A Culture of Respect for the Rights and Interests of Taxpayers in their Interaction with the Tax Administration

Abstract

In Western countries, there is a culture based on the collection of taxes in order to satisfy public needs. This culture is more present in the Nordic countries than in the southern countries, despite significant efforts to develop tax education, to promote the rights and interests of taxpayers and to allow the use of taxpayer defense mechanisms. The Portuguese tax legislator establishes a set of fundamental principles and instruments of defense in the various stages of the tax procedure to ensure judicial protection of the rights and interests of taxpayers against illegalities practiced by the tax administration. But the tax system is not sufficiently prepared to respond to taxpayers' questions, which leads to situations of increased tax dispute that have lasted for several years in the tax administration and in the tax courts. The solution is to create o new tax culture, to simplify the tax system, to reduce the bureaucracy of tax administration and speed up tax courts.