Adam Nita
The theoretical and legal foundations of fair taxation
Summary
Justice is an ambiguous concept and it may be understood in many ways. The idea of justice in tax law bases on two foundations – all taxes must be imposed in tax law statute and the taxpayers should be equally burdened by the tax obligation. The possibility to impose new taxes solely in tax statute is obvious and confirmed in art. 217 of the Constitution. The second aspect of justice in the tax law – a duty of the equal taxation of all tax payers is, however, much more complicated.
The author looks for a contemporary understanding of this requirement and - after finding it – he compares it to selected legal constructs set by the Polish tax law. The paper presents and discuss the older theory of formal justice and also the theory of equivalency. Then the theory of payment ability as contemporary criterion of the equal taxation is referred to. This theory is confronted with chosen legal constructs of Polish general and specific tax law. The conclusion is that the equal taxation based on the payment ability of the tax payer is not an important factor drafting of Polish tax law acts. For the Polish legislature assuring the budget equilibrium and the protection of public finance seems to be much more essential than principle of equal taxation.