In search for useful understanding of the term “privacy” for tax matters

Abstract

The terminology issue regarding the concept of “privacy” seems to be increasingly important in the context of the changing tax reality in which the emphasis is put even more strongly than before on the protection of fiscal interest, at the expense of limiting the sphere of taxpayers' privacy, in particular through the expansion of their surveillance on an unprecedented scale. The OECD, in its notable achievements, treats the taxpayer's right to privacy very superficially. In one of the documents, which is a kind of report on the rights and obligations of taxpayers in force in individual countries, we can read that “All taxpayers have the right to expect that the tax authorities will not intrude unnecessarily upon their privacy”. I would argue that this statement is far not enough in the reality of current technological possibilities and realizes too narrow protection of taxpayer’s right. The issue of taxpayers’ right to privacy should be introduced to public and scientific awareness. But how should the term privacy itself be understood? The answer is not easy, one the term is not precise so understanding is difficult though the literature on this issue is very broad. Two it is rarely used on the ground of debate on taxation. The critical approach has led to a review of the immensely rich body of literature on the theory of privacy and the right to privacy, and an attempt to adopt an understanding of the term “privacy” that will also be useful in tax matters. There is the absence of a consensus on the adoption of a particular way of defining “privacy”. For that reason it has to be emphasized that there is no theoretical basis to conduct a discussion on this specific taxpayer right, which is right to privacy. This paper is an attempt to find such understanding of the term "privacy" that will be useful in tax context.