Liberal concept of the military paradigm of tax law of Ukraine

This article is the first in the science of tax law of Ukraine to systematically analyse the legislative core (semantic epicentre) of the liberal concept of the military paradigm of tax law of Ukraine, and to substantiate its innovation and specific historical conditionality. The study focuses on the essence and normative content of the aforementioned concept, and its compliance with the value challenges Ukraine faces in the context of the existential full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war. The methodological tools of the study are based on the anthroposociocultural, axiological and systemic approaches, as well as the general scientific principles of objectivity and historicism. As a result of the study, the authors draw the following conclusions: the defining features of tax and legal relations in Ukraine in the initial period of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war were their excessive legal uncertainty for most taxpayers and the resulting inability of taxpayers to fulfil their tax obligations in a timely manner through no fault of their own; the principle of legal certainty of tax law in its generally accepted sense has de facto ceased to apply in the context of war. In order to overcome this systemic problem, the Parliament of Ukraine developed the first (liberal) concept of the military paradigm of tax law in its laws No. 2120-IX of 15.03.2022 and No 2142-IX of 24.03.2022. Its quintessence was the actual introduction of the presumption of innocence of the taxpayer in the tax law of Ukraine and the non-prosecution of the taxpayer in this regard. In this concept of tax law of Ukraine, the domestic legislator assigned a secondary role to the fiscal function of taxes, while it overemphasised the liberalisation of tax collection procedures and processes. The positive achievement of this concept was that in the extremely difficult conditions of the outbreak of a full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, the state managed to preserve the tax potential of Ukraine and the unity of Ukrainian society. The development of the liberal concept of the military paradigm of tax law was significantly influenced by the political and legal elites’ belief that the war would end relatively soon with Ukraine’s victory over the aggressor and the potential need for early preparation for the post-war reconstruction of the country.