Abstract: As the historical category, taxes are quite natural for all countries at each stage of development. Moreover, taxes create the financial capacities for the country’s existence and development. Other sources of state finances are not so steady and cannot support the financial stability for a long time. In general terms, the combination of all taxes and levies applicable in a certain country at a particular stage of historical development, taxable entities and tax legislation is commonly called ‘the taxation system’. In order to manage the taxation system properly, the government establishes a certain taxation policy. The nature of taxation policy defines the development of state and society in many spheres. When working on this research article, the author used the principles of historical, expert, statistical, logical and comparative analysis as well as the systems approach and methods of graphical interpretation. The main scientific results defining the novelty of the article may include the following: description of specific features of ‘state taxation policy’, specification and theoretical justification of the role of state taxation policy in financial policy and formation of state taxation systems and description of interaction between the processes of tax optimization and tax planning that reflect peculiarities of definitions ‘tax prediction’, ‘tax optimization’ and ‘tax planning’.

Keywords: taxation policy, tax burden, profit tax, value-added tax, personal income tax, property tax, taxation rate, tax exemption, tax deduction, social tension.

Abstract: In the age of global crisis and limited budgetary resources it is necessary to review the established approaches to promotion of social and economic development of regions. Depending on a selected model of economic development, there are certain types of taxation policy. Shortterm priorities of the Government of the Russian Federation in the sphere of taxation policy include creation of an efficient and stable taxation system as the guarantee of budgetary sustainability. Noteworthy that the main goals of taxation policy are to support investments, develop human capital and increase business activity. The outlined priorities and goals are to be realized in regions with low financial resources. In order to encourage investments and encourage regions to raise their taxable capacity, it is necessary to overview the regional taxation policy. The present research article covers principles of regional taxation policy and establishes purposes and goals to achieve in order to extend region’s potentials in attracting investment and increasing business activities. The author of the article underlines that it is necessary to distinguish between measures of financial and tax support of the Russian Federation constituents taking into account regional peculiarities of the economic structure. The author also offers the main directions in improving the system of state regulation when implementing regional investment programs and development strategies.

Keywords: taxes and taxation, regional taxation policy, types of taxation policy, taxable capacity, taxation system, investment promotion, tax revenues, budget, the taxation system efficiency, tax burden.

Abstract: The article is devoted to the grounds of creation and termination of obligation to pay a tax. The author of the article focuses on the fact that the term ‘object of taxation’ has the same meaning as the term ‘item subject to tax’ in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Tax and levy legislation, while setting forth the category ‘object of taxation’ in Article 38 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, only lists objects of taxation and defines operations for realization of goods (works or services), property, profit, revenue, cost of realized goods (completed works or rendered services) and other objects that have their value, quantitative and physical characteristics and that create the obligation to pay a tax. The reason of such inaccuracy is that the law-maker did not provide the definition of the ‘item subject to tax’ but assigned all properties of the item subject to tax to the ‘object of taxation’. Based on the analysis of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the author of the present article establishes that the two terms, ‘object of taxation’ and ‘item subject to tax’ were, in fact, used as having the same meaning. The author of the present article describes the similarities and differences between ‘object of taxation’ and ‘item subject to tax’ an analyzes the relation between a taxpayer and the item subject to tax that creates the obligation to pay a tax. Taking into account the results of the analysis of existing views of academic lawyers and legal provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the author of the article shares her ideas on how to improve the tax legislation. The Russian Federation law does not provide an extensive definition of the term ‘object of taxation’ and the categories defined by the law as objects of taxation have all the characteristics of the ‘item subject to taxation’, therefore the author states the following: in Clause 1 of Article 38 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation the term ‘object of taxation’ has the meaning of the ‘item subject to tax’. Moreover, whether there is an object of taxation or not and whether the obligation to pay a tax should be created shall depend on the legal relation between the ‘item’ and a taxpayer.

Keywords: obligation, object of taxation, item subject to tax, legal facts, public finances, actions, events, taxpayer, tax.

Abstract: Reformation of the budgeting system involves raising efficiency and quality of managing public finances at all level of the country’s budgeting system including raising efficiency of local budgets. In this regard, the author of the article analyzes the role of external municipal financial control in specifying tax revenues of a municipality. Activity of external municipal financial control essentially influences the budgeting and social and economic processes. The methodological concepts of this research include scientific publications by Russian economists in the sphere of external municipal financial control. In his research the author uses the methods of analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction. According to the Budget Code of the Russian Federation, the modern system of financial control consists of the external financial control and internal financial control. Both internal and external forms of financial control are equally important for establishing and using public funds at all levels. However, the author of the present article believes that it is the system of external financial control that must guarantee implementation of the integral budgetary and financial policy as well as the identity of purpose, principles and coordination of actions in the sphere of control over federal, regional and municipal budgets. Activity of municipal supervisory accounting authorities plays a great role in regulating and managing tax sources of the income basis of local budgets through expertise of local budget projects and control over execution of these projects. At the municipal level tax revenues are the most obvious driver of financial independence of territories which, in its turn, is the most important criterion of the Russian society democratization.

Keywords: municipality, finances, financial control, supervising accounting authority, tax revenues, budget, independence of territories, social and economic processes, the role of control, specifying tax revenues.

Abstract: Among all the countries that have selected the innovation development strategy, Russia’s position is still rather weak. However, Russia can strengthen its position by developing tools for encouraging significant positive changes in the development of innovations and include promotion of innovative activity in the list of priorities of state taxation policy. This emphasizes the need for a proper evaluation of the influence of taxation policy on the innovative element of economic growth. As a target of the most active tax incentives, innovation enterprises need well-grounded efficient tax exemptions and preferences. The research methodology includes subject-object and structuralfunctional research methods within the framework of the systems approach as well as the methods of analysis, synthesis, deduction and induction. The purpose of the research article is to establish a certain approach to evaluating Russian innovation enterprises. The results of the article are the following: 1) the authors classified the targets of Russia’s taxation policy in 2008–2013 in the sphere of encouraging innovative activity; 2) the authors described different interpretations of the saving ratio in economic and statistical researches and offered a clear definition of the tax saving ratio for innovation enterprises that use tax exemptions; 3) they added a number of new ratios to the tax statistics tools including the innovative tax saving ratio, research and development cost tax saving ratio, tax saving ratio of the cost of innovative products sold, tax to revenue ratio for innovative activity expenses, tax to revenue ratio for innovative activity profit, innovative activity tax incentives efficiency ratio and tax incentives for the growth of research and development expenses ratio; 4) the authors shared their own approach to the systems evaluation of efficiency of tax preferences granted to innovation enterprises based on the two-level combination of statistical indicators; 5) they also described the structural features of grouping of the aforesaid ratios. That allowed to outline the groups of indictors reflecting direct and indirect effects of tax incentives granted to an innovation enterprise.

Keywords: amortization policy, innovation enterprise, tax saving, tax to revenue ratio, tax exemption, taxation policy, tax statistics, tax incentives, evaluation, efficiency of tax exemptions.

Abstract: Effective development of the Russian Federation as a democratic, legal and social state mostly depends on how successful the current issues of the Russian economy are solved. At the present time one of the most important directions of state policy in the economic sphere is the support of the economic growth, entrepreneurial development, in particular, small and medium businesses, stage-by-stage elimination of the shadow economy and attraction of full-sized foreign investments to the country. The aforesaid activities would be impossible without strengthening the tax system of the Russian Federation and improving tax administration as one of the most important elements thereto. Improvement of tax administration is one of the key objectives in the economic system of the Russian Federation in general and taxation in particular. The quality of tax administration defines the level of implementation of socio-economic and political state programs, efficiency of the tax system of the country and its fiscal return. The role of tax administration is the support of the problem solving process and prevention of the external and internal economic threats. Therefore, the importance of the topic — tax administration as the core element of the entire system of taxation — is practically assured.

Keywords: tax administration, tax regulation, taxable capacity, economic growth, tax control, tax disputes, economic efficiency, legislation, regulating system, liability.

Abstract: The subject matter of the present research article is the relation between tax risks and parameters of the financial status of economic entities in the sphere of gas supply as well as direct tax risks of gas-supply enterprises and their evaluation methodology. The purpose of the research article is to define the risk status of taxpayers in the sphere of gas supply. Based on the author, application of the ‘Public Criteria for Independent Risks Evaluation Used by Tax Authorities in Field Tax Inspections for Taxpayers’ set forth by the Order of the Federal Tax Service of the Russia Federation No. ММ-3–2/467@ issued on October 14, 2008 within the framework of tax control over major taxpayers without taking into account peculiarities of their sector does not guarantee accurate and valid results when defining the level of the aggregative tax risk. Research methodology of the research includes dialectic-materialistic method of understanding objective reality and associated general and private scientific methods such as comparison, synthesis, analysis, deduction and induction. The author of the article offers a number of financial ratios to be used as indicators of dependability of gas-supply enterprises as taxpayers. The results of evaluating these indicators for enterprises in the Central Federal District, Western Siberia and Far East create grounds for making a conclusion that evaluation of the tax risk of gas-supply enterprises by the means of comparing actual values of financial ratios with their average value for this economic sector including production and distribution of gas, water and electric energy (as well as for the gas supply sector) is ungrounded and inconsistent. It is useful to define standard parameters of the financial status of economic entities as the criteria of the permissible level of tax risk only in case of particular sub-sectors of gas supply. According to the author, objective definition of the risk status of a taxpayer means comparison of the financial indicator with the average values of associated ratios for gas distribution enterprises or legal entities conducting the natural gas transmission.

Keywords: gas supply, tax risks, financial ratios, initial cost of the gas pipe line, investment activity, profitability, financial sustainability of an enterprise, assets turnover, deferred tax liabilities, tax burden.

Abstract: The subject matter of the research article is the mediation as a special method of pretrial resolution of tax disputes between taxpayers and tax authorities. The authors of the article provide a general description of tax mediation and define its main forms and procedures common in France. French experience in this sphere has a very important meaning for the Russian taxation system because current changes in the Russian system of arbitration proceedings dictate the need for creation of new institutions of pre-trial resolution and mediation can become one of such institutions. When working on this research article, the authors used the general scientific method of dialectic knowledge as well as logical methods (analysis, synthesis, deduction and induction), comparative law and linguistic methods and the method of ‘live cognition’. The scientific novelty of the article is conditioned by the fact that for the present time this research article is the first one in Russian science to study the procedures of tax mediation in France. The authors conclude that mediation as the way to resolve tax disputes is a good alternative to the present system of pre-trial appeal to Russian tax authorities. Mediation proves to be efficient. It would allow to avoid a waste of time and financial expenses which would be beneficial for both a taxpayer and the government.

Keywords: mediation, mediator, mediation process, status of a mediator, mediation agreement, taxpayer, tax authority, tax dispute, Mediator of the Republic, mediation in France.

Abstract: The article is devoted to the system of sources of the Russian tax law. The present article provides definitions of the terms ‘sources/forms of the Russian tax law’, ‘laws and regulations on levies and taxes’, ‘bye-laws in the tax sphere’ and others. The author of the article defines the system of sources of the Russian tax law and concludes that the main source of the Russian tax law today is the regulatory acts where laws are priorities because they represent the decisions of the highest legal force in taxation, i.e. tax legislation. The research methodology includes sources of the Russian tax law. Sources/forms of the Russian tax law mean officially established exterior forms of law regulating tax relations. The foresaid regulatory acts define particular tax laws and regulations as well as enforcement of tax legitimacy in the Russian Federation. The author makes a conclusion that in modern legal systems the main sources of the Russian tax law are the legal acts issued by the highest legal force in the sphere of taxation called tax legislation.

Keywords: sources of tax law, legal regulations, system, laws and regulations, international treaties, rule-making judicial acts, levies and taxes, state authority, local authority, citizen.