The Legality of Claiming Insurance Premiums as Part of Court Costs

This study examines the current implementation of the legal institute of court expenses within commercial court proceedings. It identifies existing problems and complexities in the recovery of insurance contributions as mandatory deductions when legal services rendered are paid for by the losing party. These issues necessitate scholarly analysis and proposed solutions. The aim of this article is a comprehensive analysis of the challenges associated with the recovery of insurance contributions as an integral component of court expenses, including the determination of the amount of insurance contributions in commercial litigation. The authors analyze the law enforcement practice established by higher courts and recent legislative amendments in the field of taxation. The application of structural definitions such as “simplified procedure” and “specialized nature” in the context of compensation for losses incurred in court proceedings is considered. The procedure for classifying monetary amounts transferred to a unified tax account as insurance contributions or other deductions is evaluated from the perspective of current tax legislation, along with the legal consequences arising from their transfer. The stages and phases of a tax audit necessary for classifying calculated amounts as a particular mandatory payment are analyzed. The necessity of a detailed examination of current tax legislation not only for the party obligated to transfer these payments to the budget but also for the judge responsible for verifying the relevance of the submitted evidence regarding court expenses to the case under consideration is emphasized. Reasoned arguments are presented to substantiate the inadmissibility of including insurance contributions when applying the institute of court expenses in current judicial practice. Furthermore, constructive and practically significant proposals for resolving this problem are provided.