Electronic Commerce and International Taxation

Abstract

Electronic commerce refers to a broad spectrum of commercial activities carried out through the use of computers, including on-line trading of goods and services, electronic funds transfers, on-line trading of financial instruments and electronic data exchanges between and within companies. Tax authorities have questioned whether existing tax principles and rules will be equipped to deal with the challenges of conducting business in cyberspace. The book examines the implications of the growth of electronic commerce for domestic and international tax systems, focusing on the conduct of electronic commerce over the Internet. It covers a wide array of activities, focusing on basic rules and policy choices. The work 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, and 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, the text focuses on the broad issues that span all industries.