The concept of taxes and fees comes down to the fact that they are the main sources of formation of all state funds - budget revenues. That is why taxes are directly related to the activities of the entire state and depend on the level of its development at a certain historical stage. With their help, it is possible to seize part of the national income and appropriate it for the implementation of state needs.
The system of taxes and fees of modern society is the most important regulator of the national economy, which ensures the stability of the financial life and operation of the credit mechanism on a national scale. Literacy in the approach to organizing a country's taxation mechanism determines the degree of effectiveness of the functioning of the entire national economy.
The main principles of organizing taxation of business entities and the population are the principles of economy, convenience, fairness, separation by budget levels, certainty, and the application of a scientific approach in determining the amount of taxes.
In practice, these principles are implemented through taxation methods. Under the methods understand the methods of constructing tax rates in relation to their tax base. According to this criterion, four main methods of taxation are distinguished: proportional, equal, progressive, regressive.
Taxation methods play an important role, since the correct distribution of the tax burden on all business entities and citizens depends on their correct choice. The volume of budget revenues and the burden on individual payers, taking into account their financial capabilities, also depend on this.
Equal taxation establishes a fixed amount of tax that is levied on payers. The tax rate is used in a fixed amount, which is equal for all business entities and does not depend on the tax base.
Such taxation methods are the most primitive and simple. On the other hand, they are also the most convenient, especially as emergency or temporary taxes, established in addition to the permanent ones. For example, the poll tax, which was paid under Peter I. This method does not take into account the financial situation and income of payers, so the poor bear a greater tax burden. Today, this method is considered economically inefficient because it does not meet the requirements of the principle of justice.
Proportional taxation establishes for individual taxpayers fixed rates in certain percentages and shares that do not change when the tax base changes. These methods of taxation imply tax increases corresponding to an increase in the tax base. In this case, the principle of justice is fully taken into account. Today, most taxes in the Russian Federation are built according to the proportional method.
Progressive taxation takes into account the growth of the tax base when calculating the tax itself for payment. In this case, the tax rate is directly proportional to the tax base (with the growth of the base, the rate becomes higher). The choice of this taxation method is based on the concept of so-called discretionary income - income that is used at one’s own discretion. It equals the difference between total income and those that are spent on the satisfaction of minimum (basic) needs. With an increase in total income, the percentage of discretionary income also increases. With the proportional method of taxation (when the tax base is equal to total income), less affluent payers find themselves in a disadvantageous situation, since the share of free income they receive is less than that of more affluent payers, and the share of tax that they are required to pay, respectively, is higher. And progressive taxation in this case ensures compliance with the principles of justice and equality.
Taxation methods include one more - the method of regressive taxation. This method is a separate direction among all existing ones. Such taxation is considered as a type of progressive, but with negative coefficients of progression. With this method of taxation, the tax rate is reduced with a proportional increase in the tax base. This method is rarely found in its pure form in the modern economy. In Russia, this method is used to establish a social single tax.