International Tax Cooperation and Taxpayers’ Rights-Focusing on the Exchange of Information

經濟全球化下，資本的自由流動，導致國際間租稅競爭，部分國家透過降低海外投資者的稅率以吸引外來投資。由於稅率上的差異，個人和企業有誘因把資本從稅率較高的地區移轉到稅率較低的地區，侵蝕國家稅基。相較於國內資產，除非納稅人誠實申報，否則稅捐機關一般難以知悉納稅人的海外資產狀況，使海外查稅變得相當困難。 為了處理納稅人把國內資本移轉到國外逃避稅捐義務的行為，國際間簽訂協議進行稅務合作。資訊交換作為稅務合作的方式之一，主要有三種形式，分別是個案資訊交換、自動資訊交換以及自發資訊交換。個案資訊交換用於具體個案調查，自動資訊交換用於常規性查稅。目前普遍採用的是個案資訊交換，透過締約雙方互相交換對方國家的應稅居民資料，讓稅捐機關掌握納稅人海外所得資產狀況。 自2010年美國頒布「海外帳戶稅收遵從法」後， 「歐盟指令」及「稅務行政互助公約」亦相繼出臺，國際稅務合作可能會成為未來的常態，資訊交換將會在其中發揮重要作用。 截至2016年8月10日為止，臺灣已經與30個國家簽訂租稅協定，並且與美國簽訂跨政府協議。隨著人權保護意識逐漸受到重視，在資訊交換環境下，需要相應地落實對納稅人權利保護政策，確保依法公平納稅。2009年12月15日立法院三讀通過稅捐稽徵法第一章之一，體現了對納稅人權利保護的重視。本文結合部分國家地區對納稅人權利保護的實務運作，透過比較分析，從中進行借鑒，探討臺灣目前對納稅人權利保護的現狀以及未來可以改進的方向。Under the economic globalization, free capital flows caused tax competition among countries, and some of them attract foreign investment through lowering tax rate for overseas investors. Since there are differences among tax rates, there is an incentive for individual or business to transfer their capitals from regions with higher tax rate, to regions with lower one, and this damages the tax base of a country. Compared to domestic assets, unless the taxpayer declares income honestly, it is hard for taxation authorities to understand the real status of such taxpayer’s oversea asset, and this makes it hard to process oversea tax inspection. In order to fulfill law enforcement on illegal capital transformation as tax evasion, many countries had made agreements for tax cooperation. As one of methods for tax cooperation, there are three major types for exchange of information, such as exchange of information on request, automatic exchange of information and spontaneous exchange of information. Exchange of information on request is applied to physical case survey, automatic exchange of information is applied in regular tax inspection. Currently, case exchange of information on request is commonly adopted, and through permitting each country to exchange information about their tax payable residents, the taxation authorities can comprehend the status of taxpayer’ oversea asset. After the United States enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act in 2010, EU Directives and Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters went into effect one after another. Tax cooperation among countries can be a norm in the future, and the exchange of information will play an important role in it. Till August 10, 2016, Taiwan has made taxation agreements with thirty countries, and an inter-governmental agreement with the U.S. government. As the human rights attach more and more attention, under the environment for exchange of information, the appropriate policies to protect taxpayers’ rights need to be implemented, in order to ensure such taxation is legitimate and fair. On December 15, 2009 the Legislative Yuan passed the Chapter1-1 of the Tax Collection Act, and this showed the attention on protecting taxpayers’ rights. This paper assembles the practical operation of protecting taxpayers’ rights by some countries. Through comparative analysis, retrospection from it, this study attempts to explore the current status of protecting taxpayers’ rights in Taiwan, and a direction we can follow to improve it in the future