Tax procedure code

What it means

The tax procedure code is procedural law: it governs filing, service, audits, decisions and enforcement. How much is due comes from the substantive acts on each tax.

It holds the deadlines for filing and appeal, the conduct of a tax audit, the rules of evidence and the penalties. Most disputes with the office are won or lost on procedure.

It applies to most taxes at once: income tax, VAT, excise duties and the local taxes run by municipalities. Where a specific act sets a procedural step differently, that act prevails, and the procedure code fills in everything the specific act leaves unsaid.

How it works in practice

In practice it means you deal with the office electronically, delivery to the mailbox counts even unread, and a request for explanation must be answered within the set period, not when convenient.

Representation under a power of attorney is normal: the accountant or adviser takes over the correspondence, but responsibility for what is filed stays with the taxpayer.

When a client receives a tax assessment decision, the first step is to fix the date of delivery and count the appeal period from it. We then check whether the office followed procedure: service, deadlines, the right to comment on evidence. A procedural flaw is often a stronger argument than a dispute over interpretation.

What to watch out for

A missed deadline is generally not restored, and a late appeal is dismissed without looking at the merits. That is why objections to an audit report go in on time, with the arguments filled in afterwards.

For failing a non-monetary duty, such as ignoring a request or not producing documents in an audit, the office imposes a penalty, and can do so repeatedly. The company pays a sanction although its tax was right, simply because nobody paid attention to the office’s letters.