Study on the Protection of Taxpayer Rights in an era of Automatic Exchange of Tax Information

Research project ‘Study on the Protection of Taxpayer Rights in an era of Automatic Exchange of Tax Information'

Promoters: prof. dr. Bart Peeters & prof. dr. Mark Delanote
Researcher: Zhe Chen

Short Description


The research concerns a comparative study of taxpayer protection between the EU and China under the automatic exchange of financial information. During the last two decades, the exchange of information has been propelled worldwide to combat aggressive tax planning and tax evasion. The exchanging method has also evolved from exchanging information on request to automatically. The extending automatic exchange of information also arouses concerns since the protection of taxpayers under the mechanism seems insufficient.

Hence, the research seeks to improve awareness for taxpayer protection under the exchange of information in China. A comparative study concerning taxpayer protection in the EU will be implemented to find possible clues for solving the problems. As such, it will be investigated what kind of taxpayer rights need to be preserved in the automatic exchange of information, what procedural safeguards and remedies are needed for taxpayers to exercise their rights, participate in the exchanging process, and safeguard themselves.

By illuminating the previously ignored or under-examined issues, this research aims to fill the gap, provide legal and practical proposals, and raise proposals to promote the optimal protection for taxpayers in China.