One of the biggest challenges of implementing value-added tax (VAT) collection on cross-border digital goods and services is the compliance with World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations. The lack of a clear distinction between goods and services in the WTO agreements and divergent classifications adopted by states have led to fragmented and inconsistent VAT collection, potentially creating trade barriers in international e-commerce. This article analyses various approaches to classify goods and services including technological neutrality and tradability. It also uses the modernization of Thailand’s VAT system as a case study to demonstrate the complexity of categorizing digital goods and services for VAT enforcement in international e-commerce. It finds that technological neutrality and tradability are key criteria to separate digital goods from e-services for the proper implementation of WTO obligations. The article concludes with remarks on the correlation between categorizing digital goods and services in VAT collection and protectionism in cross-border e-commerce.

中文翻译：

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跨境电子商务中数字商品与电子服务的界限及WTO体系下非歧视的启示

对跨境数字商品和服务征收增值税 (VAT) 的最大挑战之一是遵守世界贸易组织 (WTO) 义务。世贸组织协议中对商品和服务缺乏明确区分，各国采用的分类也存在差异，导致增值税征收分散且不一致，有可能在国际电子商务中造成贸易壁垒。本文分析了对商品和服务进行分类的各种方法，包括技术中立性和可贸易性。它还以泰国增值税制度的现代化作为案例研究，展示了国际电子商务中增值税执法中对数字商品和服务进行分类的复杂性。报告发现，技术中立性和可贸易性是将数字商品与电子服务分开以正确履行世贸组织义务的关键标准。文章最后评论了增值税征收中数字商品和服务的分类与跨境电子商务保护主义之间的相关性。