100 Years of Taxes as a Means of State Functioning

Abstract

The article is prepared for the international Scientific Conference Currency, Taxes and Other institutes of Financial Law in the Year of the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of Czechoslovakia. The chosen topic is up-to-date from the point of view of ongoing discussions on the tax obligations of both natural and legal persons. Taxes are accepted by law in the Parliament of the Czech Republic, but they are also the subject of decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court and the Constitutional Court. Especially, taxes are also a scientific and pedagogical subject at the Faculty of Law of the Charles University. in todays socio-economic and social order, in a society where there is no planned economy, taxes are significant in terms of their status as one of the few tools and instruments of managing and influencing the whole economy and the standard of living of the population. The aim of my article is to focus in detail on the provisions of constitutions related to taxes and finally on the subsection 11(5) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Liberties, especially in the context of its 100 years of historical development. The framework for examination is the current concept of the rule of law and the concept of tax law as a tax law in a broad sense (not only taxes, but also fees and other similar payments). The interpretation of the text is complemented by a historical excursion. Finally, i deal with the future of tax laws. in conclusion, i try to evaluate the current tax legislation in the constitutional order of the Czech Republic.