Research On Legal Issues Of Cross-border E-commerce Tax Collection And Management

In the 1990s,Amazon and Ebay launched in the US,marking the emergence of an new way of dealing.This kind of economic activity relies on the Internet for goods and services transactions,with its speediness,convenience,anonymousness,not restricted by the boundaries and many other characteristics,it has been quickly spread around the world after introduction,and become an economic model and economic growth point that can not be ignored.Compared with the traditional mode of international trade,cross-border e-commerce has special features,especially in the following aspects: the transmission of transaction information is digital,the transaction space is virtual,the parties to the transaction are anonymous,the equipment that the exchange relies on can be moved easily,transactions can not limited by national boundaries.The aforementioned characteristics of cross-border e-commerce lead to changes in the way of existence of some legal elements such as tax subjects and tax objects,etc.When it comes to tax matters,many of the tax legal rules applicable to traditional international trade are difficult to operate on cross-border e-commerce,this situation will lead to a large amount of tax loss.The Internet has changed the way cross-border transactions are traded,but it has not changed the nature of cross-border trade,the cross-border e-commerce ought to be subject to corresponding customs duties and transfer taxes in terms of tax equity,equal competition and the prevention of tax loss.This paper analyzes the problems faced by the nowdays international tax collection and administration legal rules when applied to the cross-border e-commerce,and puts forward some countermeasures for them.The full text is divided into four chapters,the first chapter puts forward the problems faced by the current international tax collection and administration rules in the cross-border e-commerce environment,the second chapter and the third chapter analyze the issues raised by the first chapter,and the fourth chapter puts forward the strategy to deal with theproblems of international tax collection and administration rules in the cross-border e-commerce environment from both international and domestic levels.On the basis of introducing and explaining the concept,classification and origin,development and status quo of e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce,this paper analyzes the rationality,necessity and appropriateness of taxing cross-border e-commerce from the perspective of history,state governance and jurisprudence.However,since the existing international tax collection and administration legal rules are based on the traditional cross-border transaction model,there will inevitably be inadaptation in the cross-border e-commerce environment and even face challenges,especially in the following two fields: First,the traditional tax jurisdiction division rules,mainly the principle of permanent establishment.The second is that the legal rules to prevent tax base erosion and profit transfer.In the traditional cross-border trade,an important criterion for judging tax jurisdiction is the existence of permanent establishment,the key symbol of the existence of the permanent establishment is physical presence,and in cross-border e-commerce,especially in cross-border direct e-commerce,almost all processes are completed in virtual cyberspace,needn't to rely too much on the physical existence of the real world,although cross-border e-commerce must rely on the site,servers,web pages and electronic terminals and other physical presence of the medium,but they all can not carry the function of the permanent establishment.After introducing and analyzing the views of many scholars and institutions on how to apply the principles of permanent establishment in the cross-border e-commerce environment,the paper points out that in the cross-border e-commerce environment,the existing international tax collection and administration legal rules on tax jurisdiction have met challenges in their application,but no new system of rules that can fully adapt to the characteristics of cross-border e-commerce and completely replace the aforementioned since technology is still in progress and may even lead to leapfrogging changes,it is not appropriate to prematurely make changes to the existing rules,the right way is to improve some transitional operating rules to build a bridge between the existing rules and the futurerules,and make fundamental institutional changes when technology develops to a relatively clear and stable stage in the future.Therefore,we should take two stages to improving the tax jurisdiction rules,including short-term countermeasures and long-term countermeasures:through the analysis of value-added tax and its operating rules,the article suggests that,in the near future,in view of the nature of the flexibility of value-added tax and its wide application worldwide,we could coordinate the convergence of the rules of cross-border value-added tax collection and administration of various countries and strengthen their application in cross-border e-commerce from the operational level.In addition,the article proposes that,in the long run,with the development of science and technology,we should establish a new legal system for international tax collection and administration that is compatible with cross-border e-commerce,and solve the problem of the attribution of international tax revenue by perfecting the rules on electronic authentication and establishing an Internet tax settlement center.Tax base erosion and profit transfer is a long-standing problem.With the development of electronic information technology and Internet technology,tax planning is more convenient under cross-border e-commerce environment than the traditional trade period,because e-commerce is a special form of transaction activities carried out by relevant parties through digital transmission.Its intangible characteristics make it difficult for tax authorities to control and check specific transaction activities,tax authorities face transactions those are reflected in the form of digital codes,tax inspectors can not accurately calculate sales income and profit income,compared with traditional transactions,the tax collection and management are much more difficult.Although the international community had previously developed rules and methods to prevent tax base erosion and profit transfer,the digital economy model of cross-border e-commerce challenged the effectiveness of established rules.International organizations and sovereign states are aware of this problem and have conducted extensive research and necessary exploration,such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's The BEPS Action Plan,and the anti-avoidance rules established by sovereign countries in accordance with the guidelines of theOrganization for Economic Co-operation and Development,combined with their own realities.Including measures as to improve international tax-related rules by adhering to the principle of final consumption and amending some of the provisions identified by the permanent establishment,preventing the abuse of tax treaties,promoting the effective operation of dispute resolution mechanisms,etc.,and to improve the rules related to the domestic tax system,such as combating the abuse of tax havens to evade taxes.Legislation requires that pre-tax deductions for interest be limited in a fixed proportion,mandatory disclosure of tax planning by transnational corporations in their subsidiaries between different countries in accordance with the prescribed format,and rules on international cooperation should be improved.Finally,as to how China should deal with the relevant legal issues of cross-border e-commerce tax collection and administration,the article puts forward the corresponding strategies from three aspects,one is to improve the relevant domestic legal system,the other is to improve the tax agreements signed by China and other countries,and the third is to actively participate in the formulation of international tax collection and administration rules in the cross-border e-commerce environment.