TAX RESPONSIBLE, RESPONSIBILITY

     ENTRANCE

The tax relationship involves a debt-credit situation between the state and individuals and institutions. The state is in this case the active tax subject or tax creditor; Individuals and institutions are passive tax subjects or tax debtors. This legal relationship, authority and responsibilities are determined by the Constitution and tax laws.

The taxation authority of the state defines individuals and institutions with the capacity to pay as “taxpayer” or “principal tax debtor”. However, in order to simplify tax collection, ensure the proper fulfillment of tax obligations and guarantee tax receivables, the state has made some third parties obliged to pay the tax debt together with or instead of the taxpayer. In this context, the concept of tax officer and the institution of tax liability were developed.

In Turkish tax law, the term “tax officer” is defined in a general sense and the relevant laws specify the responsibilities of various persons in this context. However, existing studies in this field have generally been limited to just explaining liability situations. When the tax officer and tax responsibility are examined, it is seen that there are significant differences and varieties between the legal qualifications and responsibilities of the people in this position. Therefore, commenting in the light of general regulations may lead to misleading results.

In this study, the characteristics and powers of the people described as tax responsible, their liability situations determined in Turkish tax law, and the responsibilities of these people with the taxpayer, each other and the tax administration will be examined.

TAX RESPONSIBLE, RESPONSIBILITY
1.1 Definition;

If we examine the concepts of tax responsibility and tax responsible in terms of terminology: “Responsibility can be defined as the state of being held accountable for the action that violates the rule. As a legal term, it is the ability of a person to be held responsible for his wrongful actions. Responsibility is essentially the investment of the debt relationship. In this respect, it also includes compensation for the losses suffered by the parties to the debt relationship based on this relationship. (Tunç Zinnur, p. 93)

Liability finds its own unique responses in different branches of law.

“Liability is expressed with the German term “Haftung”, and in German Tax Law, tax liability is “Steuerhaftung” and tax responsible is “Haftungshuldner”. In Swiss tax law, instead of the term tax liability, the institution has been tried to be explained with concepts such as tax succession, “Steuersukzession, tax substitution”. In French tax law, the tax liability is expressed with the terms “le contribuable” and the tax debtor with the terms “le redevable”. Tax debtor is a broad concept. In English law, the term “tax responsible” is not used and other concepts provide the function of the institution (Saban Nihal, p. 2).

In Turkish Tax Law; Not being satisfied with the concepts brought by public finance regarding liability, a concept specific to this branch was created called “responsibility”.

In our Tax Law, Tax Liability; The person responsible for the tax is the person who addresses the creditor tax office in terms of payment of the tax. As can be seen, a general definition has been made here.

1.2.General Scope;

The main purpose of developing the concept of taxpayer in the field of tax law is to collect taxes to meet the financing needs of the state. The concept of taxpayer and tax liability is one of the basic concepts that presuppose the existence and independence of tax law.

“When the concept of tax liability and the issue of tax liability are examined, it becomes clear that there are significant differences and varieties between the legal qualifications and responsibilities of people who are described as tax liability in positive law. (Real, Adnan, p. 158)

Before moving on to general explanations, it is useful to look at the concepts of tax liability in German Tax Law and Turkish Tax Law.

1.2.1.Tax Liability in German Tax Law;

Since our figurative law is German Tax Law, briefly, tax liability is handled as follows in the relevant tax law.

“In German tax law, the liability institution was introduced to guarantee the payment of the tax debt, it guarantees the tax debt that carries out the liability act, and the tax creditor is given the opportunity to own the assets of the responsible person or the liability debtor. The main debtor and the liability debtor (the person for whom the debt is held responsible) are joint and several debtors.

Legal representatives, authorized managers (association members and partners if necessary), and those who appear as beneficiaries of the disposition are responsible for their demands arising from the tax debt relationship and for the intentional and grossly faulty failure to fulfill their obligations and to the extent that they have not been accrued and paid on time.