Abstract: Paragraph 3 of Article 52 of China's Tax Collection and Administration Law stipulates that there is no time limit for the recovery of tax arrears arising from tax evasion,tax resistance and tax fraud.While this provision effectively empowers tax authorities to recover overdue taxes and prevent the loss of state tax revenue,its major drawback is that the unrestricted power of tax arrears recovery ignores the stability of legal relations in tax collection and administration and the protection of taxpayers' reliance interests.From the perspective of normative essence and institutional logic,the tax arrears recovery period prescribed in Article 52 falls within the scope of tax collection period and shall be subject to the rules of limitation of action.To balance state tax interests and taxpayers' legitimate rights and interests,maintain the stability of tax legal relations and effectively constrain the taxation power of tax authorities,the restructuring of the current system governing tax arrears collection period shall comply with the connotations of substantive rule of law such as the principle of proportionality and the principle of legal certainty.In terms of specific rule design,it is necessary to clearly distinguish between the assessment period and collection period in tax collection procedures,define the duration,starting and ending time of tax arrears collection period,as well as the legal consequences upon the expiration of the period.

Key words: tax arrears recovery, tax extinctive prescription, assessment period, collection period, principle of proportionality, principle of legal certainty