When we talk about the attribution of tax object,we mean it’s the combinable relationship between the object of tax and the subject of tax. Suppose we could ascertain the object of tax, we would find the subject of tax----taxpayers in virtue of attribution of tax object. Because the taxpayers are specified in most tax articles,the importance of the attribution of tax object is lessened. In fact it is still valuable both in theory and in practice,many difficult tax issues to be solved need the direction of it. So the aim of this article is to discuss the judgment the attribution of tax object.

　　1.The principle of judgement on attribution of tax object

　　Before discussing the principle of judgement on attribution of tax object,we should define the class of tax object firstly. The object of tax is commonly classified into three types:the thing,the behavior and the fact. The object of income tax and the property tax can be deemed as the thing. In this case,how do we judge which person the tax object should be attributed to? I am inclined to adopt “the principle of benefit”. It is to say,if you benefit from the tax object----things,such as income and property,you should pay the tax on basis of the benefit. It’s unfair on occasion that the taxpayers pay the tax without any benefit. But the “benefit” isn’t a legal concept, the taxpayers always are the owners of tax object in tax law,in other words,the object of tax is attributed to the owners of income or property. The exception exists,if the legal owners differ with the beneficial owners,the beneficial owners would be accepted as the taxpayers by tax law.

　　If the object of tax is the behavior,such as most of the consumption tax and sales tax,how do we judge the attribution of tax object? I think,we should adopt“the principle of doer”----the man who do the tings specified by tax law should pay the tax. Because the aim of such tax as consumption tax and sales tax is to limit relevant behavior or to gain fortune from the behavior,it’s reasonable to choose the doer as the taxpayer.

　　The instance that the fact is viewed as the tax object is rarely,only does stamp tax satisfy the condition. We should attribute the tax object to the person who cause the fact. In china,all units and individuals who execute or receive documents in the categories specified in regulations of stamp tax shall be taxpayers,because they cause the fact of execute or receive documents.

　　2. The judgement on attribution of tax object on condition that form disaccords substance

　　Under the common circumstances,the form of tax object coincide with the substance of that. If the variance occurs,how should we judge the attribution of tax object? No doubt,it’s a complicated question.In Japan,for a long period,the scholars have had the different understanding about “the attribution”and formed two distinct views----“the attribution of law”and”the attribution of economy”. The attribution of law refers that we should adhere to the legal substance if the legal substance differs with the lagal form,in other words,the approach.of judging the attribution of tax object ought to coincide with the private law’s principle. However,the attribution of economy is more different,it means when we want to identify the taxpayer,we should judge it from the view of economy other than law. On most condition,they don’t confilt each other. When the legal substance differs from the economic substance,the difference between them behaves more distinct. Take the carte blanche for example,the wife gains income from the trade of securities owned by her husband for the warrant of the husband,who is the true taxpayer? In this case,the answer of two views is the same:the husband because he is both the legal owner of income and the economic owner of it. Let’s face the further question,if the wife obtain the income instead of returning the gains to her husband,who is the taxpayer now? From the view of “the attribution of law”,the husband is the proper taxpayer since he is the legal owner of gains. But ”the attribution of economy” thinks that the wife obtains the gains and benefits from them,so the wife should be the taxpayer. So which view should we prefer to? Because ”the attribution of economy” has some disadvantage:it is easily abused by the authority,it may destroy the law’s stability and definiteness and so on,while “the attribution of law”can avoid them. For this reason,most of scholars approve of “the attribution of law”.

　　3. The judgement on attribution of tax object about the special problems

　　After we confirm the principle of judgement on attribution of tax object,it’s more important to discuss the the special problems of this issue. It contains how to judge the attribution of co-ownership,unclaimed property and trust fund on tax law.

　　3.1 The attribution of co-ownership on tax law.

　　The co-ownership has two basic types:co-ownership by shares and common ownership. The attribution of co-ownership by shares maybe more easy. We know each owner has a pro rata share of benefits of ownership,according to “the principle of benefit”, each owner should pay the tax by a pro rata share. In common ownership the owners collectively have all their rights and subject to all of the responsibility. They have no individually rights. So according to “the principle of benefit”,all owners should pay tax as one whole.It forms the related debt of taxation.

　　3.2 The attribution of unclaimed property on tax law.

　　If there is a unclaimed property whose owner can’t be identified,how can we confirm the taxpayer? There are not any relevant terms in the tax laws.It is accepted that the users of unclaimed property should become the taxpayers. Why? From the view of fairness,they benefit from the unclaimed property and have responsibility to pay tax for it. And from the view of imposeing the tax,it is of convenience to select the users as taxpayers.

　　3.3 The attribution of trust fund on tax law.

　　On the period of trust,who should the gains of trust asset attribute to,and who should pay tax for the gains? The settlor? The rustee? Or the beneficiary? The beneficiary. Because the beneficiary(sometimes the settlor) owned the gains of trust asset,they who gain the benefit should pay tax on the basis of the benefit.

　　4.The legislation suggestion: the judgement on attribution of tax object should be specified in the tax law

　　Although the judgement on attribution of tax object is valuable in both theory and practice,it can not be found in any tax law and regulation. Now there is no “General Principles of The Tax Law of The People’s Republic of China”,in the future, the judgement on attribution of tax object need to be specified in it.