Elektroninės komercijos įtaka mokestiniams santykiams

Abstract

The development of electronic commerce and its steadily-increasing influence on commercial deeds can be hardly questioned by anybody. Market research performed as early as in 1996-1997 indicated that electronic commerce was one of the areas characterised by insufficiently-optimistic prognoses, compared to its real situation. Thus more and more researchers give their attention to novel yet firmly-developed commercial relations. It is evident that not all current legal norms can regulate such relations successfully. State governments and researchers are looking for new methods able to foster efficient regulation of electronic commerce securing at the same time the introduction of new information technologies in the business sector.
Electronic commerce taxation represents an area creating new tax-payment relations. It stretches far beyond the framework of modern legal regulation. However researchers disagree as to the definition of electronic commerce. Some authors believe that electronic commerce is equivalent to distance sales. The ratio of virtual goods to services is also not very clear, especially in terms of value added tax. Many heated discussions emerged as a result of the new bit tax suggested by Luc Soete. It was designed only for electronic commerce to replace the value added tax in that sector. Serious attention has been paid lately to the issue relating to the recognition of server and web site as a permanent establishment. Significant research is performed by international organisations (Economic Co-operation and Development Organisation (ECDO), World Trade Organisation (WTO), etc.) working jointly with researchers and state governments for the investigation into the legal regulation of the above-mentioned institutions.
The present article seeks to identify the factors of electronic commerce and its separate institutions where legal regulation, governed by traditional tax rates, is not adequate to the existing commercial and tax-payment relations. Conclusions relating to the legal regulation of electronic commerce taxation will be provided.