On The Essence Of Tax Law And Its Fair Value

Based on the analysis of prevalent Western"social contract theory", the thesis intends to elaborate on the origin of taxation, tax revenue and the concept of tax law in a new perspective, and tries to redefine tax revenue and tax law under the socialist market economy context with social contract spirit as the pivot, stressing the fair value of tax law and proposing the target of a well functioning tax law system on the basis of western constitutional government. The thesis has been divided into four chapters.Chapter one redefines some basic concepts concerning tax revenue theory. The thesis holds that under the circumstance of socialist market economy, the Western idea of nation and tax revenue centers on the sameness of the two parties'interests to explain the origin of nation and tax revenue, and reconciles the relationships between national power, citizen rights, tax collecting rights, and tax paying rights, thus it fits the idea of"the people is master of own affairs"and"the people sovereign state"better. Meanwhile, the relation between tax and law should guarantee that no matter tax collecting or tax paying will be conducted under the guidance of law. With former analysis, the thesis presents a definition for tax revenue, that is, as the subject of rights and duties in law, taxpayers can enjoy their constitution prescribed rights on the basis of paying due tax, shoulder their responsibility of material payment, only in this way can the nation provide sufficient infrastructure for citizens. Based on above analysis, tax law can be deemed the vehicle through which the relationships between nation, tax collecting organizations and tax payers can be best balanced during the process of tax collection.Chapter two furthers the analysis of social contract theory and make a more thorough elaboration on the essence of tax law on the foundation of former comments. The thesis points out that in modern era, with the emphasis on the balance between rights and duties, tax law has actually been the means of maintaining taxpayers'rights, guaranteeing the collection of tax revenue under specific power it prescribes for the state, and finally making taxpayers enjoy public goods rights; tax law adjusts the legal relation between taxpayers'rights and state power. At the same time, the parties the tax law reconciles are equal in law, and the government can level taxes only with the consent of the people. The economic essence of tax law lies in the surrender of individual wealth to the nation, which in turn becomes the material foundation of state power. In economic essence, the two parties enjoy equal wealth relationship. Through the interpretation of the essence of tax law, the thesis make clear the necessary value, that is the fair value, the core of tax law.Chapter three deals with the three dimension of tax law's fair value, namely, the formal, the substantive, and the essential based on former discussion.The formal dimension demands that tax law should be applicable to people from all strata as prescribed in law, pertaining to the principle of"equal protection, equal observation, equal application, and equal sanction."The substantive dimension deals with two aspects of equality: entity equality and procedure equality. Entity equality refers to the fairness of tax revenue toward all the nationals, including the horizontal equality and vertical equality. Horizon equality means people with the same income and same tax payability should pay the same amount of tax; While Vertical equality means people with different income and different tax payablility will also put different amount of tax. Procedure equality means the procedure to stipulate the amount of tax all the citizens are subjected to should the fair.The essential dimension can be dated back to the origin of tax revenue and the essence of tax law. Caught between tax revenue collection relations, tax revenue executive relations, international tax revenue distribution relations and tax revenue constitution relations, the essence of tax law's fair value can be defined as follow: Through the form of the constitution, the state and taxpayers establish a relationship of collector and payers to meet the needs of"public needs"by way of"tax revenue laws", thus the"contract spirit"demands the embodiment of fair value when adjusting the relationship between taxpayers and tax collecting organizations, between taxpayers and the state.Chapter four presents a view on the future construction of China's modern tax law. In Writer's opinion, the formula for the development of China's modern tax law is a harmonious one, demanding the thorough protection of taxpayers'basic possessions, meanwhile, setting limits on government's power in collecting taxes and using taxes, thus it might render the fair value of tax law come true. The author also holds that to realize fair value and establish a harmonious tax law system, the social contract spirit should not be ignored due to its enormous significance in these matters, and reasonable core of"constitutional government"idea should also be taken into account, thus the constitution may be truly applied in our life and be recognized by all the citizens and provide legal guidance for tax law construction.