Acta Universitatis Danubius. Juridica, Vol 12, No 1 (2016)

Abstract

The tax law systems of the EU Member States differ strongly; one is based on the specific anti – avoidance provisions governed by the general principle of prohibition of abuse stated in court jurisprudence, the basement of the other is a written judicial rule which prohibits the abuse – general anti – avoidance rule. General anti-avoidance rules are needed because of conflicts of laws in the borders of one state as well the conflicts of different state’s jurisprudence. There is no legal definition of tax avoidance in the EU law nevertheless the notion of tax avoidance is firmly connected to the concept of abuse of law – a general principle of EU law which has got its prompt development in the resent tax case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The UK practice is undoubtedly the positive example of methodologically  precise legal ruling in the sphere of complicated abstract issues of abuse in tax law. This paper aims to describe the concept of general anti avoidance rule, comparing theoretical cognitions, regulation in Latvia and UK and also tax case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.