TFL Vsebine / Revija SIR*IUS

Recent Administrative Court case law on tax avoidance

V zadnjih letih je bilo v sodni praksi sprejetih kar nekaj novih stališč glede nedovoljenega davčnega izogibanja. Ustavnosodna praksa je tako v nekaj letih naredila ogromen preskok, čemur je sledilo tudi Upravno sodišče RS. Boj proti davčnim zlorabam je bil v sodni praksi Upravnega sodišča že prej prepoznan kot eden od pomembnih ciljev, vendar iz starejše sodne prakse ni bilo mogoče vedno povsem jasno razbrati ločnice med dovoljeno davčno optimizacijo in nedovoljenim davčnim izogibanjem oziroma davčno zlorabo, pri kateri je meja dopustnega ravnanja zavezanca za davek presežena. Novejša stališča se osredotočajo prav na iskanje omenjene ločnice, ki pa je, kot je razvidno iz predstavljenih primerov, vedno odvisna od okoliščin posameznega primera. V članku so predstavljeni najbolj tipični primeri, ki so bili predmet presoje v upravnem sporu. Davčni organ v postopku nadzora dokazuje obstoj zlorabe, torej obstoj umetne sheme, katere namen je pridobitev nedovoljene davčne koristi. Nasprotno pa zavezanec za davek dokazuje, da so ga k točno taki izvedbi pravnih poslov primarno vodili drugi, tj. poslovni oziroma ekonomski razlogi, in da so posledično davčni razlogi lahko zgolj drugotnega pomena.

In recent years, a number of new judgements have been adopted in the area of tax avoidance. The case law has thus taken a giant leap forward and the Administrative Court has followed the steps. The fight against tax evasion has always been recognised as an important objective in our jurisprudence, but earlier case law was not always clear when searching for the fine line between tax planning, which is allowed, and tax avoidance or tax abuse, which is impermissible due to existence of an arrangement intended to obtain improper entitlement to a tax benefit. More recent positions focus primarily on finding this dividing line which, as will be seen from the cases presented in this article, always depends on the circumstances of every individual case. The most typical cases that have been subject of administrative litigation are presented below. Thus, the tax authority has the task of establishing the existence of elements constituting an abusive practice i. e. artificial arrangement while taking into account all relevant factors, while on the other hand, the taxable person proves that his transactions were primarily motivated by other, i.e. business or economic reasons and that, consequently, the tax considerations may only be of secondary importance.