Income Tax: Economic Essence as an Object of Accounting and Its Role in the Economy

The profitable activity of enterprises has economic, fiscal, and social significance within the boundaries of an individual enterprise and the state as a whole because it directly affects the revenue part of the budget due to fluctuations in income tax revenues. The purpose of the article is to clarify the economic content of the concepts of “income tax” and “profit” and to reveal their role in the country's economy based on the analysis of the theoretical views of scientists. The economic essence of the income tax was revealed. Since profit is considered one of the most ambiguous economic categories, the complexity of its definition is due to the variety of interests it covers. It was found that the income tax is: a) a direct tax that enterprises pay to the state budget from the profit received from operational, financial and investment activities; b) a specific fee of the business entity to the state budget for the use of natural, labour, socio-economic resources of the country. It has been established that the social purpose of the income tax is expressed not in the implementation of each of its functions separately but only in the aggregate of all its functions (i.e. regulatory, fiscal, control, economic and social function). Income tax has a dualistic nature, as it is formed in the accounting system based on its principles and methods and tax legislation. It acts as one of the tools for forming a balanced budget for the country and ensuring the efficiency of the development of the country's economy and the activities of enterprises. As an indicator of the efficiency of business activity, profit is subject to income tax. Taxation of enterprises should perform not only fiscal and regulatory but also social and economic functions, act as a means of state support and stimulation of production.