Relationship between tax law and private law

Abstract

This paper deals with the relationship between the tax law as a branch of the public law and the private law. The tax law often uses legal forms and terms of the private law to determine an economic factual situation, although it has been developing its own terminology. The special attention has been drawn to the examination of the thesis whether the precedence of the private law at the same time means its prevalence in relation to the tax law. The authors are of the opinion that the teleological differences between the tax law and the private law, followed by the consequences in determination of their principles and valuation, deny the thesis of the private law's prevalence over the tax law. The private law and the tax law are separate branches of laws of the same rank; they value the same situation from different perspectives and on the basis of different aspects of evaluation. The private law and the tax law constitute parts of the legal system, whose unity and integrity do not allow that the basic principles of one law hinder the basic principles of another. While generally respecting the freedom of contract, the tax law links itself to the economic results achieved via corresponding private law forms.

Keywords

• tax law
• private law
• tax factual situation
• substance over form
• unity of legal system