Abstract: Digital Service Tax (DST), as an important initiative to address the taxation challenges of the digital economy, has received a lot of attention in recent years. Therefore, this paper utilizes the Global Trade Analysis (GTAP) model and the GTAP 11 database to assess the economic and welfare impacts of the digital services tax on various countries and regions under different tax schemes. The findings show that there are significant differences in the economic impacts of digital services tax on various countries and regions, the higher the tax rate and the wider the scope of the tax, the greater the negative impacts on the economy and social welfare. The levy of digital services tax has a relatively small impact on China; when a lower rate is set, it can promote economic development and improve social welfare. The levy scheme of a global flat rate can promote the economic development of most countries and regions, and improve their terms of trade and social welfare, but different tax rate settings and taxing scope have different impacts on these countries and regions. The impact of taxation on the output of the digital sector in different countries and regions varies among different taxation schemes. In the long run, under dynamic settings, the negative impact of digital service tax on the economy will gradually shrink, while the negative impact on social welfare will gradually expand. Currently, China should develop targeted and flexible digital service tax policies based on its actual situation, actively participate in the formulation of international tax rules and strive for the discourse power of digital service tax. Developing the digital economy is a long-term trend, the government should increase its support for innovation and development in the digital economy.

Key words: digital economy, digital service tax, tax scheme, social welfare, GTAP model