Distribution Of Burden Of Proof On Tax Litigation

Since taxation is a serious detriment to taxpayers fundamental rights guaranteed by Constitution, any decision unfavorable to taxpayers must be furnished with proper evidence rules so as to follow the ideas of"rule of law". Under this perspective, the distribution of burden of proof is not only the most essential elements among modern evidence rules in tax litigation but also important constitutional issues dealing with the conflicts among the taxpayers'property right and government's financial revenue.Since tax affairs are a special field of government administration ,having many different natures of things from other kind of administrations, such as compulsory liabilities without definite considerations, large volume of cases and emphasis on taxation efficiency , they shall therefore be treated with different considerations so as to reflect their natures. I have referred to tax theories of German and foreign tax legislations and then derive the following rules. In tax deficiency cases: unless otherwise promulgated by tax law, tax collecting office shall assume the burden of proof in each tax deficiency cases. In tax privilege cases, it is taxpayers to assume the burden of proof.