Taxation of Professional Income on Digital Platforms: World Experience in Regulation

The theme of taxation of income of individuals from activities in that they do not have an employer and do not hire employees under contracts is becoming increasingly relevant in many countries. There are especially many issues of the taxation of citizens who carry out economic activities using digital platforms. This issue is also urging one for contemporary Russia. The purpose of the article is to develop ideas for improving tax legislation in terms of taxation of income of individuals from activities they carry out using digital platforms, in which they do not have an employer and do not hire employees. It is planned to develop these proposals, including on the basis of the researching and implementing best practices. The authors examine the foreign experience of taxation of income of persons who works using digital platforms, as well as experience in designing models of tax agency of digital platforms in foreign countries and integration associations; analyze the practice of taxation of income of individuals from activities in they do not have an employer and do not attract employees under contracts in various countries. The proposals for improving Russian tax legislation are formulated. Given that models of digital platforms’ participation in tax relations are in the process of formation in most countries, the Russian legislator can both use best practices and take into account the mistakes of other states and avoid constructing models that have already shown their shortcomings. It is noted that in most states the main attention is paid to the problem of indirect taxation, while the issues of taxation of the self-employed working on digital platforms have not yet been practically settled. The authors have implemented in the study formal legal and comparative legal methods of research.

tax law, digital platforms, self-employed, digital economy, digital business models, professional income tax