Taxation in the Context of Economic Security: Opportunities and Technologies

According to experts, the main source of the threat to the tax security is the tax risks, which should be understood as the probability of negative consequences for the tax system due to the inefficiency of its construction and functioning, the impact of existing threats, as well as external and internal factors.

Thus, threats are a prerequisite for the occurrence of risks. The difference between them is that the risks are probable and can be measured quantitatively if they occur, while the threats are actually the existing dangers, which under the influence of factors encourage the occurrence of these risks, and their interdependence leads to financial losses for both business entities and the state, in particular, due to ineffective tax policy.

To avoid the ambiguity of the concept of threat, the above-mentioned parameters should be defined both for the state (the entity that levies taxes) and taxpayers (the entities from which these taxes are levied).

According to experts, the tax threats of the state include the following: a low level of tax culture, the existence of tax corruption, tax evasion, excessive expenses for the maintenance of the state tax bureaucracy, unjustified controversy in the current tax legislation, the growth of tax debt, and irrational use of taxes.

The threats that taxpayers face include the following: uneven and unjustified distribution of the tax burden among business entities, a high proportion of economic entities that operate in the shadows, the outflow of national capital into the economy of foreign countries, and excessive interference of fiscal authorities in the economic activities of enterprises.

Thus, the probability of negative phenomena for the tax security due to the inefficiency of the tax system, the action of existing threats, as well as the impact of external and internal factors should be considered as risks. That is, a prerequisite for the emergence of risks are threats. The main difference between these concepts is the following: the risk is likely to occur, and its occurrence can be measured, while the threat is already an established danger, which under the influence of certain factors leads to the occurrence of a certain risk. Their interdependence leads to losses for both the state and economic entities.

The main risks and threats of the state tax security, identified according to the results of the expert survey, are presented in Table IV.

Table IV. Main risks and threats of the tax security of the state

Tax security is characterized by the ability of tax subjects to preserve the results of their activities under the influence of various external and internal threats and risks. The main goal of the state is to minimize tax risks by reducing the number of situations that pose threats to the tax security of taxpayers, society, and the economy in general. In turn, the business entities themselves should take into account the dangers and threats of their activities and will conduct economic activities as long as the results exceed costs. Otherwise, they will be forced to stop their activities, make certain changes to improve efficiency or move into the shadows that will have negative impact on the state, since business entities in their aggregate are the largest source of tax payments [10].

To ensure a sufficiently high level of social and economic life, it is necessary to take into account tax shortcomings, which are caused by inefficient and inadequate attitude of the state to taxpayers creating destabilizing factors in the tax system, namely, tax abuses and offenses, numerous tax evasions, and the use of intricate schemes of their collection [11]. All tax risks should be carefully studied and analyzed, while measures to eliminate them should be carried out, because in the case of a frivolous attitude to this issue, threats to financial security, in particular, and national security, in general, may arise.

Taking into account the results of the conducted study and analyzing this problem for pragmatic reasons, tax risk management can be characterized as a process covering the following stages:

— risk identification and assessment;

— prioritization of risks;

— work with risks, including the choice of methods to influence risks when comparing the effectiveness of the selected measures and decision-making;

— assessment of work results with risks and management organization quality.

Thus, the content of the tax risks management is defined as the process of identifying, assessing, and eliminating tax risks, preventing the possibility of their occurrence, improving methods of minimization, as well as neutralizing the possible consequences of their impacts. At that, tax risks may result in their possible negative impact on tax security or the problems created by these risks in the field of taxation.