New German Law to Combat VAT Evasion in Ecommerce E-Book

Jörg Brettschneider

• Herausgeber: tredition
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: New Silk Road Law
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 146

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

The Federal Republic of Germany passed a law to combat VAT fraud in international ecommerce. The new legislation is described and discussed. Ecommerce sellers will have to provide their tax registration and a certificate issued by the competent tax authority that shows their VAT compliance to platform operators. Otherwise platform operators are liable for VAT evasion of the respective ecommerce sellers. Without providing a tax registration and the certificate platform operators will not allow sellers to sell on their platforms anymore. The transition period will be much shorter for overseas sellers than for EU sellers. Practical problems will arise at the beginning likely. Suspension of accounts can be the consequence.

Leseprobe

New German Law to CombatVAT Evasion in Ecommerce

新近德国打击电子商务VAT欺诈的

法律

Dr. Jörg Brettschneider

Rechtsanwalt (German Attorney-at-Law)in Hamburg

德国律师汉堡

- Text in English and Chinese –

-英语与汉语正文-

1st Edition, 2018

2018年第一版

Book Series: New Silk Road Law ® #2

Copyright: © 2018: Dr. Jörg Brettschneider

Design of bookcover 封面设计: Qian Zhang 张谦

Publisher出版商:tredition GmbHHalenreie 40-44

22359 Hamburg, Germany

ISBN: 978-3-7482-0594-4 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-3-7482-0595-1 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 978-3-7482-0596-8 (e-Book)

This work and its parts are protected by copyright

本作品及其部分受版权保护

A catalogue record for this publication is available from Die Deutsche Bibliothek: http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar.

该出版物的目录记录可从德国书目查询：http://dnb.d-nb.de。

Foreword 前言

This booklet about the new German law to combat VAT fraud international ecommerce “Gesetz zur Vermeidung von Umsatzsteuerausfällen beim Handel mit Waren im Internet und zur Änderung weiterer steuerlicher Vorschriften” is written in English and Chinese to give non-English speaking ecommerce sellers in China information about the coming legislation. Main target of the legislation are the ecommerce sellers from China.

本书内容是关于新近德国打击国际电子商务 VAT 欺诈的法律《防止在电子商务中关于销售货物的逃税和为了改变其他税法规定的法律》，以英汉双语书写，从而方便非英语背景的中国电商卖家获取即将出台之立法的相关信息。该立法的主要针对对象是来自中国的电商卖家。

The Deutsche HansaGT GmbH, a German-Chinese business consulting firm from Hamburg, has not only translated part B of the manuscript in Chinese, but has consulted the author about the topic. The Deutsche HansaGT GmbH has built up a unique expertise in German-China cross border business projects and consults the author on business questions related to China regularly.

德国 HansaGT 有限公司，是一家位于汉堡的中德商务咨询公司。该公司不仅对本书 B 部分内容进行了中文翻译，而且为笔者的话题也提供了咨询。德国 HansaGT 有限公司在中德跨境商务项目中有着非常卓越的专业知识，并定期为笔者提供关于中国商务问题的咨询。

The author is very grateful for valueable discussions about the topic with ecommerce sellers from Shenzhen/China in March, April, July and August 2018 and with the staff of the Deutsche HansaGT GmbH and especially with Xuyang Liu and Harm Hinrichs. Various people helped the author to built up a network in the Chinese ecommerce business.

笔者在此感谢与来自中国，特别是深圳的电商卖家在 2018 年 3 月、4 月和 8 月以及与德国 HansaGT 有限公司的员工，特别是刘旭阳和 Harm Hinrichs 进行的富有价值的讨论。笔者在许多人的帮助下建立起了中国电商业务网络。

Last but not least the author is grateful to his assistant Yiwen Sun not only for translation work, editing work and discussing the topic, but for explaining VAT law to Chinese clients as well.

最后，笔者在此对助手孙怡雯的翻译、编辑、参与话题讨论以及向中国客户解释 VAT 相关法律的工作表示感谢。

The part B was written in August 2018 in Shenzhen/China in the context of discussions with ecommerce sellers and was published as Econstor-Working Paper on September 6th, 2018. This part is revised and updated.

本书的 B 部分是于 2018 年 8 月，在与中国特别是深圳电商卖家进行讨论并于 2018 年 9 月 6 日出版了《Econstor-工作文件》的背景下，在中国深圳进行的写作。该部分内容现进行了修订和更新。

The author can be contacted by email: [email protected].

联系笔者可通过发送电子邮件至：[email protected]。

Hamburg, November 25th, 2018

汉堡，2018年11月25日

Table of Contents 目录表

Foreword 前言

Table of Contents 目录表

A. Introduction and Latest Developments 引言和最新发展

B. Legislation 立法

I. Background 背景

II. Summary of the Legislation 立法摘要

1. Definitions 定义

2. Documentary Obligations for Platform Operators 平台运营商的记录义务

3. Certificate of the Competent Tax Authority 主管税务机关证书

4. Liability Rule for Platform Operators 平台运营商的责任规则

5. Naming of an Authorized Recipient 授权收件人的命名

6. Collective Information Requests 集体信息请求

7. Date of Enactment and Transition Period 颁布日期和过渡期

III. Evaluation of the Legislation 立法评估

1. Certificate as further administrative Burden 额外行政负担的证书

2. Possible Delays in Providing the Tax Registration 提供税务登记可能的延误

3. Possible Delays in Providing the Certificate 提供证书可能的延误

4. Information of Platform Operators by Tax Authorities 税务机关对于平台运营商的信息

5. Transition Period 过渡期

6. Collective Information Requests 集体信息请求

7. Naming of an Authorized Recipient 授权收件人的命名

8. Legislation Aimed at Ecommerce via Electronic Marketplaces 立法通过电子市场瞄准电子商务

IV. Need for further Discussion, open Questions, Conclusion 进一步讨论的需要、开放式问题和结论

C. Some Notes on Recovering Amazon-Accounts 对恢复亚马逊账号的几点说明

D. References 参考文献列表

E. The Author 作者

A. Introduction and Latest Developments 引言和最新发展

The Federal Republic of Germany will enact a problematic law to combat VAT fraud in international ecommerce from January 1st 20181 on (there will be transition periods for overseas sellers and EU sellers). Legislative objective is to combat VAT evasion especially by ecommerce sellers from China without mentioning Chinese sellers explicitly.2 The legislation is described, discussed and criticized from the perspective of ecommerce sellers from the P. R. of China. The goal is to give the Chinese ecommerce sellers a voice in the implementation process. The revised part B was published as an Econstor Working Paper3 before to raise the concerns about the legislation in the legislative process. The administrative process of applying for certificates and issuing certificates has to be designed yet. To be clear, the author never proposed such kind of law, but he was one of the first ones who criticized this law.4

联邦德国将于 2018 年 1 月 1 日起5颁布一部有问题的法律，以打击国际电子商务中的 VAT 欺诈行为（对海外卖家和欧盟卖家都将会有一个过渡期）。其立法目的在于打击逃避缴纳 VAT 的行为，特别是对来自中国的电商卖家，虽然在法律中没有明确地提及中国卖家。6但其立法中却有从中国电商卖家的视角进行描述、讨论和批评。本文目的在于在执行过程中为中国电商卖家阐述观点。被修订的 B 部分已作为《Econstor 工作文件》7进行了发表，从而在立法过程中引起了对相关立法的关注。申请证明和签发证明的行政程序还需进行设计。需要明确的一点是，笔者并未参与过制定这种法律，但却是首先对这部法律进行批评的人之一。8

The German government decided a draft legislation titled “Draft legislation to prevent tax evasion in ecommerce concerning the sale of goods and for changing other taxlaws” on August 1st 2018.9 This legislative draft was prepared by the Finanzministerkonferenz (finance ministers of the German states)10 after pressure from German ecommerce sellers and media11.

2018年8月1日，12德国政府决定起草以“防止在电子商务中关于销售货物的逃税和为了改变其他税法规定的草案” 为标题的草案。在德国电商和媒体的施压后13，这一立法草案由财政部长会议（德国各州的财政部长）14进行准备。

The Bundesrat (Federal Council) presented a statement on that draft legislation on September 21st 201815 after a very short debate16.

2018年9月21日17，德国联邦参议院在一场短暂的辩论后发布了一份声明18。

The legislation was subject to parliamentary debate of the Deutscher Bundestag (German parliament) on September 27th 2018.19

2018年9月27日，这一立法在联邦议会进行了议会辩论。20

There was a hearing on interest groups on October 15th 2018.21

2018年10月15日，对相关利益团体举行了一场听证会。22

The law passed the German parliament Bundestag on November 8th 2018.23

2018年11月8日，德国联邦议会通过了这部法律。24

The German Federal Council (Bundesrat) approved on November 23rd25

11 月 23 日，德国联邦参议院进行了批准。26

Which are the coming regulations of interest for ecommerce sellers from China?

对来自中国的电商卖家来说，哪些即将到来的法规会是其所感兴趣的？

Ecommerce sellers will have to provide their tax registration (Amazon demands the VAT-No.: DE…)27 and a certificate issued by the competent tax authority. Otherwise platform operators are liable for VAT evasion of the respective ecommerce sellers. Therefore, they will not allow sellers to sell on their platforms without certificate anymore.

电商卖家将必须向平台运营商提供其税务注册证明（Amazon 要求提供 VAT 号：DE 开头的）28，以及由所辖税务机关出具的证明。否则平台运营商将会对相关电商卖家的逃税行为承担责任。因此，平台运营商将不再允许无法提供证明的卖家在其平台进行销售。

German government wants to enforce VAT law by establishing a liability rule. The platform operator should act as “police” concerning tax evasion of ecommerce sellers, although the platform operators are not the ecommerce sellers, but offer a kind of neutral service29. A German legal scholar states that this regulatory approach is unconstitutional under the Grundgesetz (the German constitution).30 The proposed obligations of the platform operators were criticized by two speakers in the parliamentary debate.31

德国政府希望通过 VAT 法律的实施建立起一项责任规则。针对电商卖家逃税的情况，平台运营商应当扮演“警察”的角色，尽管平台运营商并非电商卖家，而是提供一种中立的服务32。一位德国法学教授指出，根据德国的《基本法》（德国宪法）的规定，这种监管方法是违反宪法的。33在议会辩论中，两名发言者对平台运营商的这种被提议的责任进行了批评。34

It is criticized by the Bundesrat that the certificate in a paper form will not be practice-oriented for overseas sellers.35 The Bundesrat mentions possible delays of tax authorities in issuing the certificates.36 The platform operator eBay criticizes this point too.37 The Bundesrat demands to implement an electronic query concerning the certificates as soon as possible to enable platform operators to check the certificates.38 But for Germany it is not possible to develop an electronic system to apply for certificates and to check them until the transition periods ends. Ecommerce sellers and platform operators are affected by this shortcoming. The Bundesverband E-Commerce und Versandhandel Deutschland e.V. proposed to wait with the regulation until the necessary IT-infrastructure is implemented.39 The procedure how to get the certificate is still unclear yet and is not subject to the law.

德国联邦参议院对纸质的证书进行了批评，认为其对海外卖家而言并不是以实用为导向的。40联邦参议院提到了税务机关在下发证书时可能产生的延迟。41平台运营商 eBay 也对这一点进行了批评。42联邦参议院要求尽快实现电子查询证书状况，从而使平台运营商能对证书进行检查。43但对德国而言，在过渡期结束之前开发出一个申请和检查证书的电子系统是不可能的。电商卖家和平台运营商都受到了这一缺陷的影响。德国电商和邮购业联邦协会提议推迟法规的执行，直至必要的信息技术基础设施得以应用。44关于如何获取证书的程序依然并不明确，也并没有法律对此进行规定。

At present, the ecommerce sellers have to face tax authorities and the platform operators in the context of VAT. In case of a suspected tax evasion, the tax authority informs the respective platform operator concerning that and pressures the platform operator to block the account, to freeze funds and goods. This process is described below. The tax authorities recommend