PRE-TRIAL INVESTIGATION AND SETTLEMENT OF TAX DISPUTES AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE FOR PREVENTING CORRUPTION CRIMES

Pre-trial investigation and settlement of tax disputes is used to satisfy the claims of taxpayers against the violation of their rights in the cases of legal errors and regulatory collisions in tax legislation, agency-level normative acts of the Federal Tax Service and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. They play an important part in preventing corruption crimes in the sphere of taxation, which could be committed by both taxpayers and tax agency officials. Internal legal policy of the state, aimed at improving legal measures that would prevent taxpayers from committing tax offenses and tax agencies' employees from being involved in corruption acts, deserves special attention as it is an integral element of governing the regions' socio-economic development, creating a favorable investment climate and improving financial system's transparency. The goal of this paper is to research basic issues connected with the pre-trial settlement of tax disputes; to back up recommendations on improving the institute of out-of-court settlement and reduce the number of corresponding trials using current legislation and taking into account the ideas for its improvement. The analysis of Russian tax system allows the author to present a qualitative evaluation of the Russian model of organizing budgetary and tax federalism, compare it with benchmark achievements of the world's leading countries and prove its extensive potential for the reduction of the number of administrative and corruption (including criminal) tax offenses and crimes. The logics of the presented theoretical, analytical and practical arguments regarding the evaluation of the structure of arrears with the budget of the Russian Federation lead the author to the conclusion that there is an urgent necessity to improve legislation and tune the tax system towards the promotion of liability, transparency and legal purity.