Responsibility of Subjects of Foreign Economic Activity According to the Results of the Customs Post Audit: National Practice and Experience of EU Countries

The procedure for customs post-entry audit in Ukraine cannot be considered as fully studied, despite considerable attention focused on its development in the context of counteracting customs violations. This is especially so in terms of establishing the responsibility of foreign trade entities for these violations. The purpose of the article is to study issues related to the legal regulation of responsibility of foreign trade entities in Ukraine for the facts of customs violation discovered through the post-entry audit. Methods of research include the analysis of legal documents, theoretical works of national and foreign scientists and practitioners to establish responsibility after results of post-entry audits. The article deals with certain aspects of the system of penal sanctions in terms of foreign trade entities' responsibility arising after post-entry audit, namely: the lack of effectiveness of fiscal authorities' controls to administer the accrued tax and customs obligations and financial sanctions, insufficiency of tax security mechanisms for the property of business entities, customs guarantees. Thus, provisions of the tax code of Ukraine to regulate the amounts of a payer's tax liabilities, their payment and appeal procedures, stop the payer from fulfilling the obligations defined in the tax notification-decision. On the other hand, the EU Customs Code stipulates that the submission of an appeal should not cause the suspension of the execution of the appealed decision. The article also examines deficiency of key components of the guarantees institutions: procedures to provide financial guarantees and approval of the guarantor. Thus, according to the Union Customs Code, guarantees are issued against the customs debts incurred and those that may arise, while the national customs regulations provide guarantees on the amount of customs charges to be paid. The insufficiency of national tax security mechanisms for the property of taxpayers – the debtors, which entails inefficient administration of tax debt has been analyzed in the article. Scientific novelty and practical significance of the results. According to results of the analysis, the need for adaptation of the existing customs law of Ukraine to the European standards has been established and justified. Proposals have been made to improve the existing customs legislation on responsibility for violations in the field of foreign economic activity, taking into account international standards and legal norms of the EU. This will provide a more effective mechanism of responsibility of foreign trade entities and increase the fiscal efficiency of the national system of customs control in Ukraine.