TK: Suspension of the limitation period from the date of filing a complaint with the court does not violate the constitution
The Constitutional Tribunal has recently issued a judgement regarding tax regulations. In the opinion of the Constitutional Tribunal, the provisions of the Tax Ordinance which suspend the running of the limitation period of a tax liability from the date of filing a complaint with an administrative court until the date of delivery to the tax authority of a copy of the decision of the administrative court with a statement of its validity do not violate the Basic Law (judgment of file SK110/22).
The provisions that were the subject of analysis by the Constitutional Tribunal were Article 70 § 6(2) of the Tax Ordinance, under which it follows that the course of the limitation period for a tax liability does not commence, and a commenced period is suspended, on the day: a complaint is filed with an administrative court against a decision relating to that liability, and Article 70 § 7(2) of the Tax Ordinance, under which the course of the limitation period commences, and after suspension continues, from the day following the day on which: a copy of an administrative court decision stating its validity is served on a tax authority. The Court checked whether there is a violation of Article 64(1) in conjunction with Article 2 of the Constitution in these regulations. In its ruling, the TK did not find such a violation.
According to the Court, the challenged legal norms, which do not impose a specific tax burden but serve to fulfil a tax obligation, cannot be regarded as an impermissible interference with the taxpayer’s property right. Adoption of a contrary position would exclude the possibility of enforcing overdue obligations against taxpayers who, despite an explicit requirement under substantive tax law, failed to comply with the obligation to self-calculate the amount of the tax liability and did not pay it or did so incorrectly.