Research On Legal System Construction Of Digital Service Tax In China

At present,China is transferring and upgrading from the traditional economy to the digital economy,which is a critical period.It is urgent to change the development way of China’s economy and actively promote the development of a new economic model.On the one hand,the vigorous development of the digital economy has greatly promoted the rise and prosperity of China’s digital enterprises and digital industries.On the other hand,the vigorous development of the digital economy has led to serious and complex issues of digital taxation.The digital economy which is the new economic form poses new challenges to the traditional taxation system.However,the digital service tax is a powerful means to solve taxation problems in the digital economy.China’s current total digital economy has leapt to the second place in the world and the contribution of the digital economy to the development of the national economy is still rising.But China’s current tax system has been unable to cope with this change.Therefore,speeding up the reform of the taxation system is an important and practical issue for China to realize the rule of taxation.The legal system construction of the digital service tax is an inevitable choice to integrate with the reform of the international taxation system.The continuous development of the digital economy and the continuous growth of digital enterprises,as well as a series of problems in the stage of tax levy and management,have put forward urgent requirements for China to structure a digital service tax system.The necessities are mainly as follows.Firstly,the digital enterprises’ problems of tax base erosion and profit shifting are becoming more and more serious and need to be solved urgently.Moreover,the OECD’s dual-pillar program does little to address the domestic digital taxation problems,and there are difficulties to implement in short term.So,the digital service tax is still required.Secondly,it is need to meet the tax challenges which have brought by the development of the digital economy.The development of the digital economy has made it more difficult to determine the t objects of taxation.Digital enterprises have more concealed and more diverse means to tax avoidance and it is more difficult for tax authorities to monitor tax information.And China lacks the targeted tax policies and regulations in the field of digital economy.Thirdly,it is need to achieve tax fairness and promote the balanced development of the traditional economy and the digital economy.The tax burden of digital enterprises is generally lower than that of non-digital enterprises.In order to achieve balanced development and fair competition,it is necessary to structure the legal system of digital service tax system.Finally,the monopoly phenomenon of domestic digital industry frequently occurs.In order to reduce the emergence of digital enterprises’ monopolistic conducts,legal system construction of digital service tax is a powerful weapon.At the same time,China also has a good foundation for the levying of digital service tax.The continuous development of the digital economy has provided a sufficient tax base for the levying of the digital service tax,which is beneficial to increase the national tax revenue.And the technical conditions which tax collection requires have been gradually improved,which provides a basic guarantee for levy and management of digital service tax.European countries,such as France and the United Kingdom,have enacting Digital Service Tax Act and accumulated rich practical experiences.At the same time,the OECD also proposed dual-pillar program,which provides another reference.China’s legal system of digital service tax can be constructed on the basis of foreign Digital Service Tax Act and combined with China’s current tax system.On the one hand,from a short-term perspective,China should actively join the OECD’s dual-pillar program and the reform of the international tax system,in order to strive for external opportunities for the development of China’s digital enterprises.On the other hand,from a long-term perspective,it is necessary to construct legal system of digital service tax.First of all,on the legislative path,the digital service tax is included in the specific tax items of value-added tax,which is more in line with the actual national conditions.Secondly,it is necessary to clarify the four purposes of construction t legal system of digital service tax: fiscal purpose,legal governance of digital taxation,avoidance of monopoly,avoidance of double taxation,in order to promoting the development of the digital economy.Thirdly,the specific tax system elements of digital service tax should be comprehensively designed from the aspects of taxation scope,starting point and taxation object,tax base,tax rate,tax levy and management,etc.Finally,we should focus on perfecting a supporting system for tax levy and management,and comprehensively constructing legal system of digital service tax in China.