Content and Functional Purpose of the Duty in Modern Conditions

The duty as a source of budget formation and a regulator of foreign trade activity contributes to improving the macroeconomic situation and the state's entry into the international trade community. Therefore, the study of the essence and functional purpose of the duty becomes particularly relevant since it makes it possible to increase the efficiency of its functioning in modern conditions. The purpose of the study is to consider the tax and foreign trade nature of the duty, establish its essence and specific characteristics, identify the main functions and substantiate changes in the roles of duty functions in modern conditions. The specifics of the scientific tasks that make up the subject of research required the use of a set of special methods (general scientific and private scientific, theoretical and empirical), the use of which helped identifying the content of the duty, consider its functional purpose and establish the reasons for the weakening of the role of duty functions in different countries of the world. In the course of the study, two approaches to the interpretation of the essence of duty were established: as a tax and as a specific foreign trade payment. The author's definition of the duty was proposed and its main essential characteristics were clarified. It has been established that there are no unified approaches to the definition of duty functions in the scientific literature, and only two main ones (fiscal and regulatory) are substantiated. It was also covered that due to the entry of most countries into the World Trade Organisation and the establishment of restrictions on the growth of customs rates, the regulatory function of the duty is weakening. It was established that in developed countries, due to international restrictions on the application of custom rates, the role of the fiscal function of duty has decreased. It was determined that in less developed countries, in conditions of limited budget revenue sources, the fiscal function of duty continues to be the main one. The practical value of the study lies in the fact that clarifying the content and functions of duty in modern conditions makes it possible to increase the effectiveness of customs tariff regulation to protect national interests during the intensification of international integration processes