Some tax considerations regarding the collaborative economy

Within the framework of the digital economy, the collaborative economy is based upon the idea of sharing instead of possessing. It is a concept that has seen constant, unstoppable and rapid growth as it uses computer platforms to share and exchange products and services that, in turn, expand to provide an open and clear threat to traditional businesses. At the same time, the phenomenon provides many opportunities and a number of challenges that call for a response. That is why its activities need to be regulated at both national and international levels to safeguard the rights of all the players involved, whilst also ensuring compliance with their obligations, particularly in terms of taxes.

The tax treatment of the collaborative economy is a complex and by no means unified issue, depending as it does upon the specific type of initiative in question and also the operator(s) involved. Furthermore, it is a phenomenon that must, on occasions, be dealt with from an international tax standpoint, since a number of different national tax systems may come into play at once as transnational transactions may be involved. To this end, there is a pressing need to establish forms of cooperation between tax authorities in areas such as information and collection to ensure proper implementation of taxation systems.