The administrative and legal mechanism for the exchange of tax information with the competent authorities of foreign countries: concept and structure

This article is devoted to defining the concept and structure of the administrative and legal mechanism for the exchange of tax information with the competent authorities of foreign countries. It is noted that this concept is complex and includes three important components – namely, the notion of ‘exchange of tax information’, ‘competent authorities of foreign countries’, and the ‘administrative and legal mechanism’. It is precisely through this structure that the concept is examined in the article. In examining the concept of the exchange of tax information, it is substantiated that the normative and scientific definitions of this concept in the field of science are imperfect. They do not take into account the international and legal aspect of the exchange of tax information, namely the specific features of the content of international treaties concluded and ratified by Ukraine. It is also concluded that the competent authorities of foreign countries, between which the exchange of tax information takes place, are those authorities of these countries that are specified by these same international treaties. When defining the concept and structure of the administrative and legal mechanism for the exchange of tax information with the competent authorities of foreign countries, it is necessary to draw upon the approaches developed in science to understanding the administrative and legal mechanism as a set of legal instruments by means of which legal regulation of social relations in the field of administrative law is carried out. It is noted that the administrative and legal mechanism of such exchange is exclusively a domestic formation, and that the relationships within it remain internal relations within the state. A whole set of administrative and legal instruments is aimed at ensuring Ukraine’s obligations to exchange tax information within the state of Ukraine. The structure of this mechanism comprises the following elements: a) administrative and legal norms defining the grounds, conditions, and procedure for applying administrative measures for exchanging tax information with the competent authorities of foreign countries; b) the institutional system ensuring the exchange of tax information, consisting of a system of authorised entities; c) administrative procedures within which the exchange of tax information with the competent authorities of foreign countries takes place; d) administrative liability for violations by entities of the state-established rules related to the exchange of tax information with the competent authorities of foreign countries. Based on the results of the study, the author has formulated a definition of the administrative and legal mechanism for the exchange of tax information with the competent authorities of foreign countries.