THE ROLE OF A TAXATION SYSTEM BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER A FINANCIAL CRISIS

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to sum up the most recent results of a survey carried out to analyse the role which the system of taxation played in subsequent phases of the financial crisis that started in 2008. As can be seen from the obtained data that role has been substantially changing: (1) prior to the crisis the tax incentives that the system made available to business entities gave rise to even greater economic imbalance which later became one of the elements that laid the basis for the crisis; (2) when the crisis started, the stabilisation role of the taxation system prevailed and operated through the working of so called automatic stabilisers as well as through discretionary changes of tax burdens; and (3) currently, the taxation system is being modified to support the process of fiscal consolidation expected to be implemented in the coming years in the economies of developed and some developing countries.