Meaning of tax law (what is it, concept and definition)

What is tax law:

As tax law or tax law is known the branch of public law, detached from financial law, which establishes, through a set of rules and principles, the legal provisions to regulate the activity of the treasury, understood as the State body in charge of determining, liquidate and administer the taxes. The tributes, meanwhile, are the monetary obligation established by law so that the State can meet public expenditure.

In this sense, tax law regulates the legal relations of the State, represented by the Treasury (active subject), and taxpayers (passive subject), that is, individuals.

The basic objective of tax law is the collection of taxes, for this it has the power to require the taxpayer to fulfill their obligations to the State or appear before it, either to present sworn statements, books or accounting documents, or facilitate the work of tax inspectors.

In the same way, the tax law includes a series of sanctioning rules, in case of infractions to the regulations of a formal or material nature by the taxpayer, person in charge or third parties.

The origin of fiscal law can be traced back to remote times of humanity, when, after a war, the victorious people imposed the payment of forced taxes on the vanquished; tributes were also designated as the offerings that the peoples made to their gods. In the European Middle Ages, on the other hand, it was the feudal lord who, in order to protect his vassals, imposed taxes. In current times, the idea of ​​tribute was regularized and legalized in modern systems, constituting itself as the economic contribution that citizens are obliged to make in favor of the functioning of the State.

In Mexico, the Tax Administration Service (SAT), a dependency of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, is in charge of applying the legislation related to tax collection.

Basic principles of tax law

• The tribute can only be imposed by law. The State can only demand tribute when the laws so provide. The individual is only obliged to pay the contributions established by law.

Tax law and its divisions

• Constitutional tax law: refers to the norms contained in the constitutional text of a State that support, regulate and limit tax law. Substantive tax law: refers to the set of legal rules that determine the relationship of the tax obligation from its origin, effects, until its extinction. Formal or administrative tax law: set of principles and legal norms that regulate the activity of the entity in charge of the administration of taxes: its organization, structure and operation. Procedural tax law: is responsible for the organization of the courts, their jurisdiction and jurisdiction to establish the means of defense which individuals can use before the treasury. Criminal tax law: its function is to define and typify crimes and infractions in tax matters. International tax law: it is the one that includes the legal provisions applicable to the payment of contributions contained in international treaties or conventions.