Virtual Intermediaries: Consumption Tax Problems in Japan, Europe, and the United States - The Case of the Virtual Travel Agent

57 Tax Notes International 865 (March 8, 2010)

Boston Univ. School of Law Working Paper No. 09-49

21 Pages Posted: 28 Oct 2009 Last revised: 2 Dec 2019

See all articles by Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Richard Thompson Ainsworth

NYU - Graduate Tax Program; Boston University - School of Law

Date Written: October 26, 2009

Abstract

Marketplace technology is (inadvertently) chipping away at the effectiveness of consumption taxes – the Japanese Consumption Tax (CT), the European value added tax (VAT), and the American sales tax (ST) are all affected. Frequently a technology-patch or a law change can repair the tax-damage, but sometimes even though a patch or a change is known the design of the levy (or the politics behind the design) impedes application. This paper assesses these consumption taxes by considering the impact that virtual travel agents have had on revenue yields. The paper draws specific conclusions for the Japanese CT, because this consumption tax seems particularly vulnerable to these intermediaries. Based on the structure of the Japanese Consumption Tax and estimates drawn from the performance of virtual intermediaries in the other consumption taxes, this paper estimates that approximately ¥26,532 million in CT has not been collected in Japan each year for the past eight to ten years. This is the case even though guests may believe that they have paid a full measure of the CT to reservation agents when on-line reservations have been made through virtual travel agents.

Keywords: Virtual intermediary, VAT, Sales tax, Tax avoidance, Consumption Tax, Travel agent, Internet

JEL Classification: H20, H26, H29, K34, O33

Suggested Citation

Ainsworth, Richard Thompson, Virtual Intermediaries: Consumption Tax Problems in Japan, Europe, and the United States - The Case of the Virtual Travel Agent (October 26, 2009). 57 Tax Notes International 865 (March 8, 2010), Boston Univ. School of Law Working Paper No. 09-49, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1494369 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1494369

Richard Thompson Ainsworth (Contact Author)

NYU - Graduate Tax Program ( email )

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New York, NY 10003-711
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Boston University - School of Law ( email )

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