Internet

Last week, Wuhan’s tax *bureau sent a tax bill totalling 4.3 million yuan (around $665 thousand) to Zhou Qinnian. He’s the owner of My One Percent, a shop which sells women’s dresses on Taobao.com.

上周，武汉市国税局向周钦年寄出一张430万元（约合66.5万美元）的个人税单。周钦年是淘宝女装网店“我的百分之一”的店主。

According to China Radio International, an unnamed official with Wuhan’s tax bureau stated that the tax bill observes China’s tax laws, which require tax to be paid on all trade within China.

根据中国国际广播电台的报道，武汉市国税局的一位匿名官员声明，这张税单符合我国税法相关规定，即中国境内进行的所有交易都必须交纳税款。

There is, however, no specific tax law governing online businesses. The action taken in Wuhan has *sparked a fierce debate.

然而，中国尚未明确出台专门管理电子商务的相关税法。武汉市国税局的这一行为，引发了激烈的争论。

Some fear that the move could lead to higher operating costs for businesses. This, in turn, would likely lead to price rises for consumers, and could even *strangle the young, fast-growing Internet shopping market.

有人担心这一举动会导致商家运营成本增加，从而让消费者为涨价买单，甚至会阻碍新生的、处于快速增长期的网购市场的发展。

There’s no question that the government, like all governments, see a *hefty income from the taxing of online shopping *transactions.

毫无疑问，与国内所有地方政府一样，武汉市政府知道政府部门能够通过对网购交易征税来获得一笔不菲的收入。

But will more regulation hurt online businesses?

但是过多的法规是否会阻碍电子商务的发展呢？

In California, a new state law requires that all large, out-of-state *retailers collect sales tax on online purchases made by their California customers.

在加利福利亚州，一项新出台的州法案规定所有大型、非本州零售商应对该州内的网购顾客收取所购买物品的消费税。

The new tax collection requirement is expected to raise around $317 million (around 2 billion yuan) a year for the local government. Before this, consumers didn’t pay tax to the state if online merchants didn’t charge it as part of the sale.

这项新征税法案预计每年可为当地政府增加约3.17亿美元（约合20亿元人民币的收入）。在此之前，如果网络卖家没有将消费税记入销售价格中，那么顾客不用向州缴税。

Furthermore, businesses were not required to charge sales tax in states where they did not have a physical presence.

此外，若商家在本州没有实体店面则无需缴纳销售税。

Amazon, along with other online retailers opposed the new measure: “We oppose this bill [because] it is *counterproductive,” Amazon wrote to its California business partners.

亚马逊连同其他网络零售商反对此项新措施，它在给其加州合作伙伴的信中写道：“我们反对这个议案，因为它起到反作用。

By not collecting sales tax, Internet retailers such as Amazon had a real price advantage over California’s small businesses, such as booksellers, which have a physical presence in the state.

如果免征消费税，在加利福尼亚州，像亚马逊这类的网络零售商与拥有实体店的其它小型企业例如书店相比，确实存在价格优势。

“You can’t give one *segment of retail a 10 percent discount every day. It’s just not fair,” said Bill Dombrowski, president of the California Retailers Association, a major player in a *coalition of large and small stores supporting the *legislation.

加州零售业联合会主席比尔•敦布罗斯基指出：“你不能每天都给零售的某一部分提供10%的折扣，这不公平。”该州主要的大、小型商店联盟都支持该项立法，加州零售业联合会在该联盟中扮演主要角色。其他各州也正在考虑起草类似的征税法案。

The UK government is also looking to close a tax *loophole, which allows online stores to sell products at a discount from Jersey, one of the Channel Island tax havens located off the coast of Normandy, France.

英国政府也在想方设法填补网络商家利用泽西岛折价出售商品这一征税漏洞。该海峡岛屿是一块位于法国诺曼底海岸外的“避税圣地”。

By using this “loophole” online business can sell products more cheaply. It is estimated that the new tax measures could earn the UK government as much as 4 billion pounds (41.7 billion yuan).

网络销售商可以利用这个“漏洞”低价出售商品。据估计，这项新税收方案能为英国政府带来多达40亿英镑的收益（合417亿元人民币）。

The action could result in online retailers raising their prices, thereby hitting consumers.

这个举动可能导致网络零售商提高商品价格，致使消费者利益受损。

Supporters of the scheme claim that online companies, by *dodging corporation tax, cost the economy dear.

该方案的支持者称，网络企业躲避企业所得税的行为导致了经济成本的增加。

But some consumers have accused the government of hitting spending at a time when the economy is already under pressure. One *anonymous online blogger wrote: “With every governing body in the country practically under a mountain of debt, they’re going to turn to e-commerce taxes to fill the gap.”

但是一些消费者指责政府在经济面临压力的情况下打击了消费者的消费兴趣。一名匿名网络博主写道：“各个政府部门面对堆积如山的债务，开始转向电子商业税来填补这个缺口。