Tax control in the financial activities of the state: limits and limitations

The subject of this study is tax control as one of the key forms of financial control in public finance, including its traditional manifestations – tax audits – and its modern form – tax monitoring. Particular attention is paid to the legal foundations, procedural mechanisms, and regulatory dynamics of these instruments, as well as the contradictions between the state objectives of tax control and the rights of taxpayers.

The aim of the study is a systemic analysis of the legal regulation of tax control in Russia and the limits of such legal regulation.

The methodological basis of the study includes a comparative legal method (comparison of tax audits and monitoring), a formal legal method for identifying contradictions in legislation, and a systems approach for assessing the interaction of tax control institutions within the rule of law.

Main results. A clear understanding of the limitations and limits of legal regulation of tax control is essential for ensuring the effectiveness and legitimacy of tax control. Limitations and limits of legal regulation of tax control are two different concepts that must be clearly distinguished. Limitations in tax control are, rather, temporary and procedural measures introduced due to special circumstances. They do not completely suspend tax control, but merely modify procedures to make tax control more resilient to circumstances and crises. Limitations do not affect all tax control, but only certain aspects. Limits in tax control are the framework established by tax legislation (primarily the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). It can be said that the limits of legal regulation are stable frameworks, while limitations (as a supplement to limits) are more flexible tools within the established limits, changing individual rules for conducting tax control without affecting it entirely. For example, in certain cases, the deadlines established by Article 88 of the Tax Code are suspended but not cancelled, and exceptions ensure a balance between the interests of the state (budget revenues) and taxpayers (crisis support). Limits are permanent frameworks defined by the Tax Code, where tax control is autonomous from general laws. Research shows that restrictions apply within these limits without changing them: for example, deadlines are suspended, but the procedures and powers of control bodies remain in the Tax Code. In a form of tax control such as tax monitoring, expanding the powers of tax authorities cannot be justified solely by the goal of increasing the efficiency of tax and fee collection if it occurs outside a strict legal framework and without ensuring a balance with taxpayer rights. It seems that it is the limits of legal regulation, enshrined in legislation, that should determine where legitimate control ends and unjustified interference begins, so as not to undermine the trustworthy basis of tax monitoring.

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