Tax law - Sozeiho (English spelling) tax law

A general term for laws and regulations related to taxes of the national and local governments. Also known as tax law. Tax law consists of areas such as substantive tax law (which specifies the content of tax obligations), tax organization law (which specifies the authority of tax administration organizations and tax officials), and tax procedure law (which specifies the levy and collection of taxes, relief for taxpayers, and punishment for those who violate their obligations).

The basic principles governing the entire tax law are the principle of tax legality and the principle of fair burden. The principle of tax legality states that the imposition and collection of taxes must be based on law, and its contents include (1) the principle of statutory requirements for taxation (tax requirements such as tax authority, taxpayer, taxable object, tax base, tax rate, and the procedures for imposition and collection of taxes must be prescribed by law), (2) the principle of clarity of requirements for taxation (when requirements for taxation are prescribed by law, cabinet order, or ministerial order, the provisions must be unambiguous and clear), (3) the principle of no retroactive legislation (the content of tax liabilities arising from past transactions cannot be changed to the disadvantage of taxpayers by subsequent legislation), and (4) the principle of legality (when the requirements for taxation are met, tax authorities have no freedom to reduce or exempt taxes or not collect them, and must collect the amount of tax prescribed by law without delay). The principle of fair sharing states that tax burdens should be distributed according to tax-paying ability, and there are horizontal fair sharing (equal burdens among those with the same tax-paying ability) and vertical fair sharing (different burdens among those with different tax-paying ability), but the actual tax system has significant problems in this regard.

[Tetsuya Hitosugi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

国および地方公共団体の租税に関する法規の総称。税法ともいう。租税法は、租税実体法（租税義務の内容を示す）、租税組織法（税務行政組織および税務職員の権限などを示す）、租税手続法（租税の賦課・徴収および納税義務者の救済ならびに義務違反者に対する処罰などを示す）などの分野からなる。

　租税法の全体を律する基本原則には、租税法定主義と公平負担の原則とがある。租税法定主義は、租税の賦課・徴収はかならず法律によるべしとするもので、その内容としては、〔1〕課税要件法定主義（課税権者、納税義務者、課税物件、課税標準、税率などの課税要件ならびに租税の賦課・徴収の手続は法律によって規定されなければならない）、〔2〕課税要件明確主義（法律・政令・省令において課税要件を定める場合、その定めは一義的で明確でなければならない）、〔3〕遡及(そきゅう)立法禁止原則（過去の取引から生ずる租税債務の内容を、事後の立法によって納税者の不利益に変更することは許されない）、〔4〕合法性原則（課税要件が充足されている場合、税務官庁には租税減免の自由、徴収しない自由はなく、法で定められたとおりの税額を遅滞なく徴収しなければならない）などがある。公平負担の原則とは、租税負担は担税力に応じて配分されるべきであるとするもので、水平的公平負担（同一担税力者には同一負担を）と垂直的公平負担（異なる担税力者には異なる負担を）とがあるが、現実の税制にはこの面ではかなり問題がある。

［一杉哲也］

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