A Study On The Cooperation Between The National And Local Tax Bureau From The Perspective Of Intergovernmental Relations

The tax-sharing fiscal system has been implemented in China since 1994.The central and local tax authorities have been set up following the central and local tax system.State Administration of Taxation has been established by the central government.The tax authorities are composed of the national and local tax bureau that take charge of different taxes at or below the provincial administrative level,having a difference in the establishment level and management system.The national and local tax bureau have been running smoothly,enhancing the ability of macro-control of the central government and mobilizing the initiative of the local government.However problems such as complex tax process and inconsistent policies related do exist,having an impact on the cost and efficiency of both payers and collectors.Cooperation has been a realistic choice and critical path for the national and local tax bureau to ease the burden of taxpayers and improve the efficiency of tax collection and management under the current system,aiming at the modernization of governance system and capacity in the field of taxation.This paper studies the cooperation between the national and local tax bureau from the perspective of intergovernmental relations,using the method of literature research and case study.First of all,it teases out the network of intergovernmental relations of the cooperation between the national and local tax bureau based on their institutional setup and management system.The forms and contents of the vertical and horizontal intergovernmental relations involved for the cooperation in the prefecture-level cities are set out.Secondly,it discusses the dynamic mechanism of cooperation resulting from the internal and external cause of intergovernmental relations.The forces and factors having influence on the cooperation are gravity,pressure,thrust and resistance whose model is respectively constructed.Gravity stems from the solid foundation of cooperation,the need of improving the efficiency of tax collection and management and risk resistance,explaining the motivation of cooperation.It brings out pressure to cope with the Value-added Tax Reform,optimize the tax service and perform the function of serving the economic and social development.Thrust generates from the support of policies and systems,leading to the good environment.Resistance is made up of the inertia of departmentalism,the differences of institutional setup and the restriction of technology,resulting in the dilemma.Thirdly,switching to microcosmic view,it selects the city C as a case study.It has made progress in the working mechanism,tax service,collection and management,information sharing and team building.The shortcomings lie in the top design,the recognition and understanding,the scope and depth of cooperation and the coordination of other government departments in the dimension of the vertical and horizontal intergovernmental relations and the national and local tax bureau themselves.Finally,it puts forward some suggestions such as strengthening the vertical linkage to increase the thrust,keeping the horizontal interaction to reduce the resistance and reinforcing self-construction to response to the pressure on the grounds of the shortcomings pointed out and the dynamic mechanism of cooperation from macro perspective.