The Principle of Good Governance concerning Tax Law

Abstract

Good governance does not have a general definition or a specific content. This concept is interpreted by different disciplines, different institutions on international and national platforms. From a legal perspective, the concept of governance has a close connection with the basic principles of the democratic state of law and human rights. However, the “good governance principle” or “the right to good governance” has not found a place in universal legal documents. In this regard, this principle is not regulated in the European Convention on Human Rights and its additional protocols. On the other hand, the European Court of Human Rights and Turkish Constitutional Court apply this principle concerning the individual application reviews. In these related judgments, the tax administration’s passive attitude and failure to act in a timely and consistent manner were found to be contrary to the principle of good governance. In its judgment regarding the individual application of Reis Automotive Company, published in the Official Gazette, dated 07.03.2018 and numbered 30353, Turkish Constitutional Court clearly stated that the tax administration should act in accordance with the principle of good governance. In this context, it is important to reveal the meaning, scope, and legal basis of the principle of governance in terms of tax law. In the aforementioned judgment, it was decided that the tax administration should take the necessary measures to prevent different treatments among the taxpayers, which are subject to limited tax audits as in the present case of the individual application. In this study, after examining the meaning and applicability of the good governance principle in the field of tax law, the legal amendments regarding the procedure and principles in tax audits are reviewed from the perspective of the good governance principle.