On March 28, 2023, the Qingdao Municipal Taxation Bureau of the State Administration of Taxation released the "2022 Report on the Construction of a Rule of Law Government". In the seventh part of "Improving Rights Relief and Dispute Resolution Mechanisms", it was mentioned that the Qingdao Municipal Taxation System accepted 49 applications for tax law assistance (tax dispute assistance) in 2022, and 12 of them changed their original handling opinions, accounting for 24%. Compared to the reports on the construction of a rule of law government published by other provinces, only the tax system of Qingdao City has a dispute resolution mechanism of tax law assistance. And this system has not appeared at the level of national legal documents. So what is "tax law assistance", what role does it play in the mechanism for resolving tax disputes, and what types of cases and taxpayers are it applicable to? Next, we will analyze one by one.

1、 Legal Procedure for Non Tax Dispute Resolution of 'Tax Law Assistance'

In the legal documents at the national level, there is no provision for "tax assistance", which can be determined as not a legal procedure for resolving tax disputes. From the information currently retrieved, it can be seen that although some tax authorities in certain regions have mentioned the term "tax aid" in their documents, only the Qingdao tax system has truly implemented "tax aid" and refined its implementation as a system. We will summarize the references to "tax law assistance" in various documents as follows.

1. Fuzhou City

According to the Notice of the Fuzhou Local Taxation Bureau on Further Strengthening the Management of Local Tax Collection and Payment in Administrative Institutions, Social Organizations, and Private Non enterprise Units (Rongdi Shui Zheng [2003] No. 270), all types of taxpayers who apply for tax registration, purchase invoices, tax declaration, payment of taxes (fees) and other tax related matters, as well as consulting tax policies, can consult and handle relevant matters at the local tax authorities, You can also consult the Tax Law Assistance Center of Fuzhou Local Taxation Bureau.

2. Nanning City

The Implementation Plan for the "Service Enterprise Year" Activity of Nanning Local Taxation Bureau in 2010 (Nandi Tax Law [2010] No. 73) stipulates that tax law assistance activities should be carried out to supplement legal relief channels such as administrative reconsideration and litigation, and tax assistance work should be carried out. In tax administration activities such as tax collection and management, when taxpayers and tax authorities have tax disputes, they can request the tax authorities to explain the applicable tax laws, regulations, and policies and coordinate the relevant disputes with the taxpayer's active application. After accepting the application, the tax authorities shall promptly coordinate, resolve and resolve disputes. The document also specifies the requirements for tax aid activities.

3. Hefei City

The "Implementation Opinions of Hefei Local Taxation Bureau on Comprehensively Promoting the Rule of Law in Taxation" (HDSF (2015) No. 65) proposes to explore the legal aid mechanism of local tax authorities, establish a tax law aid team, and provide timely and effective legal assistance to taxpayers.

4. Anshun City

The "Report of the Anshun Taxation Bureau of the State Administration of Taxation on the Work of Rule of Law Tax Construction in 2018" specifies the improvement of the tax law assistance mechanism in the tax system. Starting from the aspects of scope, content, methods, and methods, we will improve the mechanism for early intervention of tax law assistance in tax inspections and tax assessments that are prone to tax disputes, and improve the linkage mechanism for tax law assistance in tax management. We will strive to resolve tax administrative disputes at the grassroots level, in the initial stage, and in administrative procedures. The second is to focus on improving the ability of law enforcement personnel to resolve disputes in accordance with the law, and to resolve disputes through multiple channels.

5. Suihua City

Notice of the Suihua City Taxation Bureau of the State Administration of Taxation on Printing and Distributing the Implementation Plan for Promoting the Work of "Non seeking Taxation" by the Suihua City Taxation Bureau of the State Administration of Taxation (Sui Shui Han [2019] No. 120), 4. Main Tasks,... (8) Tax Law Assistance to Non seeking Taxation. Improve the complaint mechanism for tax services. Smooth complaint acceptance channels such as the tax service hall, 12366 tax service hotline, website, and petition, regularly summarize, analyze, and study complaint matters, and achieve the transformation from passive acceptance of complaints to proactive prevention of complaints; Smooth channels for tax administrative relief. Handle tax related administrative reconsideration and litigation cases in accordance with the law, and conscientiously fulfill the reconsideration decisions and effective judgments and rulings

6. Qingdao City

Notice of Qingdao State Taxation Bureau on Establishing a Tax Law Assistance System (Qing Guo Shui Fa [2008] No. 115), Opinions of Qingdao State Taxation Bureau on Further Improving Tax Law Assistance Work (Qing Guo Shui Fa [2009] No. 173) The "Notice of the State Administration of Taxation of Qingdao on Strengthening the Propaganda Work of the Professional Tax Collection and Management System" (Qing Guo Shui Han [2010] No. 46) and the "Notice of the State Administration of Taxation of Qingdao on Carrying out Tax Dispute Assistance Work" stipulate the implementation of tax legal assistance from different levels.

The design of the "tax aid" function by tax authorities in different regions is not unified. Some only use top-level conceptual design, while others designate it as a consulting agency. Currently, only the Qingdao tax system has implemented it as a complete system.

2、 Tax Law Assistance "is an Effective Way to Resolve Tax Disputes

As currently only the Qingdao tax system has provided a detailed system design for "tax aid", we will conduct a detailed analysis of the tax aid system in Qingdao with the aim of providing assistance to taxpayers in the city.

（1） The scope of application for tax aid is not completely consistent with the scope of administrative reconsideration

According to the Notice of the Qingdao Municipal Taxation Bureau of the State Administration of Taxation on Carrying out Tax Dispute Assistance Work, taxpayers, payers, and tax authorities may apply for tax dispute assistance from the tax dispute assistance center with acceptance authority when a tax dispute involving fees may affect their legitimate rights and interests. The dispute content includes: tax collection behavior; Administrative licensing behavior; Invoice management behavior; Tax preservation measures and enforcement measures; Administrative penalty behavior; Qualification determination behavior; Failure to confirm tax guarantee behavior in accordance with the law; Tax credit rating behavior; Administrative compensation behavior; Administrative incentives and other specific tax administrative actions.

According to the scope specified in the above documents, tax law assistance refers to services provided for specific administrative actions that are not satisfied. The scope of acceptance is not completely consistent with the scope of administrative review cases stipulated in Article 14 of Chapter 3 of the Tax Administrative Review Rules. Qingdao taxpayers can apply for tax law assistance for specific administrative actions stipulated in Article 1 of the Notice of the State Administration of Taxation Qingdao Taxation Bureau on Carrying out Tax Dispute Assistance Work.

（2） The receiving authority for tax aid

Article 2 of the "Notice of the State Administration of Taxation Qingdao Taxation Bureau on Carrying out Tax Dispute Assistance Work" stipulates that taxpayers and taxpayers who have disputes over specific tax administrative actions made by the Qingdao Taxation Bureau and its dispatched agencies that may affect their legitimate rights and interests can apply for assistance to the Qingdao Taxation Bureau Tax Dispute Assistance Center. Taxpayers and taxpayers who have disputes over specific tax administrative actions made by the tax bureaus and their dispatched agencies in each district (city) that may affect their legitimate rights and interests should, in principle, first apply for assistance to the tax dispute assistance center of each district (city) tax bureau. Taxpayers and taxpayers who have disputes over specific tax administrative actions made by the First, Second, and Third Inspection Bureaus of the Qingdao Municipal Taxation Bureau that may affect their legitimate rights and interests should, in principle, first apply for assistance to the Tax Dispute Assistance Center of the Qingdao Municipal Taxation Bureau Inspection Bureau.

According to the provisions of this article, tax aid can only be brought to the first level tax authority. If you are dissatisfied with the results of tax aid, it is not stipulated in this document whether you can continue to bring it to the higher level authority. However, in practice, there are situations where taxpayers are not prohibited from continuing to file tax aid with higher-level authorities.

（3） Application channels for tax aid

The methods for taxpayers and taxpayers to apply for tax dispute assistance are: 1. On site application. Taxpayers and taxpayers can directly apply for tax dispute assistance by filling out the "Tax Dispute Assistance Application Form" at the tax dispute assistance center or tax dispute assistance window with acceptance authority; 2. Network application. Taxpayers and taxpayers can log in to the "Interactive Center - Rights Protection - Administrative Relief - Tax Dispute Assistance" module of Qingdao Electronic Taxation Bureau to apply online; 3. Letter application. Taxpayers and payers can apply by mailing a letter to the Tax Dispute Assistance Center.

3、 Taxpayers applying tax law assistance

Setting up tax law assistance beyond the procedures of tax administrative reconsideration and litigation is inevitably an effective supplement to resolving tax disputes. From the data released by the Qingdao Municipal Taxation Bureau in 2022, it can be seen that in 2022, the city's two-level administrative review committees concluded 61 administrative reviews, and the Qingdao tax system accepted 49 applications for tax law assistance (tax dispute assistance). It can be seen that tax aid is an effective way to resolve tax disputes among taxpayers. So, what type of taxpayer is most suitable for using tax aid?

（1） Taxpayers who are unable to fully pay taxes or provide tax guarantees

According to Article 33 of the Tax Administrative Reconsideration Rules, if an applicant applies for administrative reconsideration in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph, they must first pay or remit the tax and late fee in accordance with the tax amount and deadline determined by the tax authorities in accordance with laws and regulations, or provide corresponding guarantees, Only after paying off the taxes and late fees, or after obtaining confirmation from the tax authorities that have taken specific administrative actions, can an administrative reconsideration application be submitted within 60 days.

If taxpayers are unable to pay or remit taxes in advance, or provide tax guarantees, resulting in the inability to apply administrative reconsideration, they can apply tax law assistance for the tax processing part.

（2） Tax cases that have passed the deadline for reconsideration and litigation

The review period given in the Tax Administrative Review Rules is 60 days. The litigation period granted by the Administrative Litigation Law is six months. If the deadline is exceeded, the qualification for reconsideration or litigation will be lost. In this case, if the taxpayer still plans to provide relief for specific administrative actions taken by the tax authorities, the tax law assistance procedure can be applied. Through tax aid procedures, tax authorities are allowed to review the substantive and procedural issues of the case itself.

summary

Based on the data of Qingdao's tax aid in 2022 (with 12 cases changing their original handling opinions, accounting for 24%), it can be seen that tax aid has indeed played a good role in resolving tax disputes. We believe that Qingdao's strong attempt will also provide good reference for tax authorities in other regions, and this system will have the opportunity to be promoted nationwide. At present, if taxpayers within the scope of Qingdao have doubts about the specific administrative actions taken by the tax authorities, or believe that the facts of the specific administrative actions are unclear, the evidence is insufficient, the application basis is incorrect, the content is inappropriate, and the procedures are illegal, they can also hire tax lawyers to bring tax law assistance to the tax authorities on their behalf, in order to change the original specific administrative actions during the tax law assistance process.