The Active Subject in Cases of Tax Evasion Offense

• Author: Manea, A. C.
• Position: Law Department, Transilvania University of Brasov
• Pages: 135-140

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov

Series VII: Social Sciences • Law • Vol. 6 (55) No. 1 - 2013

THE ACTIVE SUBJECT IN CASES

OF TAX EVASION OFFENSE

Adrian C. MANEA1

Abstract: Whether we analyze the offense of tax evasion or those related to

tax evasion offenses under Law no.241/2005 depending on the material

element, we will reach the conclusion that if in some cases the lawmaker

qualifies the active subject, in other cases it can be any criminally liable

natural or legal person. However, taking into account the changes in Law

no.241/2005 through Law no.50/2013, changes consisting in the abolition of

the enactment of fines, the lawmaker implicitly excludes from the active

taxpayers - legal entities, even though most tax evasion crimes are committed

in the name and on behalf of corporate taxpayers.

Key words: tax evasion, taxpayer, natural person, legal person, the

generally consolidated budget.

1 Law Department, Transilvania University of Braşov.

1. Introduction

Although in the originally adopted form

in 2005, unlike the old regulation - Law

no.87/1994 on combatting tax evasion,

Law no.241/2005 expanded the scope of

the active subjects of offenses by including

the legal person in the definition of the

taxpayer, and in relation to the

amendments to Article 19 of the Criminal

Code Law through no.278/2006, we now

observe that the lawmaker excluded by

adopting Law nr.50/2013, the express

provision of the penalty fine - the most

common punishment of the active subjects

legal person - for tax evasion crimes.

Given the definition of the taxpayer

contained in Article 2 point b Law

no.241/2005, under which any natural or

legal person or any other entity without

legal personality who owes taxes,

contributions and other amounts to the

general consolidated budget is considered

taxpayer, in conjunction with Article 19 of

the Romanian Criminal Code, according to

which legal entities (...) are criminally liable

for the offenses committed in achieving the

object of activity or in the interest or on

behalf of the legal person, if the offense was

committed under the form of guilt provided

by the Criminal Law, penalizing with a fine

the legal entities in relation to whose activity,

or on behalf of whom tax evasion was

committed, was expressly provided in the

form of Law no.241/2005 previous to its

amendment brought in March 2013 by Law

No. 50/ 2013.

And sanctioning the legal entity, active

subject of the tax evasion crime, was and is

still possible combined with the

punishment of the natural person within

the legal person who had committed the

offense, for as article 191, paragraph 2

Criminal Code states, the criminal liability

of legal entities does not exclude the

criminal liability of the natural person who