International Taxation In The Age Of Electronic Commerce

The bricks and mortar of commercial law as we know it are crumbling into dust. Electronic commerce sweeps away the very foundations of what was not so long ago our most solid, comfortable, and secure legal system. In its most advanced form e-commerce allows unidentified purchasers to pay obscure vendors, in `electronic cash,' for products that are often goods, services, and licenses all rolled into one. A payee may be no more than a computer that can take up `residence' anywhere at the drop of a hat; national boundaries are of no consequence whatsoever. Taxation authorities are understandably dismayed. This book, now in its second edition, is a minutely detailed overview of current reality in the worldwide huddle of revenue regimes as they try to cope with the most daunting challenge they have ever had to face. It analyzes a number of fast-moving trends in the behaviors of national taxation authorities, web-based companies, VoiP, certain low-tax (or no-tax) jurisdictions, and international organizations that have significant bearing on the future development of the taxation of e-commerce. These trends include the following: how United States domestic and international tax rules are being interpreted in the effort to accommodate e-commerce; the powerful retailers' lobby against the moratorium on U.S. state and local sales tax on Internet transactions; how VAT rules in EU countries and other jurisdictions are being restructured to accommodate international e-commerce; new theories of income and payment characterization, and in particular the influential OECD ongoing study; and the crucial discussion over what constitutes a `permanent establishment for tax purposes.

`Electronic commerce' -- a broad spectrum of commercial activities carried out through the use of computers -- has arrived. But tax authorities have questioned whether existing tax principles and rules are equipped to deal with the challenges of conducting business in cyberspace. Electronic Commerce and International Taxation examines the implications of the growth of electronic commerce for domestic and international tax systems, concentrating on the conduct of electronic commerce over the Internet. it covers a wide array of activities, focusing on basic rules and policy choices. The book looks at existing tax principles, how they might apply to hypothetical transactions involving electronic commerce, and possible alternative approaches. Coverage includes: The basic principles that govern income and value added taxes an overview of the technological changes that have brought about electronic commerce a concise explanation of how and what happens when electronic commerce is conducted an examination of the ways in which businesses are using the new technology in conducting their everyday activities a discussion of the application of existing tax principles to electronic commerce an exploration of questions and problems raised by applying tax rules that evolved before electronic commerce to transactions that were then unimaginable observations and suggestions for a variety of approaches to international tax problems resulting from electronic commerce And The associated benefits and problems Because the implications of electronic commerce vary from industry to industry, this book focuses on the broad issues that span all industries. The information provided will keep tax attorneys, accountants, corporate counsel, policymakers, and academics in the field of tax law abreast of the issues posed by this hot topic and their many potential implications. This unique resource is an important part of becoming conversant in the language of a changing world.

In its most advanced form, e-commerce allows unidentified purchasers to pay obscure vendors in 'electronic cash' for products that are often goods, services and licenses all rolled into one. This book considers the implications for the domestic and international tax systems of the growth of e-commerce. It covers a wide variety of activities, from discussion of the principles governing direct and indirect taxation, to explanation of the implementation and use of e-commerce on the part of businesses as well as the application of existing tax principles in this field. With its focus on the broader issues surrounding the expansion of e-commerce and its attention to the problems arising internationally in this field, Global Perspectives in E-Commerce Taxation Law will appeal to scholars worldwide.

This volume provides a comprehensive guide to the status of the OECD-led international work on taxation and electronic commerce, and hence to emerging conclusions and recommendations across a wide span of tax policy and tax administration issues.

Digital commerce – the use of computer networks to facilitate transactions involving the production, distribution, sale, and delivery of goods and services – has grown from merely streamlining relations between consumer and business to a much more robust phenomenon embracing efficient business processes within a firm and between firms. Inevitably, the related taxation issues have grown as well. This latest edition of the preeminent text on the taxation of digital transactions revises, updates and expands the book’s coverage. It includes a detailed and up-to-date analysis of income tax and VAT developments regarding digital commerce under the OECD and G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) reforms. It explores the implications of digital commerce for US state sales and use tax regimes resulting from the 2018 US Supreme Court decision in Wayfair. It discusses cross-border tax in the United States while continuing to focus on tax developments throughout the world. Analysing the practical tax consequences of digital commerce from a multijurisdictional perspective, and using examples to illustrate the application of different taxes to digital commerce transactions, the book offers in-depth treatment of such topics as the following: how tax rules governing cross-border digital commerce are increasingly applied to all cross-border activities; how tax rules and institutional processes have evolved to confront challenges posed by digital commerce; how an emerging ‘tax war’ is developing whereby different countries are unilaterally imposing new tax rules on cross-border digital commerce; how technology enhances tax and cross-border tax information exchanges; how technology reduces both compliance and enforcement costs; cross-border consumption tax issues raised by cloud computing; and different approaches to the legal design of VAT place of taxation rules. The authors offer insightful views on the likely development of new approaches to taxing cross-border digital commerce. This edition, while building on the analysis of the relationship between traditional tax laws and the Internet in the first edition and its predecessors, contains a more explicit and systematic consideration of digital commerce issues and the ongoing policy responses to them. Tax professionals and academics everywhere will welcome the important contribution it makes towards the design of cross-border tax rules that are both conceptually sound and practical in application. ‘A tour de force … much larger and richer than its predecessors … a massive contribution to the growing literature on the taxation of e-commerce.’ – Rita de la Feria, British Tax Review ‘Provides important understandings for ongoing policy discussions … I would warmly recommend.’ – P. Rendahl, World Journal of VAT/GST Law

The advent of electronic commerce has caused many to question the continued viability of sourced-based taxation. This thesis argues that source-based taxation is theoretically justifiable for income that arises from international transactions which are conducted in an electronic commerce environment.

Electronic Commerce and Multi-Jurisdictional Taxation (2001) is the successor to the widely-acclaimed Electronic Commerce and International Taxation (1999). The new edition contains expanded and enhanced consideration of the tax treatment of electronic commerce from both an income tax and a consumption tax perspective. Not only does the new edition provide a detailed and up-to-date analysis of VAT developments regarding e-commerce, but it also explores the implications of e-commerce for the US state and local sales and use tax regime. It discusses developments in Europe and the United States while enlarging its focus to include the tax treatment of e-commerce in China, India, Canada, Australia, and throughout the world. At the same time, the authors have deftly woven the latest OECD and European Community developments into the fabric of the book. There is no other book on the market today that analyzes the practical tax consequences of e-commerce with the multi-jurisdictional and multi-tax perspective of this insightful work by distinguished academics and practitioners Richard Doernberg, Luc Hinnekens, Walter Hellerstein, and Jinyan Li.