CONFIDENTIALITY VERSUS TRANSPARENCY IN CONTEMPORARY TAX LAW

Abstract

Dilemma with regard to defining limit between tax confidentiality and tax transparency is particularly expressed in contemporary tax law. International tax relations indicate that countries tend towards fostering tax transparency with the expect of better collection of taxes and fair distribution of tax burden. The right to secrecy and confidentiality of personal data, as one of the basic rights, guarantees taxpayers that data collected about them shall be used only for the purpose of taxation. There are exceptions from tax secrecy which are prescribed by law or in cases when taxpayers voluntarily disclose data to tax administrations. It is evident that tax secrecy and confidentiality are losing ground as the result of the requests for tax transparency by multinational organizations. The process of international tax cooperation, in which interests of ordinary taxpayers are being more and more disregard, are being carried out by automatic exchange of financial account information and country-by-country-reporting. Having in mind the fact that the protection of confidentiality of tax data carried out on the national levels, it is obvious that acceptance and application of these international tax standards endangers the rights of taxpayers.