Africa-Press – Angola. The judicial tax debt, controlled by the General Tax Administration (AGT), is estimated at 61 billion Kwanzas, in a set of 337 processes in progress, among disputes over tax settlement.
The tax debt in litigation or judicial litigation should not be confused with the tax debt of all litigation (administrative and judicial), according to the director of the Legal Office of AGT, Esperança Joblina Vieira Salvador.
In an interview, the director said that the set of processes being carried out across the country involves taxpayers from various classes and sectors of economic activity.
He stated that of the 337 processes, 280 are linked to the judicial challenge of a tax act, 50 cases of opposition to tax enforcement due to embargoes or complaints, in the context of tax enforcement, addressed to the Court.
Another set of seven processes of a different nature are related to subpoena actions, recognition of a right and precautionary measures.
In the year 2022, 96 judicial decisions were handed down in tax matters across the country, of which 68 became final and 38 were not final.
Of the decisions handed down, he said, 83 were favorable, six unfavorable and seven partially unfavorable, adding that the main reasons for objections by taxpayers relate to disagreements with the General Tax Administration, regarding the settlement of taxes.
“The disputes are not beneficial for the Administration, nor for the taxpayers, insofar as, when there is a liquidation challenge process, the contesting taxpayer is obliged to provide a guarantee to suspend the corresponding tax execution, and, in the absence of a guarantee , the execution is initiated and the process runs until the attachment phase, being suspended, at this stage, until the conclusion of the discussion on the legality of the liquidation”, he underlined.
Esperança Salvador stated that while the process regarding the legality of the liquidation takes place, the captive amounts, whether in voluntary guarantee provided by the taxpayer or in attachment, are not available, neither by the AGT nor by the taxpayer, which , to some extent represents a disadvantage for both parties.
To safeguard such situations, he stressed that the AGT has prioritized a didactic process, in the sense of creating in taxpayers the spirit of tax citizenship, complying with the payment of taxes voluntarily, with the tax offices where they are domiciled.
Tax citizenship campaigns have fundamentally been carried out by the Center for Tax Studies, an initiative that involves educational institutions, including primary education, according to the interviewee, adding that the AGT acts coercively in cases of non-compliance with voluntary payment by taxpayers , after several appeals for tax citizenship.
“The Administration makes use of coercive means, more specifically the tax execution process, through which the AGT itself, under the terms of the Tax Executions Code, will coercively seek the amounts not paid by taxpayers”, he stressed.
Even so, Esperança Joblina Salvador considers that the best way to comply with tax obligations is voluntary, as she understands that this is a win-win option, stressing that voluntary and timely compliance with tax obligations generates revenue in time to meet needs public in the country.
Tax Execution
Esperança Salvador said that the high number of decisions favorable to the AGT is linked to the institutional policy adopted, in the sense of not continuing judicial proceedings, when, in the first place, one is aware that the taxpayer is right.
In this case, he stressed, the institution decides administratively in favor of the taxpayer instead of litigating.
“(…) Whenever the AGT takes a dispute to the last instances, it is because it is aware that the taxpayer’s action is not in accordance with the Law”, he defended
But on the contrary, that is, when the decisions are favorable to the taxpayer, the AGT immediately abstains from charging the assessed tax, according to the source.
However, he stated that when the decisions are favorable to the Tax Administration, with a final and unappealable decision, the institution carries out the coercive collection, in case the taxpayer does not voluntarily move to pay the tax.
“Taxpayers are the main partners of the General Tax Administration, without which it is not possible to achieve the fundamental objectives of the State, which is the satisfaction of public needs”, he concluded.
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