On the Possibility and Desirability of Taxing E-Commerce

Univ. of Aarhus Economics Working Paper No. 2004-08

35 Pages Posted: 31 Jul 2008

See all articles by Bo Sandemann Rasmussen

Bo Sandemann Rasmussen

Aarhus University - Department of Economics and Business Economics

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Date Written: September 21, 2004

Abstract

Over the past decade the taxation of e-commerce has been widely discussed among politicians, tax law experts and economists. To put some perspective on this issue it is analyzed to what extent e-commerce can actually be taxed and the severity of the ensuing tax revenue losses following from future growth of e-commerce is discussed. Since the US and the EU cases differ substantially they are considered separately. Subsequently various arguments supporting the view that e-commerce should receive preferential tax treatment are considered. Although no firm recommendations can be provided some interesting topics for future research are suggested.

Keywords: E-commerce, commodity taxation, tax principles, revenue loss, preferential tax treatment, auditing

JEL Classification: H25, L12, F13

Suggested Citation

Rasmussen, Bo Sandemann, On the Possibility and Desirability of Taxing E-Commerce (September 21, 2004). Univ. of Aarhus Economics Working Paper No. 2004-08, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1147575 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1147575

Bo Sandemann Rasmussen (Contact Author)

Aarhus University - Department of Economics and Business Economics ( email )

Fuglesangs Allé 4
Aarhus V
Denmark
+45 8942 1133 (Phone)
+45 8613 6334 (Fax)

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