Mechanizm przestępstw karuzelowych i metody ich ograniczenia

One of the mechanisms that significantly contributes to the existence of VAT gaps, is a tax fraud within the so-called tax carousel. The idea of ​​the carousel is based on the characteristic of the current VAT system, namely, on the principle that the VAT due is paid into accounts of the tax office by the seller of the goods. At the same time, however, the purchaser, being an active VAT taxpayer has the right to exercise of the right to deduct the so-called input VAT. If the sum of input VAT from goods and services exceeds the amount of output VAT on sales made by the taxpayer in the relevant accounting period, a taxpayer is entitled to receive direct VAT refund. It is the VAT refund which is a prerogative for tax criminals to open up a number of business entities and create a mechanism of tax carousels to obtain financial benefits from unduly received VAT refunds. Unfortunately, the scale of this phenomenon shows that both the tax authorities as well as law enforcement agencies do not cope with limiting this scale. The aim of the article is to identify new ways of reducing carousel offenses, which in cooperation with tax authorities, law enforcement agencies and expert witnesses will significantly reduce the scale of this phenomenon. The added value of the study is that new methods do not require legislative changes, thus they can be immediately applied in practice. In order to present the aims, methods of research were used based on the analysis of domestic and foreign publications as well as public data provided by the Ministry of Finance and the legal acts in force. The considerations discussed in the article are both theoretical and practical.