COMPANIES AND TAX EVASION AS A CIVIL AND/OR CRIMINAL OFFENSE

Abstract

The paper discusses the issues of justification and social acceptance of taxes by legal entities and the frequency of related abuses. The discussion covers two research questions. The first item is the terminological delimitation of categorical terms related to tax policy. The second is the analysis of the ten-year frequency of the crime of tax evasion in the Republic of Serbia. The research aims to confirm the hypothetical assumption that tax evasion is a crime against the economy. In addition to damaging the budget system and damaging the company image, it is a significant obstacle to further economic development and the international economic reputation of the country. The paper uses the following methods: searching scientific databases on the subject, general scientific statistical and comparative methods, and documents' content analysis methods. There are two main findings in the paper. The first is that tax evasion negatively affects the economic picture of the Republic of Serbia and has a detrimental effect on the value structure of public revenues of the "common treasury of all citizens". Second, the frequency of committing the crime of tax evasion affects the development of the economy and demands for greater involvement of all institutions of Serbian society and a radical tightening of penal policy and court practice for this type of crime.