Effectiveness of Tax Dispute Resolution Mechanisms – The Impact of the European Legal Framework on National Jurisdiction

Nataša Žunić Kovačević

doi:10.55073/2024.1.271-291

Nataša Žunić Kovačević Full Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Rijeka, Croatia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6923-5658

DOI: https://doi.org/10.55073/2024.1.271-291

Keywords: tax dispute, tax dispute resolution, Croatia, European Union

Abstract

The search for a more effective resolution of cross-border tax disputes provokes the general question of the effectiveness of tax dispute resolution mechanisms. In recent years or even decades, a cross-border tax dispute settlement within the European Union (EU) internal market has engendered several issues and perspectives. With an overview of the Croatian tax dispute environment, there is a short analysis of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms with a basic description and a short practical evaluation. The tax dispute environment in Croatia shows that a vast majority of tax disputes therein originate from audits. This paper provides an outline of the principal issues arising from the Europeanisation of tax disputes and probably national tax procedural rules. The landscape for tax dispute resolution is changing dramatically at the EU level. Pre-litigation tax instruments and settlements have become extremely important and developed. Tax dispute judicial settlements still have a lot of relevance and are seen as a possible object of such efforts to move towards the creation of European fundamental principles and rights for taxpayers in that area. This paper aims to analyse the effectiveness of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in the context of tax disputes in Croatia. By examining the tax dispute environment and evaluating various mechanisms, we can gain insights into the challenges and potential solutions for resolving these disputes.

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