85% 'no' votes
Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese language Twitter clone, asked users in late June: "Do you support the collection of tax on online stores?" As of Monday, more than 5,200 votes had been cast, 85 percent of them against the idea.
Most of those who commented said they worry that taxes would lead to higher prices online and that e-commerce would lose its competitive edge.
"My God, if tax is charged on Net shops, how can we survive? The only way out is to close the store," Heaven Lin posted on Wednesday.
About 7 percent of the votes supported tax collection on Net sales; remaining voters stated no preference. Tianjinwolf said tax should be collected because it would put the sellers under government supervision, better protecting customer rights.
Zhao Yi, 27, would fall into the "no" category. Shopping is how she and her female friends spend their spare time - and their money. Zhao earns 8,000 yuan a month as an office worker in Beijing, and about half of that supports her shopping habit.
"Window shopping is nice but we prefer online shopping right now," she said. And the idea of adding tax to her purchases? "It's awful!" Zhao had just brought a blue party dress on Taobao for 328 yuan, less than she would have paid at a mall. "Look at this. It might be priced at more than 400 yuan with the tax," she said.
Real names, IDs
The regulations issued as "interim measures" last year by the State Administration for Industry &Commerce require online sellers to provide their real names and identification numbers to the shopping platforms where they open their online stores. Previously, some sellers registered with any name they wanted, and ID numbers were not required.
Online stores meeting the requirements to register as companies with their local industry and commerce bureaus - a preliminary to being taxed - are to do so.
Among other requirements, platform operators must regularly check the information they are given; sellers must present a receipt as a record to any buyer who asks for one; and sellers are responsible for providing specific product descriptions and for protecting customer privacy.
An official from the administration said it will begin a nationwide survey of Internet shops this year that aims to collect information on the number and sales of e-commerce shops. The data, to be collected over about three years, will contribute to standardized management of the industry in the future, the administration said.
"We are closely following what's happening, but we have not been told of anything related to taxing online sellers," said Yang Sha, public relations manager of Paipai.com, a shopping website under Internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd.
Taobao.com handled more than two-thirds of China's online shopping last year, with 400 billion yuan in transactions. Its public relations manager, Yan Qiao, said there are two kinds of online stores on Taobao - those registered as companies and those that are not.
Taxing a company or not "depends on whether it's a registered company, not whether it is an online shop", Yan said.
He declined to comment on whether the government should tax online stores, but said that registered companies should pay tax.
Liu, the tax law specialist, thinks that the regulations are the first step toward future taxing of online sales. "Following the providing of real personal information about online sellers, registering in the department of industry and commerce will be the next," he said.
"It is a good thing to consumers because all these actions will contribute a lot to cleaning the market. A short-term hurt is unavoidable, but greater service and high-quality products will come later."
The State Administration of Taxation didn't reply to China Daily's request for an interview about taxation of online shop owners.
Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese language Twitter clone, asked users in late June: "Do you support the collection of tax on online stores?" As of Monday, more than 5,200 votes had been cast, 85 percent of them against the idea.
Most of those who commented said they worry that taxes would lead to higher prices online and that e-commerce would lose its competitive edge.
"My God, if tax is charged on Net shops, how can we survive? The only way out is to close the store," Heaven Lin posted on Wednesday.
About 7 percent of the votes supported tax collection on Net sales; remaining voters stated no preference. Tianjinwolf said tax should be collected because it would put the sellers under government supervision, better protecting customer rights.
Zhao Yi, 27, would fall into the "no" category. Shopping is how she and her female friends spend their spare time - and their money. Zhao earns 8,000 yuan a month as an office worker in Beijing, and about half of that supports her shopping habit.
"Window shopping is nice but we prefer online shopping right now," she said. And the idea of adding tax to her purchases? "It's awful!" Zhao had just brought a blue party dress on Taobao for 328 yuan, less than she would have paid at a mall. "Look at this. It might be priced at more than 400 yuan with the tax," she said.
Real names, IDs
The regulations issued as "interim measures" last year by the State Administration for Industry &Commerce require online sellers to provide their real names and identification numbers to the shopping platforms where they open their online stores. Previously, some sellers registered with any name they wanted, and ID numbers were not required.
Online stores meeting the requirements to register as companies with their local industry and commerce bureaus - a preliminary to being taxed - are to do so.
Among other requirements, platform operators must regularly check the information they are given; sellers must present a receipt as a record to any buyer who asks for one; and sellers are responsible for providing specific product descriptions and for protecting customer privacy.
An official from the administration said it will begin a nationwide survey of Internet shops this year that aims to collect information on the number and sales of e-commerce shops. The data, to be collected over about three years, will contribute to standardized management of the industry in the future, the administration said.
"We are closely following what's happening, but we have not been told of anything related to taxing online sellers," said Yang Sha, public relations manager of Paipai.com, a shopping website under Internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd.
Taobao.com handled more than two-thirds of China's online shopping last year, with 400 billion yuan in transactions. Its public relations manager, Yan Qiao, said there are two kinds of online stores on Taobao - those registered as companies and those that are not.
Taxing a company or not "depends on whether it's a registered company, not whether it is an online shop", Yan said.
He declined to comment on whether the government should tax online stores, but said that registered companies should pay tax.
Liu, the tax law specialist, thinks that the regulations are the first step toward future taxing of online sales. "Following the providing of real personal information about online sellers, registering in the department of industry and commerce will be the next," he said.
"It is a good thing to consumers because all these actions will contribute a lot to cleaning the market. A short-term hurt is unavoidable, but greater service and high-quality products will come later."
The State Administration of Taxation didn't reply to China Daily's request for an interview about taxation of online shop owners.
