Methodological Approaches to Tax Audit: The Imperative of Analysis Under the Condition of Uncertainty of the Term

Introduction. A tax audit is a comprehensive examination of the financial activities of business entities with the aim of assessing compliance with tax legislation and identifying possible violations. In modern conditions, when economic instability and constant changes in tax legislation are becoming the norm, ensuring the effectiveness and accuracy of tax audits requires the use of complex methodological approaches. One of the key problems of the tax audit is the uncertainty of terms, which makes it difficult to plan and conduct audit procedures. Uncertainty can be caused by various factors, including changes in legislation, economic crises, force majeure and other unforeseen events. This uncertainty creates additional challenges for auditors who must adapt their methodological approaches to new conditions. The purpose of the article is considering methodological approaches to the interpretation of tax audits, identify their advantages and disadvantages. To justify the analysis as an imperative element of the tax audit method in the system of control over compliance with tax legislation. Methods. The following methods were used in the study of methodological approaches to tax audits in conditions of uncertainty of terms: analysis of literary sources. A systematic review of scientific publications, articles, monographs and legal acts related to tax audit was conducted. This made it possible to identify existing approaches and theoretical foundations; Comparative analysis: a comparison of different methodological approaches used in tax audits in different countries and conditions was made. This helped identify the most effective practices and adapt them to conditions of uncertainty. Results. A detailed substantiation of methodological approaches to the interpretation of tax audit from the standpoint of linguistic semantics strengthens the opinions of those scientists and practitioners who believe that in parallel with independent audit and audit services in the field of taxation, the concept of tax audit can be used for inspections carried out by tax authorities. In this case, both tax authorities and independent auditors have the right to use the concept of tax audit and have the right to conduct it. However, in our opinion, it is more appropriate to use two separate terms, in particular, such as "state tax audit" and "independent tax audit".