Circumstances, mitigating tax liability as the basis for the implementation of the ethical component of modern legislation

This article examines the significance of the legal norm on taking into account mitigating circumstances when applying sanctions for violating tax laws. The generalization of the grounds on which, in accordance with Art. 112 (1.3) of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the court or the tax authority circumstances are deemed essential to reduce the size of penalties. It determines the importance of subordinate regulatory acts, as well as decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, interpretations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, which complement the practice of easing tax sanctions and forming the methodology of the issue under consideration. The analysis of materials of judicial practice allows to speak about the lack of uniformity in decision making under Art. 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. There are general grounds for mitigating tax penalties: committing an offense for the first time; lack of intent; admission of guilt; the difficult financial situation of the subject; the status of the town-forming enterprise; socially significant activities of the subject; the inability to determine the proportionality of harm to the budget; errors when filling in the relevant documents and the declaration; the operation of the legal principle of the individualization of punishment when deciding...