On October 25, 2013, "2013 China Tax Law Forum and the Second China Tax Lawyers Forum" was successfully held in Beijing Jingyi Hotel. The theme of this forum is "Social Fairness - The Mission of the Times for Chinese Tax Lawyers", which is organized by All China Lawyers' Association, undertaken by Beijing Hwuason Law Firm, and supported by School of Law of Peking University, School of Law of Renmin University of China, School of Law of China University of Political Science and Law, Institute of Taxation Education of Central University of Finance and Economics, and Institute of Taxation Education of Beijing Law Association.  More than 300 professionals in tax law theory and practice, such as members of the Finance and Taxation Law Professional Committee of Lawyers' Associations of all provinces and cities, tax lawyers of famous law firms at home and abroad, tax directors of multinational corporations and large and medium-sized enterprises, scholars of finance and taxation of higher education and scientific research institutes, officials of the legislative authorities and tax authorities, and more than 40 news media, participated in the forum, which is a grand and authoritative gathering of practice and theory in the field of finance and taxation law in China. It is a grand and authoritative gathering of the practical and theoretical circles in the field of finance and tax law in China.

 Figure 1: Opening Ceremony of the Forum

Prof. Wang Weiguo, President of China Institute of Finance and Taxation Law, Prof. Liu Jianwen, Professor of Peking University Law School, delivered speeches respectively, and Mr. Liu Tianyong, Deputy Director and Secretary General of the Finance and Taxation Law Committee of the National Lawyers Association and Director of Beijing Hwuason Law Firm, delivered a speech on behalf of the organizer.

 Figure 2: Zhou Yansheng's Speech at the Opening Ceremony

Zhou Yansheng, on behalf of the All-China Lawyers Association, said in his speech that tax legal service is an important part of China's rule of law construction, and it is a favorable guarantee for creating a good tax rule of law environment and realizing tax administration in accordance with the law. With China's economic transformation and upgrading and the continuous improvement of the rule of law in taxation, tax legal service demand is increasing, tax lawyers play an increasingly important role. Zhou Yansheng proposed that the majority of tax lawyers should comply with the requirements of economic and social development, seriously summarize the practical experience, and constantly expand the field of business, improve the quality of service, give full play to the role of function, and actively participate in the national tax legislation, tax judicial practice and tax law propaganda. In the face of the new situation and new tasks, the committee should focus on the center, serve the overall situation, and play a greater role in the study of expanding the business field of tax lawyers, promoting the improvement of the quality of tax legal services and regulating the practice of tax lawyers in accordance with the law in three aspects.

Figure 3: Li Linjun delivered a speech at the opening ceremony

On behalf of Ms. Song Lan, President of China Association of Registered Taxation Technicians (CARTT) and Deputy Director General of the State Administration of Taxation (SAT), Mr. Li Linjun attended this forum and delivered a speech. First of all, he congratulated on the successful convening of this forum. He believed that under the great importance attached by the Party and the Central Government, the tax-related intermediary service industry has ushered in the spring of the industry's development, and that it is necessary to strengthen the exchanges and cooperation between the Professional Committee on Finance and Taxation Law of the National Lawyers' Association and the China Association of Registered Taxation Technicians, so as to better promote the quality of China's tax-related services. As an actual participant in the revision of the Law on Taxation Administration, Li Linjun believes that under the influence of factors such as tax structural adjustment, internationalization of tax sources brought about by Chinese enterprises going abroad and rapid development of modern information technology, there is an urgent need to deepen the reform of the tax collection and administration system. The revision of the Law on Tax Administration should focus on eight main points: the basic procedure of tax administration premised on the clarification of the rights and obligations of both parties, tax service, risk management, rights constraints, performance appraisal, informatization support, flattening and specialization of institutions, and the improvement of the legal system.

 Figure 4: Ji Huaiyin's Speech at the Opening Ceremony 

Ji Huaiyin said in his speech that ruling taxes according to law is an important part of ruling the country according to law, and the work of tax lawyers and other tax service institutions is of great significance to the harmonious development of tax collection and payment relationship and the improvement of the civilization of tax rule of law, and at the same time, the country's fiscal and tax legislation work also needs the opinions provided by these professionals. He said that in the future drafting of legislation, it is necessary to strengthen the communication with the Professional Committee of Finance and Taxation Law of the National Lawyers' Association, and work together to promote the rule of law and the rule of taxation according to law.

Figure 5: Wang Weiguo's Speech at the Opening Ceremony 

Wang Weiguo said in his speech that tax reform is closely connected with economic reform, for example, in the current economic reform in China, land system reform needs a supporting land tax system, financial reform needs tax means to curb high-interest loans, and needs to learn from foreign bankruptcy reorganization tax relief system. Enterprise reform needs to emphasize small and micro enterprises and introduce corresponding tax incentives. And many of these reform measures need to be solved by various departments in a coordinated manner, so it is necessary to strengthen the communication and cooperation between various departments. In this round of top-down reform in China, the rule of law needs to be promoted, and legislators need to communicate more with experts and scholars as well as tax lawyers to strengthen the cooperation among the government, scholars and lawyers, and jointly promote the process of fiscal reform.

 Figure 6: Liu Jianwen's Speech at the Opening Ceremony

Liu Jianwen expressed his heartfelt congratulations on the success of this forum. In his speech, he affirmed the importance of China's tax lawyers and believed that to promote the realization of social justice, tax lawyers are needed to play a driving role in the reform. At the same time, he believes that in order to make China's tax lawyers bigger and stronger, it is necessary to further improve the status of lawyers in the field of finance and taxation, and that tax lawyers can make a real difference in the process of tax collection and management through legislative means.

Figure 7: Liu Tianyong's Speech at the Opening Ceremony

Liu Tianyong, on behalf of Hwuason Law Firm, the organizer of the forum, firstly expressed his warm welcome and heartfelt thanks to the leaders, experts, scholars, media friends and industry colleagues who came to the forum. Liu Tianyong said, at present, fiscal and taxation issues have become the "focus" of various issues in China's political, economic and social fields, and the construction of the rule of law in fiscal and taxation has become the "breakthrough" and "starting point" for China to deepen the reform and promote the development. ", the future demand for tax legal services will continue to increase, tax lawyers development of the new period has come. Liu believes that this forum has not only gradually developed into the highest business exchange platform for Chinese tax lawyers, but also plays an important role in promoting the development of China's tax legislation, law enforcement, justice and law-abiding, prospering the theoretical study of tax law, and promoting the international exchange of tax law. China's tax lawyers will respond to the needs of the times and serve the construction of the national fiscal and taxation rule of law while continuously expanding the practice areas of tax lawyers.

The forum is divided into five topics, namely: distribution equity and China's tax law reform, protection of taxpayers' rights and interests and expansion of tax lawyers' practice, legal analysis of typical tax cases and tax lawyers' practice enhancement, theories, models and operation of corporate tax planning, and cross-border investment and China's anti-avoidance legal policy.

Figure 8: Speech by Jia Kang

In the session of "Distribution Fairness and China's Tax Law Reform", Professor Jia Kang, Director of the Institute of Fiscal Science, Ministry of Finance, pointed out in his speech that it is necessary to correctly understand the fairness of income distribution, weigh the reasonable range of the distribution results, and give full play to the regulating role of taxation in the initial distribution and redistribution phases, so as to optimize the distribution structure and achieve a win-win situation for the society. On some current hot issues, such as property tax reform, Prof. Jia Kang believes that it is necessary to return to China's actual situation, go back to Deng Xiaoping's wisdom of reform, allow the space for first try and flexibility, and have a comprehensive consideration on how to push the reform forward substantially. Liu Zuo, Editor-in-Chief of China Tax News, focused on the proposal of how each tax type, such as value-added tax, income tax, property tax and inheritance tax, should be adjusted in order to give full play to the role of taxation in promoting social equity. Editor-in-chief Liu believes that our current tax reform should address three important issues: the rapid advancement of VAT, the speedy implementation of personal income tax reform and the steady progress of property tax reform.

Figure 9: Liu Zuo's speech

In the session of "Protection of Taxpayers' Rights and Interests and Expansion of Tax Lawyers' Business", Zhang Shuxue, Director General of Taxation Service Department of the State Administration of Taxation, made a keynote speech focusing on how to protect the legitimate rights and interests of taxpayers in taxation service. Mr. Zhang Shuxue mentioned in his speech that the protection of legitimate rights and interests of taxpayers is a concrete embodiment of the promotion of democratic politics and the construction of a service-oriented government in the field of taxation, and it is also the basic requirement of the majority of taxpayers. Tax authorities should firmly establish a people-oriented working concept, improve the organizational system, institutional system and working mechanism for the protection of taxpayers' rights and interests, support the healthy development of taxpayers' rights protection organizations led by tax authorities, and steadily promote the work of the protection of taxpayers' rights and interests, so as to effectively push forward the continuous improvement of taxpayers' respect for tax laws. Mr. Zhang Xuerui, Director of the Department of Policies and Regulations of the State Administration of Taxation, made a keynote speech entitled "Respecting the Rule of Law, Respecting and Protecting the Lawful Rights and Interests of Taxpayers". Mr. Zhang Xuerui pointed out that the spirit of rule of law is the logical starting point of all issues. The thinking and spirit of the rule of law should be used to guide the implementation of tax law, and the spirit of fairness and justice should be carried through the daily work. It is necessary to optimize the current tax policy, truly respect the legitimate rights and interests of taxpayers in the top-level design, and give play to the value judgment function of the spirit of the rule of law in the process of law enforcement. Mr. Liu Tianyong, Deputy Director and Secretary General of the Finance and Taxation Law Committee of the National Lawyers Association and Director of Beijing Hwuason Law Firm, gave a speech titled "Concerted Efforts to Promote Fairness and Justice in Tax Law". Mr. Liu said that China's tax law is too simple, and in practice, there are often different implementation standards in different places, and the subordinate law is in conflict with the superior law. Therefore, tax lawyers should be more comprehensive to consider the economic substance of each transaction and the principles of tax law, and consider the value of tax law. Tax lawyers should give full play to their due role in practice to promote the development of tax law practice and realize the value of tax law - fairness and justice. 

Figure 10: Speech by Zhang Shuxue

As a commentator, Prof. Zhu Dazhi, Vice President of China Society of Finance and Taxation Law and Professor of School of Law of Renmin University of China, highly evaluated the speeches of several speakers. Prof. Zhu Dazhi pointed out that whether it is the protection of taxpayers' rights and interests or the development of business by tax lawyers, the most fundamental prerequisite is to firmly establish the concept of tax law and to form a good atmosphere of tax administration in accordance with the law.

 Figure 11: Speech by Mr. Shi Zhengwen

In the discussion session of "Legal Analysis of Typical Tax Cases and Business Enhancement of Tax Lawyers", Dr. Deng Yuanjun, Director of the Second Sub-bureau of Beijing Municipal State Taxation Bureau, introduced the key and difficult issues in tax collection and management regarding the transfer of equity of non-resident enterprises as well as the current international practice, and gave a vivid explanation in connection with the case of indirect transfer of equity of a certain non-resident enterprise. Deng Yuanjun, PhD, gave a vivid explanation. Mr. Deng Yuanjun said that there are three main tax issues facing the transfer of non-resident equity: first, the issue of tax jurisdiction; second, the issue of tax avoidance and anti-avoidance; and third, the issue of tax source monitoring and tax recovery. Prof. Shi Zhengwen, Vice Chairman of China Institute of Tax Law and Director of the Research Center of Tax Law of China University of Political Science and Law, made an insightful legal analysis of several tax law issues in the tax-related case of equity transfer of a company. Prof. Shi analyzed the policy intent and key points of Guo Shui Han [2000] No. 687, and believed that the tax authorities in the case found that the law enforcement basis for levying land value-added tax was not sufficient, and that if the case entered into administrative litigation, the court would review the legitimacy of Guo Shui Han [2000] No. 687, and would more likely make a judgment that the land value-added tax could not be levied. However, in terms of the specific circumstances of this case, entering into litigation proceedings will have certain impact on both parties to the contract, such as the provision of invoice terms in the contract agreement, which may be unfavorable to the transferor. Prof. Shih further pointed out that when contemplating a major transaction, the parties concerned should be aware of the tax-related risks and consult professional lawyers to plan, avoid or transfer the tax risks that they may encounter in advance. Prof. Shi concluded that it is the common wish of tax law colleagues to optimize China's tax system and achieve social justice. In the future, China's tax law should be improved in the following three aspects: firstly, to establish the principle of substantive taxation in law; secondly, to improve the interpretation of tax law to reduce the risk of law enforcement; and thirdly, to push forward the reform of the tax system to reduce the statutory tax burden. Mr. Wang Jiaben pointed out that there are five standards for reviewing administrative cases, namely, whether the subject of law enforcement is qualified, whether the authority of law enforcement is appropriate, whether the law is correctly applied, whether the law enforcement procedures are correct, and whether the evidence is conclusive and sufficient.

In the session of "Theory, Model and Operation of Enterprise Tax Planning", Dr. Mei Yuehua, Deputy Director of Taxation Department of Beijing Municipal Finance Bureau, gave a speech entitled "Pilot Reform of Business Tax to VAT". Dr. Mei introduced the progress of the national "business tax to VAT" reform and the operation of the "business tax to VAT" reform in Beijing. Mr. Mei said that this "VAT" is the most significant tax reform since 1994, which is the merger of the first and the third largest taxes in China, affecting a wide range of industries. At present, China's "tax reform" is still in the pilot stage, and needs to be further improved in terms of tax rate, supportive policies, expansion reform, financial and tax system and levy management system. Zhou Xuzhong, a member of the Professional Committee of Finance and Taxation Law of the National Lawyers Association and a professor of the Law School of Capital University of Economics and Business, mentioned that tax avoidance is to take advantage of the ambiguities, uncertainties or gaps in the legal provisions, and adopt roundabout, uneconomical or multi-stage behaviors, resulting in the reduction or exemption of tax obligations. Tax avoidance is not illegal and is legal in the broad sense, but it is fundamentally different from legal tax planning. Tax lawyers should pay special attention to the risk that the planning behavior is not recognized by the tax authorities in the process of tax planning.

In the session of "Multinational Investment and China's Anti-Tax Avoidance Legal Policies", Mr. Zhou Huaishi, Director of International Taxation Department of the State Administration of Taxation, pointed out in his speech of "Multinational Investment and China's International Taxation Policies" that China's current multinational investment status quo is the absorption of foreign capital and outward investment. China's current situation of cross-border investment is that foreign capital absorption and outbound investment are flying in tandem. International tax will focus on the following three aspects in the future: international tax policy shifts from active taxation to tax neutrality; international tax policy area shifts from inward business to outward business; and international tax risk focus shifts from direct investment to indirect investment. Mr. Cao Fuli, a partner of Jones Day, gave a speech on "Foreign Investment Equity Structures and Cross-border Reorganization Tax Issues", analyzing the important tax-related issues in foreign investment and cross-border reorganization. Mr. Cao called on the tax authorities to strengthen the promotion of exchanges on tax legislation, learn from foreign experience and improve the level of tax collection and management in China.

Finally, Liang Wenyong, Deputy Director of the Research and Evaluation Center for Legal Education of China University of Political Science and Law, and Deputy Director and Secretary General of the Legislative Affairs Committee of the Central Committee of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, made a final comment on the speeches made in the five parts of this forum. Prof. Liang said that the rule of law is the highest value of governance, and the rule of law in taxation is the most important goal to be accomplished by governance. Tax lawyers are the tools of governance, the driving force of the rule of law in taxation, and the promotion of the rule of law in taxation is also the eternal mission of tax lawyers.

Figure 12: Mr. Hao Ruyu's Closing Ceremony Speech

The closing ceremony of the Forum was held in the afternoon of 25th, and Mr. Hao Ruyu, Deputy Director of the Finance and Economy Committee of the National People's Congress, delivered a closing speech. Mr. Hao Ruyu firstly congratulated the Forum on its success. He pointed out that the implementation of the principle of tax law is an important strategy to improve China's legal system and realize the rule of law. In recent years, the National People's Congress (NPC) deputies have repeatedly submitted motions requesting that the power to legislate on taxation be taken back to the NPC. In this regard, a positive and correct response must be made: first, the NPC should formulate a tax legislation plan as soon as possible, setting out a timetable for elevating tax "regulations" to "laws"; second, the authorization of tax legislation should be reformed at an appropriate time, so as to gradually realize the transition from "total authorization" to "full authorization"; and second, the authorization of tax legislation should be reformed at an appropriate time. The second is to reform the authorization of tax legislation at an appropriate time, and gradually realize the transition from "full authorization" to "partial authorization". Director Hao suggested that the NPC should formulate tax legislation planning as soon as possible: firstly, it is stipulated that for newly established taxes, the main tax law shall be directly legislated by the NPC, and the State Council may be authorized to formulate the implementation rules; secondly, it is to formulate a timetable, and for the tax regulations formulated for more than five years, it should be prepared for entering into the legislation of the NPC, and in accordance with the principle of "prioritizing the time and accelerating the time year by year According to the principle of "giving priority to time and speeding up year by year", all the existing tax regulations will be gradually upgraded into laws; thirdly, the tax legislation mode of "partial authorization" will be gradually established. Director Hao believes that tax lawyers are an indispensable force in the process of realizing the rule of law. It is hoped that this good platform of China Tax Law Forum and Tax Lawyers Forum can strengthen the connection between tax lawyers and all walks of life, promote the development of tax lawyers' profession, promote the improvement of national tax laws, and provide stronger protection for the legitimate rights and interests of taxpayers.

In the closing ceremony, Zhu Ying, director of the business department of the National Lawyers Association, read out the list of winners of the excellent papers of this forum, and held an award ceremony under the auspices of Prof. Jia Shaohua, director of the Institute of Taxation Education of the Central University of Finance and Economics, and 10 people, such as Mr. Chen Bin, Prof. Shi Zhengwen, Prof. Yuan Sengeng, Prof. Zhou Xuzhong, etc., were awarded the first, second and third prizes of the papers, and the award certificates were issued by director of the Forum, Mr. Hao Ruyu, and a photo was taken together to mark the occasion. Director Hao Ruyu presented the award certificates to the winners and took a group photo.

Since 2010, China Tax Law Forum and China Tax Lawyers Forum has been held for the first time, and has been committed to creating a good environment for the rule of law in taxation and promoting the development of China's tax lawyers, and has become an authoritative platform for the exchange and cooperation between tax lawyers and tax administrations, judiciary, legislature, tax law theories, domestic and foreign enterprises, and the news media. In this forum, tax law practice and theory elites gathered around the theme of "social justice - tax lawyers' mission of the times", and carried out in-depth and pragmatic exchanges and discussions on hot issues in the construction of the rule of law in China's taxation, which has produced a good, The forum had a good, extensive and far-reaching social impact. The convening of the forum is not only conducive to the cohesion of the tax lawyers' profession, improving their business, broadening their horizons, and realizing rapid and healthy development, but also greatly promotes the exchanges between tax lawyers and tax legislature, administrative organs, judicial organs and academics, and vigorously pushes forward the formation and development of China's tax law community. In the future, China Tax Law Forum and China Tax Lawyers Forum will continue to uphold the main theme of "discussing cutting-edge issues in the construction of the rule of law in China's taxation, solving difficult problems in the practice of tax lawyers, and promoting the internationalization and development of China's tax lawyers", and will continue to improve and enhance the organization of the forum to better serve the construction of the rule of law in China's taxation and the process of ruling the country according to law, leading and organizing the forum. We will continue to improve and upgrade the organization of the forum, better serve the construction of the rule of law in finance and taxation in China and the process of ruling the country according to law, and lead, organize and promote the establishment, development and maturity of Chinese tax lawyers.