2018考研复习进行时，考研英语阅读真题中的文章，多摘自英美主流外刊，有时候你认识所有单词、搞清全部语法还不够，还需要了解英美文化，掌握他们的表达方式，这就是阅读的潜台词。下面新东方在线考研整理《2018考研英语双语阅读精选》，速来学习吧！
Customers might have to pay tax on goods and services bought online
网上购物将要纳税?
Goods and services tax (GST) could soon be levied on e-commerce purchases as the Government looks to diversify its tax base and capture value from this fast-growing sector, experts said.
专家表示，随着政府寻求税基的多元化，并从这个快速发展的行业获益，政府很快就会对电子商务行业征收商品和服务税(GST)。
This could mean getting big e-commerce players to register for GST here if they sell to Singapore consumers, or getting the customers themselves to pay tax on the goods and services they buy online.
这将意味着，大型电子商务公司想要在新加坡出售商品就要在本地注册商品和服务税(GST)，或者让消费者对他们自己在网上购买的商品和服务纳税。
Their comments come after Senior Minister of State for Law and Finance Indranee Rajah said in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday (Nov 21) that e-commerce will likely come under the local tax regime soon.
在他们发表这番言论前，法律和金融国务大臣Indranee Rajah于星期二(11月21日)在彭博社的一次采访上表示，电子商务可能很快纳入当地税收制度下。
"You can imagine, 20 years from now, the way people purchase is very different and by that time online platforms will be mainstays, so if that’s not part of the tax regime, there’s going to be a lot of holes there," she said.
她说：“你可以想象，二十年后，人们的购物方式将有很大差别。到那时，网上平台将成为中流砥柱，所以如果网购不纳入税收，就将会出现很多漏洞。”
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said in the Budget earlier this year too that the Government was studying ways to tax e-commerce.
财政部长王瑞杰(Heng Swee Keat)在今年初的财政预算案中也提到，政府正在研究电子商务征税制度。
Currently, online purchases of goods and services under $400 are not taxed in Singapore. "The $400 GST exemption threshold could be reviewed for the purposes of capturing online shopping transactions," said KPMG Singapore’s head of tax, Mr Chiu Wu Hong.
目前在新加坡，400美元以下的在线商品和服务交易不征税。新加坡毕马威税务主管Mr Chiu Wu Hong说：“可以审查400美元的GST免税门槛来从网购中获益。”
"Digital services (eg music downloads, e-books) rendered by foreign companies could be brought into the GST net by using a ’reverse charge’ mechanism, or by way of requiring them to register for GST if they were to provide to end consumers in Singapore."
“由外国公司提供的数字服务(如音乐下载、电子书)可以通过‘反向收费’机制纳入GST网，或者要求外国公司注册GST如果他们想销给新加坡的终端消费者的话。”
A reverse charge mechanism requires the customer to account for the tax on supplies received from foreign suppliers.
反向收费机制要求消费者缴纳从国外供应商购入的商品的税费。
PwC Singapore’s Asia Pacific indirect tax leader Koh Soo How noted too that the Government has said that the main intention of bringing online shopping within the tax regime is to make it a level playing field between local GST-registered retailers and overseas sellers.
普华永道(PwC)新加坡亚太地区的间接税负责人Koh Soo How也指出，政府已表示，对网购征税的主要目的是为当地GST注册零售商和海外卖家打造一个公平竞争的环境。
"There are different collection models for imposing the GST on cross-border transactions. However, what most countries have settled on when taxing the digital economy is the vendor collection model which is seen to be most feasible in terms of practicality and costs," he said.
他说：“对跨境交易的GST有不同的征收模式。然而，就可操作性和成本而言，大多数国家在征收数字经济税的时候会选择供应商征收模式，这似乎是最实际的。”
Under such a model, the overseas vendor is required to register for GST to collect and account for GST on sales to consumers in the local country.
在这样一种模式下，海外供应商就需注册GST来缴纳和解释销售给本地消费者的GST。
Mr Yeo Kai Eng, a GST services partner at Ernst & Young Solutions, noted that this has been a common approach in several countries, which have also introduced simplified GST registration for overseas suppliers of digital services and low-value goods to make it less onerous on the e-commerce players.
安永会计师事务所(Ernst & Young Solutions)的消费税服务合伙人Yeo Kai Eng表示，供应商征收模式在好几个国家中已经是很常见的做法，也为海外数字服务和低值商品供应商简化了GST注册手续，使电子商务供应商减轻负担。
"The key for Singapore is not to rush into it," he said. "Consultation with key stakeholders should be made to study the impact and effectiveness of any new measures to impose GST on overseas suppliers of digital services and low-value goods before they are introduced."
他说：“新加坡不要急于求成，在制定征收海外供应商的数字服务和低值商品的GST新措施之前，应该咨询主要的利益相关者来研究其影响力和有效性。”