislation, which is, on the basis of legal authorization, left to the executive authority or the government, the ministry of finance, the tax authorities, and in some particular cases to the local governments. However, subordinate legislation, such as decrees, regulations, instructions and decisions can only have a subsidiary character of the legislation in terms of the elaboration of legal provisions and shall be made when there is a specific authorization by tax law. Whether the principle of legality is violated by some regulation or not is decided in each specific case in a constitutional dispute by constitutional court, which evaluates whether the subordinate tax regulations set to taxpayers some new requirements that are not determined by tax law.