国际避税地的有害税收竞争及防范措施论文

The Harmful Competitions and Prevention Measures of International Tax Havens

【Abstract】 This paper centers on the different expressions of analyzing the probability of increasing the international tax-avoidance activities after China has joined in the WTO and forecasting the trend and measures used by transnational taxpayers to avoid tax in China. We will discuss the definition of tax-avoidance, tax-evasion and anti-tax-avoidance rules to get some measures and means to improve the international anti-tax-avoidance and increasing the force of anti-tax-avoidance.

【Key Words】international tax-avoidance; means of tax-avoidance; measures of anti-tax-avoidance; G20

1. The definition of the international tax havens

The international tax haven means that countries or areas which offer low or no taxation to income (or some forms of income) or entities (or certain entities) of the transnational investors. After China joined in the WTO, the transnational investors may make a use of the functions of tax haven. They can avoid tax through building different forms of corporations in the tax havens so that they can deal with different types of businesses and incomes. Then they use a combination of fixation of main part and movement of the object in order to avoid the tax. So, using the tax haven has been an important form of international tax-avoidance. Every country and international society has paid more and more attention to prevent and beat that form of tax-avoidance.

Tax havens or tax heavens generally mean some financial centers which provide no taxation or low tax rate and lack of financial control. The definition of tax haven has experienced from positive evaluation to negative evaluation. Before 90s of the 20th century, most economists used and discussed the tax havens from a certain angle. But people started changing their angle of tax haven to become a heaven place of tax evasion, money laundering, break international economic and trade orders. Thus, every country or area stayed away from tax havens.

The definition and the standard of the tax haven have not been unified in the entire world. Each country has its own definition and standard of the tax haven. Some countries use the list method as listing the blacklist of tax havens directly. More countries have used tax rate standard method to determine whether a country or area is the tax haven. Germany uses the low tax rules to determine 29 countries or areas where the effective tax rate is lower than 30% to be the tax haven. France uses the preferential tax rate rules to determine the 38 countries or areas where the foreign holding company set up in the no tax rate or lower than that of France for 2/3 to be the tax havens. United Kingdom sets that if a foreign holding company in an accounting of its income during the actual tax paid to the host country than the income tax by half of the British tax law, then the company will be identified to set up in tax havens. Japan sets 33 countries or areas where the tax rate is less than half of Japan's tax as tax havens. And it has the law force. Belgium sets countries or areas where the tax obviously benefits to Belgium as tax havens.

Most of countries don t set the definition of tax haven clearly. But the comparison between the foreign and domestic tax rate is always used as standard to measure the international tax heaven.

So, the tax havens can be some countries or areas where subject income and entities to no taxation or much lower taxation than other countries. It is a relative concept.

According to the latest edition of International Tax Glossary written by the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation, countries or areas can be identified to tax havens while meeting the following conditions:

1. Much low or no taxation, especially the income tax and the capital gains tax.

2. Using inflexible bank and commercial security law. Never allow to reveal when keeping secret for the party.

3. No limitation in the exchange opening.

4. Refusing to the foreign taxation bureau of any cooperation.

5. Few or no tax agreement.

6. Convenient finance, transportation and information centre.

In June, 2000, OECD published and determined the standard of tax havens:

1. No taxation or just nominal income tax of incomes come from financial or other services;

or set local area for non-residents as the place to avoid their taxations of the country of residence.

2. No effectively exchange of the information.

3. Lack of openness

4. Foreign entities make for build economic activities without any substance.

It is easy to get from the above rules that the many countries standards of tax havens may be different from the international organizations standard. In some countries, domestic taxation laws define the tax haven just through the tax rate in order to increase the operation of taxation law. It is convenient and feasible to determine countries or areas subject no taxation or much lower than local tax rate to be the tax havens. But every country s taxation law can not be the same. Then it leads to a chaos of tax haven definition and more arguments between countries or areas. At the same time, it provides opportunities for some countries which can make a use of the tax-avoidance rules of tax havens to revenge or punish in international trades to other countries. OECD uses comprehensive standard (tax rates, banks regulations) to determine the tax haven. And that is also the reason that China disagreed extremely when some western countries tried to list Hong Kong and Macao to the tax havens. To use Hong Kong as an example, it sets low tax rules. But Hong Kong has perfect banks regulations and tax-supervision measures. To compare with 5% tax rate or even no taxation in Cayman Islands or other tax havens, Hong Kong has natural difference. Thus, to list Hong Kong to the tax ha …… 此处隐藏：30007字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……