Right to defence of taxpayer in Tax Law

The right to defence is a right that is emphasized in all branches of procedural law, although the base point is law of criminal procedure. The right to defence, which is a fundamental human right with a constitutional guarantee as a result of the rule of law, is also one of the general principles of law. Besides in tax law, this right is placed among taxpayer rights. In this respect, the right to defence may be asserted by taxpayers both before the tax administration and the tax courts. In tax law, the right to defence of the taxpayer is used before the tax administration mainly in tax audit processes and administrative dispute resolutions. However, the scope of the right to defence, whose existence is indisputable in tax jurisdiction, includes the right to sue the principles dominating the tax procedure (ex officio investigation principle, the principle of equality of arms, the contradictory method, the prohibition of extension of the claim and defence and the principles regarding the evidence), the taxpayer's right to use a representative and evidences. In addition, the use of the right to defence during the hearing, which is an exception for the tax judgment procedure, is among the controversial issues. Briefly, the legal nature of the taxpayer's right to defence and the situations in which it can be used constitute the subject of this study.