Participants' obligations to cooperate (tax law)
The concept of duty to cooperate is common in various areas of law. This article deals specifically with the concept of tax cooperation under the Tax Code ( AO ).
definition
In § 90 of . Section 1 AO is defined: "The parties are obliged to cooperate in establishing the facts. In particular, they comply with their duty to cooperate by fully and truthfully disclosing the facts relevant to taxation and by providing the evidence they are aware of . The scope of these obligations depends on the circumstances of the individual case. "
" Obligations to cooperate are orders of conduct that are directed to the taxpayer or a third party by virtue of the law or administrative act and serve to determine the facts on the basis of which taxes are to be determined and levied."
Meaning of participant
“The concept of the parties is derived [in tax law] from Section 78 AO. In tax administration proceedings, Section 78 No. 2 AO is particularly important, according to which the party involved is the person to whom a tax authority intends or has addressed the administrative act. These are in particular the taxpayers ( Section 33 (1) AO), i.e. persons to whom the authority realizes existing obligations arising from the administrative procedure by means of an administrative act. "
But not only the taxpayers themselves, but also third parties can be involved. This is the case, for example, if the tax office asks a business partner of a taxpayer for information in vain in the course of a tax investigation and wants to impose a fine to enforce the obligation to provide information . The business partner is involved in this coercive procedure.
Importance of the obligation to cooperate
"In order for the tax office to be able to do justice to its task of determining the taxable cases, the help of those involved and other third parties is required. The AO therefore imposes an abundance of duties on these persons. " Submit documents for inspection and examination […] ( Section 200, Paragraph 1 AO) Enter rooms.
“Extensive duties to cooperate have to be met in the context of an external audit and a tax investigation . In the case of an external audit, the taxpayer must in particular provide information, submit records, books, business papers and other documents for inspection and examination, provide the explanations required to understand the records and support the tax authorities in exercising their powers. "
If someone does not comply with his obligation to cooperate, this can also be enforced by the tax office, among other things, by means of coercive measures (e.g. penalty payment). Further legal consequences of a violation of the duty to cooperate are e.g. B. Delay surcharge according to § 152 AO, estimate of the tax bases according to § 162 AO, non-recognition of expenses according to § 160 AO and criminal or fine proceedings according to § 370 , § 378 AO.
“There is also an obligation to cooperate in the case of foreign issues, so the parties involved must clarify the issues and obtain the necessary evidence. [...] Particularly in the case of foreign issues, there is an increased liability for the taxpayer to have an effect. A breach of the duty to cooperate can lead to an estimate of the taxable amount. [...]. "
“In addition to the general obligations to cooperate, there are also so-called special obligations to cooperate. These include, among other things, the notification obligations §§ 137-139 AO, declaration obligations ( §§ 149-153 AO), and bookkeeping and recording obligations ( §§ 140-148 ). "
literature
- Ramona Andrascek-Peter, Wernher Braun, Rainer Friemel, Kurt Schiml: Textbook Tax Code With Tax Court Code. 18th revised edition, nwb, ISBN 3-482-53627-9 .
- Manfred Bornhofen, Martin C. Bornhofen: Taxation 1 Legal situation 2014: General tax law, tax code, sales tax. Springer Gabler 2014, ISBN 3-658-05561-8
Individual evidence
- ↑ Government Director Bodo Ebber, lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences for Finance of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordkirchen) Reference (s): [ZAAAB-69950], full text ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , As of October 2013
- ↑ nwb education tax specialist course textbook tax code, Andrascek-Peter, Brown, 18th Edition 6.2. P. 79 margin no. 163
- ↑ See nwb training tax course, textbook tax code, Andrascek-Peter, Braun, 18th edition 6.2. P. 79
- ↑ nwb education tax specialist course textbook tax code, Andrascek-Peter, Brown, 18th Edition 6.2. P. 79 margin no. 162
- ↑ Taxation 1, legal situation 2013 General tax law, tax code, sales tax, 34th edition by Manfred Bornhofen, Martin C. Bornhofen, p. 69
- ↑ See nwb training tax course, textbook tax code, Andrascek-Peter, Braun, 18th edition 6.2. P. 79
- ↑ Tax tips from October 24, 2014
- ↑ See government director Bodo Ebber, lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences for Finance of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordkirchen) Reference (s): [ZAAAB-69950], full text ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically defective marked. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , As of October 2013
- ↑ § 90 Paragraph 3 AO
- ↑ BMF letter of April 12, 2005, Az. IV B 4 - S 1341 - 1/05
- ↑ Tax tips from October 24, 2014
- ↑ Taxation 1, legal situation 2013 General tax law, tax code, sales tax, 34th edition by Manfred Bornhofen, Martin C. Bornhofen, p. 69
