The crime of violation of tax privacy

Disagreements between people have always existed until today. As a result of these disputes, the legally protected values of people are violated, as a result of the violations, the state authority faces the threat of disruption of public order. The way to protect the legal values of individuals is to prevent crime by the state and to have sanctions in case of crime. States have accepted some actions as crimes in order to protect social peace, individual rights and freedoms, and public order. Crimes are acts that cause violation of legal values that are tried to be protected by the penal norm. Sanction, on the other hand, is the legal consequence linked to the equivalent of the tortious act that constitutes a crime. It is the responsibility of the state to meet some of the services and needs of the individuals that make up the society. To this end, the state collects taxes from individuals to finance public services. In order to regulate the tax relationship between the state and the individual, which is the field of tax law, it is necessary to comply with the rules determined by law. Tax crimes arise in case of violation of duties and obligations imposed by tax laws by those responsible and taxpayers in a way that requires punishment. Tax penalties, on the other hand, are sanctions imposed by the criminal court or tax office, which expose the person to some deprivations, which constitute the remuneration of tax crimes and misdemeanors. The main purpose of drafting the violation of tax privacy in Article 362 of the Tax Procedure Law is to protect "the right to tax privacy". Tax privacy aims to protect the issues learned by the taxpayers in the taxation process, which should be kept confidential with some secrets about the private lives of taxpayers. Because, in the Turkish tax system, which is based on the principle of declaration, the complete and uninterrupted functioning of the tax process depends on the trust of the taxpayers that the information they have declared will not be shared with others. Article 5 of the Tax Procedure Law, which regulates tax privacy, stipulates persons who are obliged to comply with tax privacy and exceptions to tax privacy. Article 362 of the Tax Procedure Law, in which the crime of violation of tax privacy is regulated, states that those who violate tax privacy will be punished according to Article 239 of the Turkish Penal Code. In this context, in the investigation of the relevant crime, based on the relationship between the Tax Procedure Law and the TCK, a conclusion is reached based on Article 5 of the Tax Procedure Law, general provisions of the Turkish Penal Code and Article 239 in examining "the elements of the crime of violation of tax privacy, special appearance forms and penalties".