Problems of tax sovereignty in the practice of the European Court of Justice on the issues of direct taxation
Review. The object of studies involves social relations in the sphere of regulation of the European tax law in the sphere of tax sovereignty and implementation of the «basic freedoms» principle in respect of direct taxation. The immediate object of studies involves theories and concepts of tax law on the issues of tax sovereignty and double taxation, norms of the European tax law, regulating the relations in the spheres of direct taxation, functioning of the common market and tax sovereignty, as well as the judicial practice of the European Court of Justice on the issues of direct taxation. The methodological basis for the study involves general scientific methods (dialectic - materialistic, systemic, induction, deduction, analysis, synthesis), and specific legal methods of studies. The study is based upon the comparative legal method, allowing to compare the similar legal problems in the European law and the law of EAEU, and to establish the optimum ways for their resolution. The article also involves of private law methods, such as formal legal method, allowing to reveal the legal nature of the matters, and the historical legal method allowing to study the genesis of the institution of the budget law responsibility. The scientific novelty of the article is due to the studies of the legal practice of the European Court of Justice, and the balance of the interests of the EU citizens as the bearers of basic freedoms, and the European Community in the process of implementation of common market mechanisms on one hand, and interests of the sovereign states on the other hand. The tension between the tax sovereignty of Member States and the actions for the development of the common European market may be eased via taking into account the polar interests of parties and brining the two strategies of harmonization and competitions closer to each other. It is obvious that common market cannot automatically get priority, since its mechanisms are far from perfection. That is why, some decisions of the ECJ should be analyzed and aimed in the same directions, since the European Court of Justice plays greater and greater role for the European tax law. The practice of the Court may be of use for Russia, for example, when interpreting the norms and resolving disputes on tax federalism, or the disputes with the participation of foreign parties. The value of the decisions of the Court for the Russian practice is predefined with the large quantity of tax disputes addressed to the higher judicial instances of the Russian Federation and with the formation of the institutions, such as the Customs Union and the EAEU.