"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.

Key breakthroughs: speed up legislation, standardize collection and management, and strengthen coordinated relief.

The communique of the plenary session made an overall plan for comprehensively promoting the six major tasks of governing the country according to law. Although it does not directly involve fiscal and taxation issues, it puts forward a series of requirements, which undoubtedly points out the direction for promoting the construction of tax rule of law. In the future, in accordance with the requirements of "forming a complete legal norm system, an efficient implementation system of the rule of law, a strict supervision system of the rule of law, and a strong guarantee system of the rule of law", we should make concerted efforts in the following aspects and comprehensively promote the administration of taxes according to law.

First, speed up tax legislation. "Law is the heavy weapon of governing the country, and good law is the premise of good governance." The plenary session called for "strengthening legislation in key areas". Combined with the task of "implementing the statutory principle of taxation" put forward by the Third Plenary Session, tax legislation will be an important part of building the rule of law system in Socialism with Chinese characteristics, and separate tax laws such as real estate tax law and environmental tax law are expected to be accelerated; At the same time, it is required to "grasp the key to improve the quality of legislation" and further promote scientific legislation and democratic legislation, which puts forward new requirements for the next stage of tax legislation in improving the legitimacy of legal substance, improving the legislative system and mechanism, and broadening the channels for citizens to participate in legislation in an orderly manner. It is noteworthy that the communique puts forward: "To govern the country according to law, we must first uphold the Constitution, and to govern according to law, we must first uphold the Constitution", "Improve the system of constitutional implementation and supervision, improve the system of constitutional supervision of the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee, and improve the procedural mechanism of constitutional interpretation", which may provide a favorable opportunity for taxation to be incorporated into the Constitution according to law.

The second is to standardize tax collection and management. The plenary session put forward: "the vitality of law lies in implementation, and the authority of law lies in implementation." In accordance with the requirements of a government ruled by law with scientific functions, statutory powers and responsibilities, strict law enforcement, openness and fairness, honesty and efficiency, and law-abiding, the key and difficult point for fiscal and taxation organs to implement is to promote the legalization of institutions, functions, authorities, procedures and responsibilities, and to implement the list system of tax law enforcement powers. As a highlight of this plenary session, "establishing a lifelong accountability system and accountability mechanism for major decisions" should also be explored and implemented in the field of tax law enforcement, and illegal tax collection and tax use should be severely investigated. At the same time, under the guidance of the revision of the tax administration law, how to improve the tax collection procedures, standardize the tax administrative discretion, and generally set up the general tax consultant are all issues worthy of attention. In addition, it is necessary to further promote the tax service, and put forward new requirements for canceling the examination and approval items, promoting the openness of government affairs, simplifying the tax procedures, reducing the burden of work, and shortening the time limit for completion, on the basis of the original measures such as the Spring Festival to facilitate tax action.

The third is to strengthen tax relief. The plenary session demanded: "Improve the mechanism for resolving disputes by safeguarding rights according to law, establish and improve the early warning mechanism for social contradictions, the interest expression mechanism, the consultation and communication mechanism, and the relief mechanism, and smooth the legal channels for coordinating the interests of the masses and safeguarding rights and interests." In the aspect of administering taxes according to law, this should be mainly manifested in improving the supervision and accountability mechanism of tax law enforcement and effectively protecting taxpayers' right to obtain relief, especially judicial relief. Tax authorities should change the thinking of maintaining stability in pursuit of "zero disputes", emphasize the way of resolving disputes and contradictions through the rule of law, realize fairness and justice through individual cases, and improve the legal compliance and belief in the rule of law of the whole society. In addition, the plenary session proposed "exploring the establishment of a public interest litigation system by procuratorial organs". Under the background that environmental litigation and consumer protection litigation have been gradually carried out, taxpayer litigation may be expected to test the water when the time is ripe.

The fourth is to cultivate awareness of tax law. In accordance with the requirements of the plenary session of "promoting the whole society to establish the awareness of the rule of law and carrying out in-depth publicity and education on the rule of law", we should increase the publicity and popularization of the tax law to the society. In accordance with the requirements of "building a high-quality professional team of the rule of law", we should enhance the legal awareness of tax personnel, enhance the ability to use the rule of law thinking and act according to law, and standardize and strengthen the construction of registered tax agents and tax lawyers.

The power to levy taxes is the power to destroy, and the power to use taxes is the power to survive and develop. Under the background of modernization of state governance, administering taxes according to law is the foundation and pillar part of governing the country according to law. Guided by the spirit of the Third and Fourth Plenary Sessions of the 18th CPC Central Committee, we will comprehensively promote the administration of taxes according to law, and then play its due role in regulating financial management, strengthening the country and enriching the people, and contribute to the strategic goals of economic development, political clarity, cultural prosperity, social justice, good ecology and long-term stability of the country.