Interregional Value-Added Tax in the Era of E-Commerce: Tax Policy Design Based on Big Data from Online Retailing

The value-added tax (VAT) in China is levied and allocated based on the origin principle. Under the background of the increasing substitution of online retail for traditional offline retail, this mechanism will exacerbate the disparity of regional tax revenue, and intensify tax competition among local governments. Therefore, reconsidering the allocation mechanism of value-added tax in China can be an important policy decision, and it is influenced by various economic and social factors. Firstly, we utilize large-scale retail transaction data from an e-commerce platform to measure regional disparities in retail and consumption among different regions and then reveals present tax policy results in revenue imbalance in different regions. Secondly, we establish a model based on game theory to illustrate how the origin principle leads to fierce tax competition among regions. Furthermore, by establishing and solving tax allocation models between local governments and the central government, this study simulates and calculates the degree of revenue imbalance under different scenarios and attempts to propose policy measures. The results indicate that implementing the destination principle will reduce regional tax imbalances. Moreover, adjusting the allocation ratio between the central government and local governments based on city levels is advantageous for further reducing regional tax revenue disparities.