ABSTRACT

መግቢያ

የዚህ ጽሑፍ ዋና ዓላማ ያለደረሰኝ ግብይት የማከናወን ወንጀል ላይ መሠረታዊ የሆነ መረዳት እንዲኖር ማድረግ እና ያለደረሰኝ ግብይት ከማከናወን ወንጀል ጋር በተያያዘ እየቀረቡ ያሉ አንዳንድ ማብራሪያዎች (commentaries) ላይ የሚስተዋሉትን ግድፈቶች ማቃናት አስፈላጊ ሆኖ በመገኘቱ ነው፡፡

ያለደሰኝ ግብይት ወንጀል የኢትዮጵያ የታክስ ሕግ ወንጀል አካል ሆኖ የተደነገገው በ2001 ዓ.ም ሲሆን ይህም በአዋጅ 609/2001 አንቀጽ 50 (ሐ) እና 50 (መ) 2 መሠረት ነው፡፡ ምንም እንኳ ጥቂት ለውጥ ቢደረግባቸውም እነዚህ አንቀፆች በታክስ አስተዳደር አዋጅ 983/2008 አንቀጽ 120/1 እና 131(1)(ለ) ላይ ከተደነገገውና ያለደረሰኝ ግብይትን የወንጀል ተግባር አድርጎ ከሚደነግጉት አንቀፆች ጋር የጎላ የይዘት ልዩነት የላቸውም፡፡

አዋጅ ቁጥር-1160/2011 የጉምሩክ አዋጅ 859/2006 ማሻሻያ አዋጅ ሲሆን በዚህ አዋጅ የጉምሩክ አዋጅ 859/2006 ውስጥ ባሉት አንዳንድ ድንጋጌዎች ላይ ማሻሻያ ተደርጓል፡፡ ከተደረጉ ማሻሻያዎች በዋናነት የሚጠቀሰው በአከራካሪ የወንጀል ድንጋጌዎች ላይ የተደረገው ማሻሻያ ሲሆን በዚህ ፅሁፍ በማሻሻያ አዋጁ የተሸሩ፣የተሸሻሉና እንደ አዲስ የተካተቱ የወንጀል ድንጋጌዎች አጠር ባለመልኩ ተዳሰዋል፡፡

1. የኮንትሮባንድ ወንጀል፡-

INTRODUCTION

Tax evasion is proscribed as crime under Art 125 of Federal Tax administration proclamation no-983/20081. Under this article, the law proscribes transgressions such as understatement of income (evasion of assessment), failure to file tax return with intent to evade tax and evasion of payment as offenses of tax evasion. To proof tax evasion, prosecutors must proof the existence of all ingredients of the offence, namely intent to defraud, affirmative act and evaded tax. Amongst ingredients of crime of tax evasion, the existence or otherwise of evaded tax is a typical one. To identify the nature and amount of evaded tax, one should make use of evidence. We can prove tax evasion both by direct and indirect evidences.

Proof is the establishment or refutation of an alleged fact by evidence. It’s the evidence or argument that compels the mind to accept an assertion as true. In its judicial sense; it encompasses everything that may be adduced at a trial, within the legal rules, for the purpose of producing a conviction in the mind of judge. Evidence is a thing (including testimony, documents and tangible objects) that tends to prove or disprove the existence of an alleged fact.

As indicated above, Tax evasion can be proved both by direct and indirect method of proof. This can be done by auditor which then appears in court of law as an expert witness.

“I CAN’T DEFINE TAX EVASION, BUT I KNOW IT WHEN I SEE IT.”

— FRED T. GOLDBERG JR.

INTRODUCTION

Taxation is as old as history of early state formation. As tax remains essential source of public finance, states used to collect taxes for public funding. Apart from its extant condemnation by modern governments, one can strongly argue that tax evasion remains persistent challenge from the very inception of state. Nowadays, following the advancement of public finance the concept of tax evasion get emphasis by tax scholars. It is now condemned and categorized as anti-social behaviors as well as criminal act.

What is tax evasion then?

 Even though it’s helpful to provide conventional definition of tax evasion, as the concept more of relies on the tax laws that regulate it, which is territorial and jurisdictional by nature, providing universal definition at the outset remains a challenge. However based on definitions given to the term in different legal systems if not universal, one can come up with comprehended definitions of the therm. To come up with few, the United States revenue service sector (IRC), defines tax evasion under section 7201,-“as willful attempts in any manner to evade or defeat any tax or the payment thereof”.

The definition given above by IRC clearly depict any intentional attempt to defeat assessment of true tax liabilities which in turn end in tax Deficiency(evasion of assessment) and non-payment of tax due and owing(evasion of payment)as tax evasion. Among others a comprehensive definition of tax evasion was given by Canadian department of national revenues-as-