The thesis is devoted to a complex comparative legal study of the legal regulation of taxation of IT-activities. Modern conditions of globalization and the development of new technologies change the ways of doing business and put legislators in the need to adapt to the widespread presence of IT and to change tax legislation. Most countries around the world have faced the need to compete for jurisdiction to tax subjects of IT-activities. The author's attention was focused on defining the legal concept of IT activities for tax purposes, as well as on the analysis of legal regulation of this type of business in the EU Member States, the United States and Ukraine.
In Chapter 1 "The concept and legal nature of taxation of IT activities", based on the study of the doctrinal legacy of domestic and foreign scientists, as well as legal acts, the importance of information technology and components of IT activities has been established. The concept of IT activities for the purpose of taxation is defined as targeted, regulated by law, activity to create socially significant objects by means of computer technologies based on mathematical calculations (algorithms), virtual assets, distributed ledger technologies, digital records, "cloud" computings, technological platforms, domain names, means of individualization of digital devices, etc., which is subject to the establishment and withholding of taxes. The legal nature of IT taxation has been studied and its close connection with the tax sovereignty and tax jurisdiction of states has been established. It is necessary to depart from the concept of physical presence of the subject in the territory of a certain state for its taxation.
In Chapter 2 "Legal regulation of taxation of IT activities in EU member states", the evolution of the legal regulation of taxation of IT activities in the EU member states is studied and demonstrated by four stages: development of general rules and principles of legal regulation of IT activities; emergence of the first national practices of legal regulation of IT taxation in European countries; adaptation of EU tax law to the mobility and cross-border nature of IT activities; seeking legal approaches to solving the problem of taxation of income from IT activities in the jurisdictions where it is created. Based on international and national legal acts, the legal principles of taxation of IT activities in the EU member states are determined and their classification is proposed. Based on the analysis of the legal regulation of taxation of IT activities in the EU, its features are researched: fundamental reform of the VAT collection system; legal regulation of direct taxation; legal regulation of cryptocurrency taxation.
In Chapter 3 "Legal Regulation of IT Taxation in the United States", the evolution of the legal regulation of IT taxation in the United States has been analyzed; its classification is clarified, depending on the interpretation of the Permanent Representation Rule, in accordance with key US case law. The principles of legal regulation of IT taxation in the United States, formulated in the White House report, are studied and analyzed. The peculiarities of the legal regulation of IT taxation in the United States are clarified: absence of VAT and application of sales tax and use tax; an approach to defining permanent representation through sufficient communication (nexus), the interpretation of which has evolved from focusing solely on physical presence to eliminating the need for physical presence in a particular state; taxation of cryptocurrency as property with capital gains tax.
In Chapter 4 "Legal regulation of taxation of IT activities in Ukraine", based on a study of domestic legal acts and judicial practice, the evolution of the legal regulation of IT taxation in Ukraine was demonstrated and it was established that Ukraine is in its second stage. The legal principles of taxation of IT activities in Ukraine are studied, special attention is paid to the principles of neutrality and equality of taxation, as well as the principle of determining tax jurisdiction according to the country of destination. The domestic legislation in the field of taxation of IT activity is analyzed, its general features and peculiarities in comparison with foreign experience are established.
