ግብር ስወራ

 

በዚህ ጽሑፍ ስለ ግብር ስወራ ምንነት፣ በተለያዩ የግብር ዓይነቶች ሥር የግብር ስወራ ስለሚያቋቋሙ ድርጊቶች፣ ለግብር ስወራ መነሻ ሊሆኑ ስለሚችሉ ምክንያቶች እንዲሁም የመከላከያ መንገዶቹ ለመዳሰስ እሞክራለሁ፡፡ ይህንን ጽሑፍ ለመጻፍ መነሻ የሆነኝ የፌደራል መጀመሪያ ደረጃ ፍርድ ቤት የጉምሩክና ታክስ ወንጀል ችሎት ዳኛ ሆኜ ስሠራ በነበርኩበት ጊዜ የኢትዮጵያ ገቢዎችና ጉምሩክ ባለሥልጣን ለግብር ስወራ የወንጀል ክሶች ለማስረዳት ሲያቀርባቸው በነበሩ የታክስ ኦዲቶች ላይ የሚጠቀሱ ግኝቶች ናቸው፡፡ የተለያዩ የግብር ስወራ ወንጀሎች ፈጽመዋል በማለት ተከሰው በፍርድ ቤት ሲቀርቡ ለነበሩ ተከሳሾች ይቀርብ የነበረው ማስረጃ፣ በታክስ ኦዲተሮች የሚሠራ የታክስ ኦዲት ግኝቶች ዝርዝር የሚገልጽ የጽሑፍ ማስረጃ እንዲሁም ይህንኑ የታክስ ኦዲት የሠሩ ባለሙያዎች በሙያ ምስክርነት ቀርበው የሚሰጡት የምስክርነት ቃል በዋናነት የሚጠቀሱ ናቸው፡፡

በኢትዮጵያ ገቢዎችና ጉምሩክ ባለሥልጣን የሚሠሩ የታክስ ኦዲቶች አንዳንዶቹ በትክክል የግብር ስወራ ስለመፈጸሙ በአግባቡ የሚያስረዱ ሲሆን፣ አንዳንዶቹ ደግሞ በጣም የተጋነኑ፣ ሙያዊ ላልሆነ ግምት የተጋለጡ እንዲሁም ለወንጀል ክስ የማስረዳት ብቃታችው ምክንያታዊ የሆነ እርግጠኝነት የማይፈጥሩ ናቸው፡፡ ግብር ስወራ በአገር ኢኮኖሚ ላይ አሉታዊ ተፅዕኖ የሚፈጥር የዕድገት ፀር የሆነ ሕገወጥ ድርጊት በመሆኑ፣ መንግሥትም ሆነ ሁሉም ኅብረተሰብ ሊከላከለው የሚገባ ድርጊት ነው፡፡ ነገር ግን ግብር ያልከፈሉ ሁሉ ግብር ሰውረዋል ማለት አይደለም፡፡ ምክንያቱም ግብር ላለመከፈል መነሻው ግብር መሰወር ብቻ ላይሆን ይችላል፡፡

በሌላ በኩል ግብር ሳይከፈል የቀረው መክፈል የነበረበት ሰው ለመክፈል አቅም በማጣቱ ወይም መከፈል የሚገባው የግብር መጠን ሳይከፈል የቀረው ጥፋት በሌለበት ስህተት (Genuine error) ምክንያት ሊፈጠር ይችላል፡፡ ግብር ስወራ የሚመለከተው ደግሞ በስህተት ምክንያት ወይም አቅም በማጣት የታወቀ የግብር ግዴታ ሳይከፈል ለሚቀር ግብር ሳይሆን ሆነ ተብሎና እያወቁ የተለያዩ የማታለያ፣ የተንኮልና አሳሳች ነገሮች በመፈጸም ሊከፈል የሚገባ የግብር መጠን እንዲሰወር የሚያደርግ ሕገወጥ አካሄድን ነው፡፡

በአገራችን ግብር አለመክፈል የሚያስከትለው የወንጀልና የፍትሐ ብሔር ኃላፊነት በተመለከተ ያለው አሠራር ሲታይ ከሕጉ ጋር የተጣጣመ ነው ለማለት የሚያስቸግር ይመስለኛል፡፡ ምክንያቱም በመጀመሪያ ግብር አለመክፈል በወንጀልና በፍትሐ ብሔር እንዲሁም በፍትሐ ብሔር ብቻ የሚያስጠይቅባቸው ሁኔታዎች ለየብቻ ተለይቶ ሲሠራበት አይታይም፡፡ በዚህም ግብር የመሰወር ድርጊት የፈጸመ ግብር ከፋይ በወንጀልና በፍትሐ ብሔር ሊጠየቅ ሲገባው የፍትሐ ብሔራዊ ኃላፊነቱ ከተወጣ ጤነኛ ባልሆኑ አካሄዶች እንዲሁም በግብር ሰብሳቢው መሥሪያ ቤት ፈጻሚዎች የግንዛቤ እጥረት ምክንያት የወንጀል ክስ የማይቀርብባቸው ትክክለኛ ያልሆኑ አሠራሮች አሉ፡፡

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Tax Evasion under Ethiopian Tax Laws - Conceptual Introduction

INTRODUCTION

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.

What is tax evasion then?

 Even though it’s helpful to provide conventional definition of tax evasion, as the concept more of relies on the tax laws that regulate it, which is territorial and jurisdictional by nature, providing universal definition at the outset remains a challenge. However based on definitions given to the term in different legal systems if not universal, one can come up with comprehended definitions of the therm. To come up with few, the United States revenue service sector (IRC), defines tax evasion under section 7201,-“as willful attempts in any manner to evade or defeat any tax or the payment thereof”.

The definition given above by IRC clearly depict any intentional attempt to defeat assessment of true tax liabilities which in turn end in tax Deficiency(evasion of assessment) and non-payment of tax due and owing(evasion of payment)as tax evasion. Among others a comprehensive definition of tax evasion was given by Canadian department of national revenues-as-

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የልዩ ምርመራ ኦዲት ግኝቶችና የወንጀል ውጤታቸው

 

 

“I CAN’T DEFINE TAX EVASION, BUT I KNOW IT WHEN I SEE IT.”

— FRED T. GOLDBERG JR.

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Bank deposit method of proving Tax Evasion: the current litigation heresies

 

INTRODUCTION

Tax evasion is proscribed as 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 proof tax evasion, prosecutors must proof the existence of all ingredients of the offence, namely intent to defraud, affirmative act and evaded tax. Amongst ingredients of crime of tax evasion, the existence or otherwise of evaded tax is a typical one. To identify the nature and amount of evaded tax, one should make use of evidence. We can prove tax evasion both by direct and indirect evidences.

Proof is the establishment or refutation of an alleged fact by evidence. It’s the evidence or argument that compels the mind to accept an assertion as true. In its judicial sense; it encompasses everything that may be adduced at a trial, within the legal rules, for the purpose of producing a conviction in the mind of judge. Evidence is a thing (including testimony, documents and tangible objects) that tends to prove or disprove the existence of an alleged fact.

As indicated above, Tax evasion can be proved both by direct and indirect method of proof. This can be done by auditor which then appears in court of law as an expert witness.

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