Under the Framework Act on National Taxes, when does a served tax document start to have effect, and how is that different for electronic service?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file we read the copy of the served document and the proof of service, which show what was sent and when it reached the recipient. We also check whether the service was electronic, any record of the email address the recipient designated, and the time of entry into that designated email address or, where the document is stored on the national tax information network, the time of storage.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the main rule directly: a document served under the provision on how tax documents are served takes effect from the moment it arrives at the person to be served, so ordinary service needs actual arrival, and the file must show when that happened.
Another reading turns on the proviso, which applies only to electronic service: the document is treated as having arrived when it is entered into the email address the recipient designated, or when it is stored on the national tax information network, so effect can attach before the recipient ever reads it, and the provision leaves open how a file shows that an address was truly the recipient's designation.
Your judgment
If the recipient denies ever receiving a tax notice, what in the file would show that the email address used was one the recipient had designated?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to change when electronic service is deemed delivered, or if a court decision clarifies what counts as an email address designated by the recipient, or how entry and storage on the national tax information network are proved.