Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31141/zrpfs.2021.58.142.1101
Realization and protection of the constitutional ideal of tax justice in the light of the welfare state requirements
Matija Miloš
orcid.org/0000-0002-3839-0273
; Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Rijeci, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Valentino Kuzelj
orcid.org/0000-0003-3028-8562
; Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
This paper reconsiders the accepted simplified and un-questioned differentiation between the constitutional concept of the social state, social rights, and the tax system. It finds it practical effect in the agency of The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia which, due to the gap between these categories, fails to adequately interpret and protect the concept of the social state in reviewing the constitutionality of tax legislation. The absolute result is a space of an excessive constitutional self-restraint. Contrary to the fear of judicial activism, which is presented as the single alternative to the continuous invocation of the political questions doctrine, it is emphasized that the social state should be interpreted as a pervasive guideline for the interpretation of the tax system in order to achieve the significance it contains as a component of the Croatian constitutional identity. The link between the social state and more specific tax categories does not necessarily lead to a politically hyperactive Court, as long as it focuses mainly on the weakness and consequences of its decisionmaking mode when defining the limits of its own action, instead of insisting on the limitations of interpreted principles.
Keywords
social state; social rights; constitutional principles of taxation; tax equity; The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia
Hrčak ID:
265076
URI
Publication date:
27.10.2021.
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