税法解释中纳税人主义的证立——一个债法的分析框架

The Justification of Pro-Taxpayer in Tax Law Interpretation:An Analytical Framework of Obligation Law

税法解释实践中,时常面临"对国库有利"还是"对纳税人有利"的两难选择。基于财政需求,实践中多偏向"对国库有利"的方向进行解释。但作为一种类似于格式合同的非典型公法之债,解释机关更须遵循债之解释的普适性原理。故,当遇有税法不明或课税事实不明等情境,且存有两种以上的理解时,应该秉持"不利解释规则",做有利于规则接受者的解释,即奉行税法解释上的纳税人主义立场。尽管如此,对于纳税人主义在税法解释中的作用,仍应理性评估、客观对待。不能低估但也不宜过分高估;不能缺位行使,更不能越位适用。仅当对解释对象已经采用"通常理解规则"进行解释,且无法得出确切的解释结论时,方可启用纳税人主义。唯有如此,才有可能在不同解释方法而致的错乱纷杂的解释结果之间厘清头绪,找到各方均可接受的唯一正解。

In the practice of tax law interpretation, one may be often faced with two difficult choices of being 'favorable to the national treasury' or being 'favorable to taxpayers'. Based on the financial needs, such practice of interpretation is usually more biased toward the direction of being 'favorable to the national treasury'. But as a kind of atypical obligation of public law similar to the standardized contract, the organ that has the right to interpret should also follow the principle of universality for interpretation of debt. Therefore, when being in a situation in which the tax law is not clear or the taxation facts are not clear, and there are more than two understandings, the 'rule of unfavorable interpretation' should be adhered to, so as to give favorable interpretation to the receiver of the rules, that is, to uphold the pro-taxpayer position in the interpretation of tax law. However, the role of pro-taxpayer interpretation of tax law should still be assessed rationally and treated objectively; neither underestimation nor overestimation is acceptable. It is not allowed to use it without proper conditions, nor can it be used offside. Only when the interpretive object is interpreted in accordance with the 'general understanding rules', and no exact conclusion of the interpretation can be drawn, can the pro-taxpayer principle be adopted. Only in this way can it be possible to clarify the clues among the complicated results from different methods of interpretations and to find the'only positive solution' acceptable to all parties.