Solidary tax duty: between theory and practice

Abstract

The tax burden is a pecuniary duty owed by an individual to the state and performed by the individual personally unless the duty is taken over by another individual in accordance with valid national regulations. EU legal Acts entrench a solidary obligation to pay taxes. The solidarity principle of the tax burden was introduced into Lithuania's legislation in 2010. Lithuania's Excise Act stipulates a possibility to apply a solidary burden of excise. However, a great deal of theoretical and practical issues remain unresolved and out of the scope of scientific research and specialized brochures on taxation. The present publication analyzes how the solidary tax burden (liability) emerged in Lithuania's tax regulations, what role the institute of the solidary burden (liability) plays in tax law, how the application of the solidary excise duty (liability) is regulated, what judicial decisions apply when the tax administrator refuses to acknowledge the individual nature of the tax burden in cases of tax law violations and is convinced that such burden should be born collectively by all parties involved into the violation, and what specific questions the legislator still has to address.