Obtaining tax-relevant information from domestic sources by tax authorities. Russian and international experience

Abstract

This contribution deals with the legal issues of obtaining tax-related information from the domestic sources by tax authorities. This article aims to confirm or refute the hypothesis that the approaches applied to the legal regulation of obtaining tax-relevant information from domestic sources in Russia and developed countries are common. At the same time, both developed and developing countries use specific innovations in this area, and this experience can be applied successfully in other countries. The methodology of the research includes general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, description) as well as partial legal academic methods (interpretation of legal acts, comparative legal method). The countries were selected from three groups depending on the level of GDP based on purchasing-power-parity according to the IMF data to compare their experience with the Russian one. The author analyzes information exchange between domestic public authorities; information exchange between tax authorities and taxpayers (including tax reporting, tax audit, responsibility for violation of information exchange duties); obtaining information about a taxpayer from third persons. The author proved the commonality of approaches used in the regulation of information support of tax administration from domestic sources in Russia and most developed countries. At the same time, some Russian management innovations can improve tax administration in any country of the world. They include the system of online cash registers, the system of labeling goods with RFID-tags (fur market) and QR-codes (pharmaceutical market), and electronic offices of taxpayers on the tax authority website. Specific aspects of the information support system of Canadian, German, Mexican and US tax administrations can be successfully introduced into Russian practice and that of developing countries.