“I CAN’T DEFINE TAX EVASION, BUT I KNOW IT WHEN I SEE IT.”
— FRED T. GOLDBERG JR.
የታክስ ሥርዓት ከመንግስታዊ ስርዓት ጋር በጥብቅ የተሳሰረ ሲሆን መንግስት እንደ መንግስት ለመቀጠል ታክስ መጣልና መሰብሰብ እንዲሁም የሰበሰበውን ታክስ ለዜጎች ማህበራዊ አገልግሎት ማዋል ይኖርበታል፡፡ ታክስ የመጣልና የመሰብሰብ ስልጣን የህግ መሰረት ሊኖረው የሚገባ ተግብር ሲሆን በዴሞክራሲያዊ ማህበረሰብ የዚህ ስልጣን ምንጭ በማህበራዊ ውል (social contract) መሰረት ዜጎች ለመንግስት የሚሰጡት ይሁንታ ነው፡፡
Tax evasion is proscribed as a crime under Art 125 of Federal Tax Administration Proclamation no-983/20081. Under this article, the law proscribes transgressions such as understatement of income (evasion of assessment), failure to file tax return with intent to evade tax and evasion of payment as offenses of tax evasion. To prove tax evasion, prosecutors must prove all ingredients of the offense, namely intent to defraud, affirmative act and evaded tax. Amongst the ingredients of crime of tax evasion, the existence or otherwise of evaded tax is a typical one. One should use evidence to identify the nature and amount of evaded tax. We can prove tax evasion both by direct and indirect evidence.
I am inspired to share this idea and bring to discussion, after hearing Christian leaders took the rare step on Sunday (25/3/2018) of closing Jerusalem’s church of the holy sepulcher in protest at Israeli tax measures and a proposed property law. Accordingly, for further discussion and research insight I raise issues related with why churches are tax exempted? What are the rationales and what about in Ethiopia?
Excise taxes are an example of what have been traditionally called indirect taxes: taxes that are imposed on a transaction rather than directly on a person or corporation. Excise taxes are narrow-based taxes, as compared with broad-based taxes on consumption such as a general sales tax, a value-added tax, or an expenditure tax. Excise taxes can be collected at various stages, including the point of production, the wholesale level, or the retail level. They are also known as selective sales taxes or differential commodity taxes.
አዲሱ የኤክሳይዝ ታክስ አዋጅ ቁጥር 1186/2012 እየተሰራበት መሆኑ ይታወቃል፡፡ ይህንን አዋጅ ለማስፈጸም የኢፌዴሪ የገንዘብ ሚኒስቴር ስለኤክሳይዝ ታክስ አዋጅ አፈፃፀም መመሪያ ቁጥር 67/2013 ጸድቆ ከጥቅምት 6 ቀን 2013 ዓ.ም ጀምሮ በሥራ ላይ ይገኛል፡፡ በመሆኑም የዚህ ጽሁፍ ዓላማ በመመሪያው አንቀጽ 38 ላይ በጨው ላይ የሚከፈል የኤክሳይዝ ታክስን በተመለከተ የሰፈረውን ድንጋጌ ከአዋጁ አጠቃላይ ይዘትና መንፈስ አንጻር በጥቂቱ ለመዳሰስ ነው፡፡
በሀገራችን የኤክሳይዝ ታክስን በተመለከተ በሥራ ላይ የነበረው አዋጅ ቁጥር 307/2002 (እንደተሻሻለ) ተሽሮ በአዲስ የኤክሳይዝ አዋጅ ቁጥር 1186/2020 የተተካ ስለመሆኑ ይታወቃል፡፡ በመሆኑም ይህ ጽሁፍ ሁለቱ አዋጆች የኤክሳይዝ ታክስ የተጣለባቸው ዕቃዎችን፤ ታክሱን የመክፈል ግዴታን እና ታክሱ ስለሚሰላበት ስሌትን በተመለከተ ያስቀመጡትን ድንጋጌዎች ከጨው ምርት ጋር በተያያዘ በወፍ በረር ለማነጻጽር ነው፡፡
የዚህ ጽሑፍ ዋና ዓላማ ያለደረሰኝ ግብይት የማከናወን ወንጀል ላይ መሠረታዊ የሆነ መረዳት እንዲኖር ማድረግ እና ያለደረሰኝ ግብይት ከማከናወን ወንጀል ጋር በተያያዘ እየቀረቡ ያሉ አንዳንድ ማብራሪያዎች (commentaries) ላይ የሚስተዋሉትን ግድፈቶች ማቃናት አስፈላጊ ሆኖ በመገኘቱ ነው፡፡
As the saying goes “Nothing is certain in life except death and tax.” It’s hardly possible to skip the verges of taxation in life. From the giants in Wall Street to anyone who has the purchasing ability from shop feels the hard pinch of tax either directly or indirectly. Different forms of tax make through to the pockets of every member of the society. For instance, whenever you drink tea or coffee in a café you pay Value Added Tax (VAT).
Taxation is as old as history of early state formation. As tax remains essential source of public finance, states used to collect taxes for public funding. Apart from its extant condemnation by modern governments, one can strongly argue that tax evasion remains persistent challenge from the very inception of state. Nowadays, following the advancement of public finance the concept of tax evasion get emphasis by tax scholars. It is now condemned and categorized as anti-social behaviors as well as criminal act.
“In the Judgment alone is to be found the law in its living form.”
“ሕግ ህያው በሆነ ቅርጹ የሚገኘው በፍርዶች ውስጥ ብቻ ነው” Marcel Planiol