Public Councils under the Federal Tax Service of Russia and its territorial divisions: current problems and development prospects

Petrenko Elena Gennad'evna PhD in Law Associate Professor of the Department of State and International Law, Kuban State Agrarian University named after I. T. Trubilin 350044, Russia, Krasnodar Territory, Krasnodar, Kalinina str., 13 niipgergo2009@mail.ru Other publications by this author     Goncharov Vitalii Viktorovich PhD in Law Associate Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Higher Education, Polytechnic Institute (branch), Don State Technical University in Taganrog 347900, Russia, Rostov region, Taganrog, Petrovskaya str., 109a niipgergo2009@mail.ru Other publications by this author     Borisova Anna Anatol'evna PhD in Pedagogy Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Humanities and Socio-Economic Sciences, Polytechnic Institute (branch), Don State Technical University" in Taganrog 347900, Russia, Rostov region, Taganrog, Petrovskaya str., 109A niipgergo2009@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Poyarkov Sergei Yur'evich PhD in Pedagogy Academic Secretary, All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Physical-Technical and Radio Technical Measurements 350007, Russia, Krasnodar, Khimzavodskaya Street 48, office #4 niipgergo2009@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction.

The issues of organization and activity of public councils under federal executive authorities are widely studied in the works of A.V. Cheshin, ^{[5, pp. 127-130]} E. G. Dyakova, ^{[9, pp. 68-77; 10, pp. 33-44]} D. E. Zaikov, ^{[11, pp. 32-39]} M. A. Lipchanskaya, ^{[12, pp. 27-30]} V. Y. Salamatova, ^{[15, pp. 58-64]} as well as a number of other authors. A special place in the research of A. I. Baichurina, ^{[1, pp. 39-41; 2, pp. 34-35]} E. B. Grigorieva, ^{[8, pp. 40-41]} I. O. Podolyak, ^{[14, pp. 369-370]} L. R. Yakovleva, ^{[16, pp. 47-52]} as well as some other scientists, is given to public councils with one One of the key federal agencies is the Federal Tax Service of the country. However, the proportion of works devoted to the analysis of the modern problems of the functioning of this type of subjects of public control, the development of a mechanism for optimizing their organization and activities, is not large enough, which determines the choice of the topic of this scientific research, the purpose of which is not only to formalize and analyze the main problems that hinder both the development of the institute of public tax control as a whole and its subjects in particular, but also in the development and justification of a system of measures to resolve these problems. The tasks of scientific research include: substantiation of the role and place of the institute of public control in the system of legal guarantees for the implementation, protection and protection of both constitutional principles (in particular, democracy and participation of citizens of the Russian Federation) and the entire system of human and civil rights and freedoms; analysis of the place and role of public councils under the Federal Tax Service and its territorial divisions in the system of subjects of public control; identification, formalization and analysis of the main problems that hinder the development of both the institution of public tax control as a whole and the processes of organization and activity of its above-mentioned subjects; development and justification of a system of measures to resolve them. The object of research is public relations in the field of organization and functioning of subjects of public control in general and public councils under the Federal Tax Service and its territorial divisions in particular, and the subject of scientific research is the norms of legislation on public control, subordinate normative legal acts regulating the processes of organization and activities of the above-mentioned subjects, materials of the Russian scientific legal doctrine of public control, documents and materials related to the functioning of various subjects of public control in the Russian Federation.

The main text.

The existence and development of Russia as a sovereign and independent state is largely due to the degree of effectiveness of the organization and operation of the apparatus of public power in the country, as well as support for its functioning by the multinational people of the Russian Federation, whose legal status is enshrined in the Constitution of the country as the bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in the state. The people exercise their power through a complex system of direct and indirect forms of democracy, however, the powers delegated by them to the apparatus of public power need constant control from civil society, firstly, in order for public authorities to exercise the powers delegated by the people in the interests of the whole people, or its majority, and secondly, to The process of exercising these powers was carried out in full compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and legislation, and thirdly, so that the activities of public authorities were effective in order to ensure the optimal development of Russian society and the state. In this regard, the constitutional principles (in particular, democracy and participation of citizens of the country in the management of state affairs), as well as the entire system of constitutional rights and freedoms of man and citizen, the rights and legitimate interests of public associations and other non-governmental non-profit organizations, need a system of legal guarantees, which includes: constitutional prohibition under threat of involvement to carry out the seizure of power and the illegal appropriation of authority; the presence of various constitutional control bodies, the most important of which are the institutions of the President of the Russian Federation (as the guarantor of the constitution, as well as human and civil rights and freedoms) and the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (as the highest body of constitutional justice, which is after the abolition of the institution of constitutional (statutory) courts of the subjects of the Russian Federation and the only public authority in this area); the presence of a complex mechanism of checks and balances enshrined in the Basic Law of the country and legislation, which does not allow individual public authorities to accumulate and retain authority without control from other public authorities; the presence of a system of civil society institutions, the most important of which is public control which allows Russian citizens, as well as public associations and other non-governmental non-profit organizations to participate in monitoring the activities, acts and decisions of state authorities, local governments, state and municipal organizations, and other bodies and organizations endowed by federal laws with the right to exercise certain public powers.

The organization and functioning of the institute of public control in the Russian Federation is associated with numerous problems caused, firstly, by the relative "youth" of this institution of civil society, which was formalized in Russian legislation relatively recently (with the adoption of Federal Law No. 32-FZ dated 04.04.2005 "On the Public Chamber in the Russian Federation"), although it had a prehistory, as we noted in previous studies ^{[3, pp. 186-188; 4, pp. 194-196]} in the form of the institute of people's control of power, which functioned quite effectively during the RSFSR, secondly, the weak development of civil society institutions in Russia as a whole, due to the fact that its old institutions, formed in the during the Soviet era, they were broken (for example, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union), or lost their importance (trade unions), and new ones are on a thorny path of formation and development, thirdly, by the imperfection of legislation on public control, in which there are a significant number of "white spots" (for example, a number of objects of public control that were withdrawn from the subject matter of Federal Law No. 212-FZ dated 07/21/2014 "On the Basics of Public Control in the Russian Federation" under the pretext of the need to adopt separate federal laws on them, most of which have not been adopted in 10 years).

The most important type of objects of public control is the activities, acts and decisions of public authorities in the country, including the Federal Tax Service and its territorial divisions.

Public councils have been established under these public authorities, which, in accordance with the above-mentioned Federal Law, are a kind of subjects of public control. As a number of authors rightly point out. Public councils under the Federal Tax Service and its territorial divisions are among the best in terms of the quality of scientific knowledge and the authority of its members. ^{[13, p. 13]} Indeed, an analysis of the personal composition of the members of the above-mentioned councils shows that among the members of these subjects of public control the highest percentage of scientists in the field of economics and law, as well as professional specialists in the areas of taxes and taxation of the highest level.

At the same time, the Federal Tax Service of Russia was one of the first federal agencies to establish public councils (the first composition was approved back in 2009, long before the adoption of the above-mentioned Federal Law). The current Council of L was approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated 08/04/2021 No. ED-7-1/719@ as a result of the reset of the composition of public councils of all federal executive authorities initiated by the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.

This subject of public control has a rather complex structure, including 8 working groups ("tax culture and literacy", "law", "registration", "digital services", "feedback", "ODS" (for consideration of regulatory legal acts of the Federal Tax Service of Russia subject to regulatory impact assessment), "Sectoral projects of the Federal Tax Service and mechanisms for the prevention of tax offenses", "Mediactivity") and expert commissions.

In turn, public councils have also been established at the level of regional departments of the Federal Tax Service of Russia. Thus, the public council under the Administration of the Federal Tax Service for the Krasnodar Territory is a permanent advisory and advisory body that carries out its activities on a voluntary basis. It was created relatively recently, operates on the basis of the Regulations on the Public Council under the Administration approved by the order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the Krasnodar Territory dated 04/13/2022 No. 01-01/54@, has a simpler organizational structure than the public council under the Federal Tax Service of Russia (which is due to the smaller number of members of this subject of public control). But this does not reduce its effectiveness and efficiency within the limits of its existing powers.

It seems that the organization and activities of public councils under the Federal Tax Service and its territorial divisions are associated with numerous problems, among which the following can be distinguished:

Firstly, certain difficulties regarding the functioning of public councils under federal executive authorities are created by the fact that the institution of public control, unlike the above-mentioned public authorities, is not named in any way in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. A paradoxical situation arises when control over the activities, acts and decisions of public authorities is fixed only at the level of Federal Law. But a certain part, for example, of federal government bodies, as the legal basis for their organization and activities, has either primarily the Constitution of the country (for example, the Institute of the President of the Russian Federation) or federal constitutional laws (for example, the Federal Security Service). This problem needs to be resolved by incorporating this institution of civil society into the Basic Law of the country. Similarly, as we have already written in previous studies, ^{[3, pp. 186-188; 4, pp. 194-196]} this problem was resolved during Soviet times regarding the institute of people's control of power, the provisions of which were placed not only in the Constitution of the USSR of 1977, but also in all constitutions of the Union republics within the USSR (including the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1978). At the same time, the Union and republican constitutions established the legal basis for the interaction of public control bodies with state administration bodies, the party apparatus of the CPSU, and other subjects of Soviet law. The mechanism of participation of public administration bodies, party and public organizations in the formation and functioning of public control bodies was also detailed. Thus, it seems necessary to detail in the Constitution of the Russian Federation the basic principles, forms, methods and types of public control measures, a list of its subjects and objects (or an exhaustive list of identifying features), the mechanism of interaction of subjects of public control with public authorities and other objects thereof. This will make it possible to determine the foundations and limits of the organization and implementation of public control in Russia, and will emphasize the high status and importance of this institution of civil society not only in the eyes of ordinary citizens of the country, but also officials of public authorities.

Secondly, a significant problem in the organization and functioning of public councils under the Federal Tax Service and its territorial divisions is the fact that this institution of civil society is not detailed in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. As a result, the activities of these subjects of public control are regulated only by Federal Law No. 212-FZ dated 07/21/2014 "On the Basics of Public Control in the Russian Federation", as well as by-laws and regulations of the Federal Tax Service itself. This circumstance artificially transforms the main goals and objectives of the activities of public councils under the Federal Tax Service and its territorial divisions from monitoring the activities, acts and decisions of these public authorities to facilitating their activities in the organization and implementation of tax control in the Russian Federation. The solution to this problem is seen in supplementing the country's Tax Code with a separate chapter or group of articles devoted to consolidating the institution of public control, detailing the mechanism of its interaction with tax authorities in the country, determining the grounds and limits of organizing and implementing tax control measures in relation to the activities, acts and decisions of tax authorities.

Thirdly, the above-mentioned problem is also related to another significant problem, the essence of which is the degree of public character of the mechanism for forming public councils under the Federal Tax Service and its territorial divisions. First of all, it is doubtful that the provisions on these subjects of public control are approved by the regulatory legal acts of the Federal Tax Service itself and its territorial divisions. It seems that such subjects of public control under federal executive authorities should act either on the basis of a model provision on the organization and activities of subjects of public control under federal executive authorities, which should be approved, for example, by Federal Law. The mechanism for the formation of these public councils should become more "public", excluding participation in the formation of these subjects of public control of the Federal Tax Service and its territorial divisions. Otherwise, it turns out to be an absurd situation when the object of public control forms or participates in the formation of representatives of the subject of public control. For example, according to paragraph 3.5 of the Regulation on the Public Council at the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the Krasnodar Territory dated 04/13/2022 No. 01-01/54@, the personal composition of the public council, formed from among the candidates selected on a competitive basis, is approved by the head of the relevant Department of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the Krasnodar Territory in coordination with the council of the Public Chamber. This provision, of course, corresponds to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated August 2, 2005 No. 481 "On the Procedure for the Formation of Public Councils under Federal Ministries Headed by the Government of the Russian Federation, Federal Services and Federal Agencies Subordinate to these Federal Ministries, as well as Federal services and Federal Agencies Headed by the Government of the Russian Federation" and the Standard of Activity of the Public Council under the federal executive authority (hereinafter referred to as the Model Provision), approved by the decision of the Council of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation No. 55-C dated July 5, 2018 (hereinafter referred to as the Standard of Activity). However, the above-mentioned Model Provision and Standard of Activity also require optimization in terms of changing the mechanism of formation of public councils under federal executive authorities. Public authorities should participate in this mechanism solely as a coordinating body. The main role in the formation of these subjects of public control should be assigned to the relevant public chambers (starting with the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation), as well as numerous public associations and other non–governmental non-profit organizations in the field of activity of this type of federal executive authorities.

Fourthly, a significant problem that complicates the functioning of public councils under the Federal Tax Service and its territorial divisions is the lack of development in the domestic scientific legal doctrine of special forms, methods and types of measures of public control over the activities, acts and decisions of tax authorities. The solution to this problem is seen in the initiation by the Public Chamber of the country of additional scientific and practical research in this area with the development of a system of proposals and recommendations for optimizing tax legislation and legislation on public control.

Fifthly, a number of problems are caused by the fact that the above-mentioned subjects of public control have the organizational and property basis of their activities premises, equipment, computer facilities, etc. of the Federal Tax Service itself and its territorial divisions, which increases their dependence on the Federal Tax Service. The solution to this problem is seen in the creation of an independent property and organizational base for these subjects of public control, for example, by creating state budgetary institutions "Apparatus of the Public Council under the Federal Tax Service", "Apparatus of the public Council under the Federal Tax Service of the subject of the Russian Federation". The Government of the Russian Federation should develop and adopt a system of federal programs aimed at developing the financial and property foundations of public control, increasing the level of their use of modern information and communication technologies. Increasing the financing of the mechanism of functioning of subjects of public control, as we have already noted in previous studies ^{[6, pp. 199-202; 7, pp. 196-200]} requires parallel consolidation of the system for evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of their activities in order to exclude the possibility of inefficient use of these resources.

Conclusion.

In the course of our scientific research, we have made a number of conclusions:

1. The Institute of public control occupies an important place in the system of legal guarantees for the implementation, protection and protection of both constitutional principles (in particular, democracy and participation of citizens of the Russian Federation) and the entire system of human and civil rights and freedoms.

2. The main type of objects of public control is the activities, acts and decisions of public authorities, including the Federal Tax Service and its territorial divisions, under which public councils have been established and operate.

3. The organization and activities of public councils under the Federal Tax Service and its territorial divisions are associated with numerous problems, including: the lack of formalization of public control in the Constitution of Russia; the failure to consolidate the institution of public control in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation; the "non-public" mechanism for the formation of these types of subjects of public control; weak powers of these subjects; the lack of development in the domestic scientific legal doctrine of special forms, methods and types of measures of public control over the activities, acts and decisions of tax authorities; weak organizational, technical and property base of the above-mentioned subjects of public control and their insufficient use of modern information and communication technologies in their work.

4. The resolution of these problems requires the development and implementation of a system of measures, including: consolidation in the Basic Law of the country of the concept, principles, forms and methods of public control, a list of its objects and subjects (or a list of identifying features); consolidation in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation of the mechanism of organization and implementation of public tax control, as well as the list of its subjects; organization by the Public Chamber of the country of scientific and practical research in the field of public tax control; assignment of a set of real powers to public councils under the Federal Tax Service and its territorial divisions; changing the order of formation of the above-mentioned subjects of public control; creation of a specialized variety of subjects of public tax control (for example, public tax inspections, the formation of which should involve public chambers of the appropriate level, as well as the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, regional parliaments); the development and adoption by the Government of the Russian Federation of a system of federal programs aimed at strengthening the organizational, technical and property base of subjects of public control, as well as the development and implementation of modern information and communication technologies in their activities.