"Administering taxes according to law" was established with 1997' s basic strategy of governing the country according to law, and its symbol was 1998' s Notice of the State Council on Strengthening the Authority of Administering Taxes according to Law and Strict Tax Administration. Objectively speaking, although this policy has been put forward for a long time, some fields and institutions have not yet formed an accurate understanding of it, and it has not been fully and effectively implemented in practice, which is manifested in the obvious shortage of tax law supply, weak operability, poor implementation, and even some phenomena of taxation according to indicators rather than according to law. The author believes that under the overall situation of comprehensively promoting the rule of law, we should strive to create a new normal of governing taxes according to law.

The "new" of the new normal lies in the concept. In the past, there was a concept in society that tax administration according to law meant that tax authorities should collect taxes according to law, and tax law was a law used by the government to manage taxpayers. Under the background of modernization of state governance, the market subject can do without prohibition, and the government department can do without authorization. Tax law has become a law for granting, standardizing and supervising the government's taxation power. Taxation, as a kind of public property, comes from taxpayers and ultimately serves taxpayers, and also reflects the will of taxpayers through laws. In this regard, the communique of the plenary session particularly emphasized "upholding the people's dominant position." This enlightens us that people are no longer passive recipients of tax administration according to law, but the subject and final destination of rights. In short, the "new" concept of administering taxes according to law lies in the transformation from power standard to right standard, from management to rule of law, and from governing people according to law to governing power according to law.

The "normality" of the new normal lies in implementation. Some people think that the core task now is to speed up the tax reform and optimize the tax structure, followed by the rule of law in taxation. In this regard, it should be noted that administering taxes according to law can not only stay in ideas and slogans, but should become the daily norms that tax activities actually pursue. There is no contradiction between promoting tax administration according to law and deepening tax reform. They should be a unified process of coordinated promotion and mutual integration. On the one hand, administering taxes according to law is the goal of reform. Compared with the 1994 tax system reform serving the market economy, the goal of this round of tax system reform is to manage modernization, so it is natural to improve the rule of law. On the other hand, the reform should be carried out under the framework of administering taxes according to law. The communique of the plenary session clearly pointed out: "To achieve the convergence of legislation and reform decision-making, so that major reforms are based on the law, and legislation actively adapts to the needs of reform and economic and social development." This shows that the practice of "breaking the law through reform" will come to an end, and the rule of law will become the normal state of taxation and even the whole social life.

Under the background of comprehensively promoting the rule of law, it is a great progress in terms of positioning, connotation, scope and requirements, although the text has not changed. There is a saying in the law: "The most important law among all laws is not engraved on marble or copper watches, but on the hearts of citizens." The communique of the plenary session also pointed out: "The authority of the law comes from the inner support and sincere belief of the people." The ultimate goal of administering taxes according to law is to make the rule of law in taxation a belief and an inner recognition of both sides. On this basis, it can eliminate taxpayers' opposition and tax anxiety, improve tax compliance internally, and create a cooperative and interactive tax culture.