Should the WTO deal with e-trade taxation issues?

Abstract

Electronic commerce may be a great equalizer that helps to reduce, or even to eliminate, distance-related barriers to trade, but it can also exacerbate a so-called 'digital dividend' vis-à-vis countries with technological and infrastructural defi ciencies, especially developing countries. In the following we concentrate on trade distortion caused by taxation of e-trade in intangible goods. We believe this will have a particular ramifi cation for the developing world. General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) provisions may be relevant to many concerns with respect to the regulations of e-commerce, such as online privacy protection, illegal or illicit content, cyber crime and fraud, enforcement of contracts, consumer protection, and taxation. In this paper, we will focus our debate mainly on the issues of taxation of e-trade with respect to the two basic principles of the WTO, that is. the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) and the National Treatment (NT) principles.

Narzędzia polityki handlowej w obszarze e-commerce

“…Badacze problemów podatkowych w CBEC [Chen, Smekal, 2009] wskazuj¹ na potrzebê w³¹czenia tych kwestii do negocjacji handlowych pod auspicjami WTO ze wzglêdu na naruszanie przez nie zasady niedyskryminacji handlu. Równoczeoenie proponuj¹ oni zastosowanie zasady kraju przeznaczenia przy za³o¿eniu udzielania dodatkowego wsparcia eksportera w postaci przekazywania przez niego odpowiednich informacji.…”