On the Issue of Defining the Concept of a Digital Platform in the Field of Taxation: The Legal Aspect

Introduction. In the context of the creation and development of digital platforms, the relevance of the problem of defining their concepts and adequately regulating the norms of the tax legislation of the Russian Federation is indisputable, and is due to both contradictions in legal regulation and the difference in opinions expressed in the literature about the essence of digital platforms. Methodology and materials. Russian regulatory legal acts and Internet sources, as well as works by Russian and foreign authors in the field of law, economics and public administration, were used as materials for the study. For the purposes of studying the phenomenon of the digital platform as an object of tax regulation, the following general and special legal methods were used: dialectical method of cognition, methods of comparative analysis, formal legal, method of analogy. Research results. The approaches available in legislation and scientific literature to the concept of a digital platform in the field of taxation are summarized and analyzed, and its main features are identified. The prospects for the transformation of the Federal Tax Service of Russia into a digital platform are considered, and its features are outlined. The creation and functioning of digital platforms in the field of taxation is analyzed using the concept of “the state as a platform”, which made it possible to formulate directions for improving Russian tax legislation in modern conditions.Conclusions. The legal regulation of the concept of a digital platform, including in the field of taxation, is ambiguous. The author formulates the concept of a digital platform, and also highlights its following features: the mandatory use of blockchain technology; the formation of a unified ecosystem of digital services; the existence of legal consequences of the functioning of the digital platform of the Federal Tax Service of Russia. To ensure the functioning of the Federal Tax Service of Russia as a digital platform, it is necessary to: develop a procedure for its functioning; supplement the Tax Code of the Russian Federation with a norm on the obligation of tax authorities to notify about the use of artificial intelligence technology; develop and subsequently publish a policy on the use of artificial intelligence technology.