TAX CONTROL AS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR MINIMIZING TAX RISKS

The article is devoted to tax control as an integral element of public financial management, which helps to minimize tax risks arising in the process of tax optimization. In the process of disclosing the essence of tax optimization, the relationship between tax control procedures and the possibility of reducing tax risks arising in the process of reducing the taxpayer’s tax liabilities is established. In this regard, recommendations are presented to minimize such risks. The author’s definition of tax control is given, formulated on the basis of the considered definitions of this category in educational and regulatory literature, as well as its purpose, tasks, objects of control measures and methods for assessing its effectiveness. This definition includes control and supervisory and management aspects related to control procedures. In confirmation of the importance of tax control, an analysis of its effectiveness in the Russian Federation for the previous three years was conducted, which revealed that the number of desk tax audits decreased, but the amount of additionally accrued payments increased, which indicates a focus on larger violations, that is, an improvement in the selection of objects of audits. The number of on-site audits has also decreased, but their effectiveness has remained high. Thus, it has been concluded that the assessment of the effectiveness of tax control cannot be limited to quantitative indicators only; it is necessary to take into account qualitative indicators, such as timeliness, professionalism, use of technology and transparency of tax authorities. Based on the conducted study, the main qualitative indicators for assessing the effectiveness of audits are proposed, which must be taken into account for a comprehensive assessment of the activities of fiscal services. The authors substantiate the need for further improvement of tax control methods and procedures with an emphasis on increasing the effectiveness of both desk and on-site audits. The results of the study are confirmed by the calculations of quantitative and qualitative indicators, illustrated by data on the results of tax audits.