Neteisėtumo kriterijaus reikšmė pajamų apmokestinime. (II d.)

Abstract

The taxation of illegal income is quite common in many foreign countries, but this practice is not yet applicable in Lithuania, though the recent movements of Lithuania’s Finance Minister, when she admitted that all income should be taxed despite it’s source show her positive attitude towards the taxation of illegal income. The article promotes the idea that all personal income, despite its source, should be taxed. The article is divided into two parts: the first one, which is not published here, deals with the problem of defining personal commercial activity itself and the legality of it and the second one examines the problem of the taxation of illegal gains, including the rules of deduction and declaration. The analysis is based on the general terms and definitions of income of Lithuanian law, which defines income quite generally – as all the benefits, received by a person in monetary or other forms. Lithuanian law does not state clearly that, in order to be taxed, personal income has to be only from legal sources. So, in this case, we can say that there is no formal interference in the taxation of illegal income. The main focus is on the one of the oldest countries which has the longest practice in taxing illegal income- the US where in year 1916 the Congress changed the Internal Revenue Code which stated that "gross income means all income from whatever source derived". From that day, the US courts have gone a long way describing what earnings from illegal sources have to be classified as taxable income. [...]