The Historical Background and Its Role of the Document Attachment System

―Assurance Engagement Regarding Taxation by a Tax Accountant―

Abstract

　The document attachment system (hereinafter referred to as DAS) has not yet to be recognized as an assurance engagement regarding taxation by a certified public tax accountant in Japan. This research therefore first reviews its historical background - in 1949, seven years before the establishment of the document attachment system, a proposal was made to include a tax notary whose job is to certify financial statements submitted to the tax authorities as a qualified public officer - and then examines whether the system guarantees to improve the reliability of tax returns by a tax accountant.

　(1) According to previous research, the DAS is an epoch-making system which exists only in Japan in terms of taxation assurance, and has been viewed as a kind of proof act, a kind of character similar to auditing, attached audit certificate, and tax audit certification service.

　(2) In the process up to the establishment of the DAS, the National Tax Agency has proposed a tentative proposal to the Ministry of Finance to enable tax accountants to certify tax documents.

　(3) Under Licensed Certified Public Tax Act, tax accountants are required to maintain independence in practice.

　(4) The reliability of tax returns for information users through the DAS is verifiable from data.

　(5) Assurance has gradations due to its various attributes, and tax assurance engagement is considered one of them.

　For these reasons above, it is concluded that the DAS is consistent with the purposes of the assurance engagement.