Taxation in the Context of Economic Security: Opportunities and Technologies - Mikhail Yuryevich Chernavsky

Table I. Interpretation of the essence of the tax security definition in the scientific literature

From Table I it is evident that scientists understand the tax security as a form of security, which should provide the appropriate conditions for interaction among the state, business entities, and individuals to achieve the principle of mutual responsibility of business entities. The complexity of the study of this term is that the authors define differently the characteristics of this category.

First, the tax security characterizes the status of protection of the taxpayers’ interests and those, who distribute the gross domestic product through the taxation system. Secondly, it is the ability of the system to perform its functions and to respond to any changes in a timely manner. Third, it is the ability to respond to risks and dangers, to eliminate, minimize, accept or ignore their impact on the participants of the tax security [8].

This concept is difficult to study, because, on the one hand, it characterizes a certain state of the system, which protects the interests of taxpayers and entities that are involved in the distribution of GDP through the taxation mechanism, while on the other hand, it is a certain characteristic of the system, which is able to ensure the timeliness of fulfillment of functions by the tax system, and adequately response to changes in the tax policy of the state under the influence of a combination of factors; the third point is the ability of the system to withstand risks and dangers, to optimize, and under certain conditions, to minimize their impact on all participants of the tax security.

III. METHODS

To solve the set goal, the method of expert survey was used that allowed determining the following main issues of the study:

1. generalizing expert opinions on the interpretation of the tax security concept;

2. defining the essence of the economic, social and legal nature of the existence of the national security.

3. identifying the main risks and threats to the tax security of the state.

Managers and senior management of travel agencies (22 experts in total) were involved in the expert survey.

During the expert survey, experts were asked to give their own interpretations of the tax security concept, to reveal the essence of the economic, social, and legal nature of the existence of tax security, as well as to characterize the main risks and threats posed to the tax security of the state.

The results of the expert survey were used to propose a generalized structural and logical scheme of tax security risk management (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Generalized structural and logical scheme of tax security risk management

IV. RESULTS AND ISCUSSION

A generalization of expert approaches to the tax security concept is given in Table II.

Table II. Approaches to the definition of the tax security concept

Thus, most of the interviewed experts (12 people) consider tax security as a subsystem of the state national security, which represents a certain status of the tax system.

To develop a comprehensive view of the tax security level of the country, the economic, social, and legal nature of the tax security existence was analyzed.

The economic aspect of the tax security, according to experts, is determined by the degree of fullness of the budget with financial resources, which is influenced by a number of factors: the level of economic development, GDP growth, inflation rate, the tax burden on the economy agents, which are involved in the reproduction. For better understanding of this aspect, it is necessary to figure out what the taxation effectiveness means, and how its level is determined. Tax efficiency can be calculated by comparing costs and benefits.

The results can be considered as the amount of taxes collected by the state into the budget, while expenses include funds necessary to collect these taxes. However, if the payer has paid a large amount of taxes, this can lead to a decrease in activity among entrepreneurs and investors, or to the transition of the business into the shadow that will further lead to a decrease in tax revenues to the budget [9].

In the authors’ opinion, the viewpoint of Yuri K. (an employee of the Federal Tax Service) is the most rational. According to this standpoint "the harmonization of tax systems can be assessed to some extent both in terms of tax collection and the level of the shadow economy in the country. After all, only a country, where the level of tax collection is high enough while the level of the shadow economy is not so great, can be considered civilized and prosperous." While agreeing with the author's basic provisions it should be noted, however, that evaluation factors should not be neglected. It is necessary to take into account the quality and expert assessment of legislation in the tax system, which contains many problems and legal conflicts.

Taking into account these indicators, it becomes clear that one leading indicator of the tax security is the level of the tax burden on taxpayers, which shows how taxes and fees affect both individual business entities and the economic condition of the state (Table III).

Table III. Dynamics of tax burden indicators in Russia by types of economic activity

(according to the method of the Federal Tax Service of Russia*), %

* The calculation is made without taking into account income on consolidated social tax and insurance contributions for compulsory pension insurance

The legal aspect of the tax security, according to experts, consists in the process of control over the tax system, creating conditions for fair taxation of social reproduction entities and declaration of conditions in