The Power to Tax without Due Process of Law

This paper provides a case-study analysis that allows the highlighting of any inconsistencies or unequal treatment in adjudication procedures in tax matters, a sector particularly interesting and fruitful for an investigation concerning the tricky balance between the requirements of taxation and the protection of the freedoms and rights of the individual. First of all, tax is not a subject of harmonisation, so the procedural autonomy of the states is even more marked insofar as it is grafted on to a standardisation that varies greatly between the various states. Moreover, in this case European law interfaces with a traditional sort of administration rather than with a national regulatory authority. The methodology used is inductive, starting from an empirical analysis which considers both normative data, and a number of important and recent judgments of the Court of Justice, selected using the criterion of the invoked applicability of the right to be heard in disputes in tax matters. Both national proceedings in implementation of EU law, and composite proceedings in which tax administrations from various Member States intervene are included, in order to highlight any discrepancies related to the type of proceedings adopted.