treasury
Fiskus as a Germanized spelling of Fiscus is called the state in its role as an economic subject . The public sector is also used as a synonym (as opposed to the state in its role as sovereign ). In common parlance, however, “Treasury” is often only understood to mean financial administration, which is basically an incorrect use of the term, since it relates to the sovereign aspect of a state in the tax and levy system . The term is also used for the non-sovereign part of the state forest administrations and their forest areas.
The antique
The Fiscus Caesaris was like the antique Roman Aerarium a state treasury, which was divided into several sub and special funds. The power of disposal lay solely with the emperor. Emperor Augustus allowed state income to flow into the treasury in accordance with the constitution and gave an account of the use of the funds. Taxes are primarily to be regarded as state income, but also mining income, minting income and other income from state-owned enterprises. In the course of the principality's time , the aerarium lost more and more of its main income and expenditure to the tax authorities and had to be financially supported by them. For example, the taxes of the imperial provinces correctly flowed into the treasury, but soon more and more income from the senate provinces was added until the aerarium and the treasury could no longer be separated. Only the aerarium militare survived, but was one of the fisci.
Fiscal theory
From the so-called "fiscal theory" that previously prevailed in jurisprudence , the tax authorities had to be constructed as an independent legal personality that was not identical with the state as a sovereign legal entity , so that the state acting under private law could be sued by the citizens in the civil courts , while the absolute ruler and later the sovereign state were considered unlawful.The military treasury was the financial stock of the armed forces, e.g. B. to satisfy damage caused by military maneuvers.
Treasury was necessary as the epitome of the state acting under private law, as it was only subject to the control of the ordinary courts as a private person, but not as an authority ( often referred to as "Karl Fiskus" in judicial jargon , to make it clear that the state here as a Privately with first and last name). Therefore explains u. a. the still existing jurisdiction of the civil courts in Germany according to Art. 34 GG , § 839 BGB and § 40 Paragraph 2 Clause 1 VwGO for official liability proceedings . The tax authorities were therefore understood as the “whipping boy” of the state who could be held accountable in this person.
Today the figure of the Treasury is no longer necessary in view of the full implementation of the rule of law . It is now a matter of course that the sovereign, acting under private law, can also be sued in the civil courts. It is therefore recognized that the Treasury and the State are not different legal entities, but are identical, that the Treasury can only be understood as a name for the state acting under private law. The term is still useful to delimit the two fundamentally different roles of the state.
In the area of inheritance law of the state (in the absence of other heirs) according to § 1936 BGB, the additional designation "Fiskus" was consequently deleted from the legal text on January 1, 2010, so that since then only the (federal) state or the Federal Republic of Germany has been designated as an inheritance becomes. In the area of property law, on the other hand, the tax authorities continue to appear ( § 928 BGB - abandonment of property, appropriation of the tax authorities ).
When it comes to questions of the binding of fundamental rights in purely fiscal action, it is crucial whether the fiscal theory is followed, since in this case the public authority would not be obliged to fundamental rights. However, Article 1, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law no longer leaves room for such a distinction .
In economics , the fiscal state is viewed primarily from the point of view of tying up and moving large amounts of assets and thus influencing the economy. For this purpose, the financing of the state is called fiscal policy .
Fiscal union
The term fiscal union came up primarily in connection with the 2011 financial crisis . What is meant here is a common financial policy of the EU states that allows direct intervention in the tax and budget structure of euro member states. With the entry into force of the European Fiscal Compact on January 1, 2013, the Commission and the European Council can intervene in their budget and economic policy in participating states that have not sufficiently met the criteria after a one-year observation period.
literature
General
- W. Mallmann, K. Zeidler: Barriers to non-sovereign administration. In: Publications of the Association of German Constitutional Law Teachers . Vol. 19, Berlin 1961.
To the military treasury
- Kurt Glahn: The liability of the military treasury for accidents when operating military vehicles: especially in the occupied areas of the current war , Heidelberg 1916
- Wilhelm Rabeling: The new procedure in military supply matters , Springer, Berlin 1919, ISBN 978-3-662-42062-1
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ BVerfG , decision of June 13, 2006, Az. 1 BvR 1160/03, BVerfGE 116, 135 - Equality in public procurement law.
