First, the purpose of international tax law

The purpose of international tax law is the teleological category or axiological category of international tax law, and it is the value advocated by international tax law and the goal to be achieved. It is of great significance to study the purpose of international tax law for establishing a complete category system of international tax law. At present, the academic circles have not paid enough attention to the purpose of international tax law and have not conducted in-depth and systematic research, which needs to be strengthened.

Purpose refers to the main purpose and intention. [1] The purpose of international tax law is the purpose and intention of international tax law, that is, the value advocated by international tax law and the goal to be achieved. Some scholars directly use "the purpose of international tax law" [2], which actually expresses the meaning of the purpose of international tax law.

The purpose of international tax law is different from and related to its values and principles. The value of international tax law emphasizes the function or attribute that international tax law can meet people's needs, which contains more objective colors, while the purpose of international tax law emphasizes the subjective purpose and intention of the state to formulate international tax law, which contains more subjective colors. The value of international tax law is the embodiment of the purpose of international tax law, because international tax law is created by people for a certain purpose, and it is bound to help people achieve this purpose. Otherwise, this international tax law is not what people want, and it has no value. The greatest value of international tax law is that it can realize people's expectations of international tax law and help people realize the purpose of creating international tax law. Therefore, the purpose of international tax law stipulates the value of international tax law and is the embodiment of the purpose of international tax law. The basic principles of international tax law are the basic principles that must be followed in the process of transforming the purpose of international tax law into the value of international tax law, and the necessary conditions for realizing the purpose of international tax law and ensuring that international tax law has the value to realize its purpose. Without the purpose of international tax law, there is no value of international tax law, and there is no need for the existence of basic principles. Without the value of international tax law, the purpose of international tax law becomes a castle in the air and cannot be realized. Without the basic principles of international tax law, the purpose of international tax law can not be achieved, or it can not be well achieved, and the current international tax law can not have or can not have the expected value.

(1) Views and comments on the purpose of international tax law

Some scholars believe that the purpose of international tax law is to establish a fair and reasonable international tax order, thus creating good conditions for international economic cooperation and economic and trade exchanges. [3] Some scholars believe that the purpose of international tax law is to establish a fair and reasonable international tax relationship, thus creating favorable conditions for international economic cooperation and exchanges, especially for international investment activities. [4] Some scholars believe that the purpose of international tax law is to achieve a fair and reasonable tax distribution relationship for transnational taxpayers and promote the normal development of international trade and investment. [5]

The above-mentioned representative viewpoints all discuss the purpose of international tax law from the perspective of the object of adjustment of international tax law, that is, international tax law is to better adjust international tax relations and realize a fair and reasonable international tax order. We think this generalization is unscientific. First of all, the adjustment object of international tax law includes foreign-related tax relations besides international tax relations, which has not been paid enough attention. Secondly, from an abstract point of view, it can be considered that the international tax law is to achieve a fair and reasonable international tax relationship, but from a specific point of view, the international tax law of any country is to safeguard its tax sovereignty and the basic rights of foreign-related taxpayers, that is, to safeguard its own interests, not necessarily to establish a fair and reasonable international tax order. For example, the preferential tax policies formulated by some countries to attract foreign investment are likely to violate the principle of fairness and rationality and become vicious tax competition, while the refusal of the United States to recognize "preferential tax credit" is hardly conducive to establishing a fair and reasonable international tax order. Therefore, it is unrealistic to regard the purpose of international tax law as establishing a fair and reasonable international tax order in a general, abstract and often idealized way, and it is not conducive to in-depth and systematic analysis of related issues. Third, what is fair and reasonable? In the final analysis, it's just what our country thinks is fair and reasonable. In the pursuit of international tax law, it is impossible to have a fair and reasonable international tax order universally recognized by all countries. The existence of two modes in the field of international tax treaties is obvious proof. To sum up, this abstract generalization is unscientific and undesirable.

(2) The purpose of the international tax law advocated in this book.

We believe that the purpose of law is always the purpose and intention of the subject who makes the law, and the purpose of the subject who makes the law is always to safeguard his own interests. Law protects the interests of the ruling class at the domestic level and the interests of the country at the international level. International tax law is no exception. It is not to maintain or establish an abstract fair and reasonable international tax order, but the ultimate goal is always to safeguard national interests. The so-called national interests here mainly include national tax sovereignty and the basic rights of foreign-related taxpayers in China. Therefore, we can summarize the purpose of international tax law as follows: to safeguard the national tax sovereignty and the basic rights of foreign-related taxpayers.

Maintaining national tax sovereignty is the primary purpose of international tax law, and tax sovereignty is the embodiment of national sovereignty in the tax field. Without tax sovereignty, all the interests of the country in the international tax distribution relationship can not be realized, and even the international tax law itself will not exist, because the international tax law is based on the existence of national tax sovereignty. The most fundamental criterion for judging the so-called fair and reasonable international tax order of countries is their own tax sovereignty, which is the essence hidden under the slogan of fairness and rationality. The fundamental reason why the fair and reasonable international tax order advocated by various countries is different is that the international tax order required by tax sovereignty of various countries is different. The international tax order required by developed countries is conducive to safeguarding the tax sovereignty of developed countries. Similarly, the international tax order called for by developing countries is also conducive to safeguarding the tax sovereignty of developing countries. An international tax law cannot exist without safeguarding its tax sovereignty.

Protecting the rights of foreign-related taxpayers is also the purpose of international tax law, because international tax law is also a law and must reflect the interests of taxpayers. The so-called foreign-related taxpayers here refer to the foreign-related taxpayers in our country first, and then to foreigners who invest in our country. It is reasonable for domestic laws to protect domestic taxpayers, while domestic laws protect foreign investors in order to safeguard domestic interests, that is, to attract international investment. On the one hand, international tax law protects the interests of foreign-related taxpayers through international tax agreements, on the other hand, it protects them through domestic tax laws. The basic right of foreign-related taxpayers is the right of fair tax burden, that is, foreign-related taxpayers and other taxpayers are fair in tax burden and do not bear more tax obligations because of their foreign-related factors. The basic way to safeguard the basic rights of foreign taxpayers is to avoid double taxation of foreign taxpayers.

The two purposes of international tax law are essentially unified. Maintaining national tax sovereignty is achieved by safeguarding the basic rights of foreign-related taxpayers, and the premise of safeguarding the basic rights of foreign-related taxpayers is to safeguard national tax sovereignty. Without national tax sovereignty, there will be no basic rights of foreign-related taxpayers, and without the realization of basic rights of foreign-related taxpayers, national tax sovereignty will not be reflected. Only when two aspects are realized at the same time can the purpose of international tax law be truly realized.