Posługiwanie się w sprawach podatkowych materiałem pochodzącym ze spraw karnych lub karnych skarbowych

Abstrakt

The problem that the evidence collection process in tax matters reveals is the interpretation of Article 181 of Tax Ordinance Act. According to this provision, ?evidence in tax proceedings may include, in particular, tax books, declarations submitted by a party, testimony of witnesses, expert opinions, materials and information collected in the course of the inspection activity or tax information and other documents collected in the course of analytical activities of the National Tax Administration, investigation activities, tax inspection or customs and fiscal inspection, and materials collected in the course of criminal proceedings or proceedings in cases involving fiscal crimes or offenses?.

The paper explains the understanding of the abovementioned wording, that ?evidence in tax proceedings may be materials collected in the course of criminal proceedings or proceedings in cases involving fiscal crimes or offenses?, and considers whether it allows the tax authority to include the protocols of witness hearings, carried in the course of other proceedings, into the case files, instead of hearing the witnesses on its own. The subject of the last issue boils down to answering the question: could as such materials and evidence be considered also the protocols of testimonies of witnesses heard in criminal or penal fiscal proceedings or tax proceedings carried against other entities or should such evidence be given in the tax proceedings again, especially if a party raises such a request? In order to response to those doubts the case law of the Supreme Administrative Court was analyzed, including the adjudication made in the context of the judgment of the CJEU of 17 December 2015, C-419/14, WebMindLicenses, EU:C:2015:832, which concerned the problem of using the evidence originated from criminal cases in the tax ones.