Virtues and Fallacies of VAT: An Evaluation after 50 Years

Virtues and Fallacies of VAT: An Evaluation after 50 Years
Author: Robert F. van Brederode
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
Total Pages: 615
Release: 2021-08-09
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9403524243

Value-added tax (VAT) is a mainstay of revenue systems in more than 160 countries. Because consumption is a more stable revenue base than other tax bases, VAT is less distorting and hence more likely to encourage investment, savings, optimum labor supply decisions, and growth. VAT is not without criticism however, and faces its own specific technical and policy challenges. This book, the first to thoroughly evaluate VAT from a global policy perspective after over 50 years of experience with its intricacies, offers authoritative perspectives on VAT’s full spectrum—from its signal successes to the subtle ways its application can undermine revenue performance and economic neutrality. The contributors—leading tax practitioners and academics—examine the key policy issues and topics that are crucially relevant for measuring the success of the tax in the first part of the book, including: revenue generation and revenue efficiency; single rate versus multiple rates; susceptibility to fraud; exemptions and exceptions; compliance cost for businesses; policy and compliance gaps in revenue collection; adjustment rules caused by the transactional nature of the tax; transfer pricing issues; treatment of vouchers; permanent establishments and holding companies; payment of refunds; cross-border digital transactions; and supplies for free or below cost price. The second part offers six country reports—on New Zealand, Japan, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, and India—to demonstrate the different ways in which VAT operates in a variety of national economies. Whether a government is contemplating the imposition of a general consumption tax for the first time or new rules for applying an existing one, it is important for policymakers to keep central the aim to design a tax that realizes optimal efficiency and causes minimal distortions. This invaluable book serves as an expert guide to VAT policy development in this area. It will be welcomed not only by concerned government officials but also by tax professionals (both lawyers and accountants) and academics in tax law.

Virtues and Fallacies of VAT

Virtues and Fallacies of VAT
Author: Robert F. van Brederode
Publisher:
Total Pages: 728
Release: 2021-08-09
Genre:
ISBN: 9789403524238

Value-added tax (VAT) is a mainstay of revenue systems in more than 160 countries. Because consumption is a more stable revenue base than other tax bases, VAT is less distorting and hence more likely to encourage investment, savings, optimum labor supply decisions, and growth. VAT is not without criticism however, and faces its own specific technical and policy challenges. This book, the first to thoroughly evaluate VAT from a global policy perspective after over 50 years of experience with its intricacies, offers authoritative perspectives on VAT's full spectrum--from its signal successes to the subtle ways its application can undermine revenue performance and economic neutrality. The contributors--leading tax practitioners and academics--examine the key policy issues and topics that are crucially relevant for measuring the success of the tax in the first part of the book, including: revenue generation and revenue efficiency; single rate versus multiple rates; susceptibility to fraud; exemptions and exceptions; compliance cost for businesses; policy and compliance gaps in revenue collection; adjustment rules caused by the transactional nature of the tax; transfer pricing issues; treatment of vouchers; permanent establishments and holding companies; payment of refunds; cross-border digital transactions; and supplies for free or below cost price. The second part offers six country reports--on New Zealand, Japan, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, and India--to demonstrate the different ways in which VAT operates in a variety of national economies. Whether a government is contemplating the imposition of a general consumption tax for the first time or new rules for applying an existing one, it is important for policymakers to keep central the aim to design a tax that realizes optimal efficiency and causes minimal distortions. This invaluable book serves as an expert guide to VAT policy development in this area. It will be welcomed not only by concerned government officials but also by tax professionals (both lawyers and accountants) and academics in tax law.

Justice, Equality and Tax Law

Justice, Equality and Tax Law
Author: Nevia Čičin-Šain
Publisher: Linde Verlag GmbH
Total Pages: 541
Release: 2022-10-05
Genre: Law
ISBN: 3709412587

An in-depth analysis of the specific aspects of justice, equality and tax law "Justice, Equality and Tax Law" is a topic that is both old and new at the same time. Even if the society changes, the demands that tax needs to be just and equal seem to be immutable. What changes, of course, is the perception of the content of those demands. International taxation post-BEPS has been fraught with new challenges that warranted urgent responses. These challenges were mainly provoked by the unprecedented rise of the digital economy which truly marked a change in the way business is conducted, how value is created, and how goods and services are produced and consumed. Digitalization, in turn, had repercussions on all aspects of taxation - direct taxation, indirect taxation, and even tax procedures. For instance, the quest for more justice and equality in profit taxes was the reason why, in October 2021, a historical deal based on a two-pillar solution to address the tax challenges arising from the digitalization of the economy was negotiated within the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting and agreed upon by 137 member countries. It was also the motive behind the shift from a typical vendor collection model to an intermediary collection model supported by centralized registration points in indirect taxes, notably the VAT/GST. Abundant data from the European Union or the OECD signalized an ever-increasing gap between expected VAT revenues and VAT actually collected, making it obvious that the classical system of VAT/GST collection was unable to respond to challenges posed by the digital economy. Therefore, new solutions based on the participation of digital platforms as intermediaries had been introduced. Finally, new technologies, such as blockchain, paved new avenues in enhancing tax compliance. In this context, this volume entitled "Justice, Equality, and Tax Law" contains not only a selection of the best master ́s theses of the full-time LL.M. programme in 2021/2022 but also represents an in-depth analysis of various aspects of this evergreen topic.

CJEU - Recent Developments in Value Added Tax 2021

CJEU - Recent Developments in Value Added Tax 2021
Author: Georg Kofler
Publisher: Linde Verlag GmbH
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2023-01-11
Genre: Law
ISBN: 370941279X

The most important and recent judgments of the CJEU Considering the ever-increasing importance of indirect taxation as a source of revenue for governments, the intensifying complexity of the legal framework, and the proliferating number of countries adopting indirect taxation, it is essential to scrutinize how the law is applied in practice. The primary driving force in this area is, undoubtedly, the Court of Justice of the European Union. This book analyses selected topics (e.g. taxpayer rights in EU VAT law, bad debt and insolvency in VAT law, taxable base and rates, exemptions, and deductions) by examining the most prominent and recent judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Experts from all over the world, not just from academia but also government and judiciary representatives as well as tax practitioners, have provided their input and helped us compile what is an informative and worthy read for anyone dealing with indirect taxation on a professional basis.

Vat in the Digital Era

Vat in the Digital Era
Author:
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2023-12-14
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0198888309

With the growth of the digitalized economy, VAT on cross-border digital supplies has emerged as an important issue. Yet, views and practices regarding the application of the VAT on these supplies differ significantly across different jurisdictions. A lack of international VAT harmonization can cause double taxation or unintended double non-taxation, resulting in distortions and revenue losses. VAT in the Digital Era considers unilateral and multilateral options for the creation of an internationally coordinated VAT framework. Providing analysis of the status quo in key jurisdictions, the book explores the implications of the digitalized economy for the VAT systems across borders. It outlines possible approaches that can be taken to achieve a more consistent international VAT treatment of cross-border supplies, and the extent to which a multilateral solution would be preferable and achievable at the international level. Bringing together contributions from leading international voices in the VAT law and policy and international taxation fields, VAT in the Digital Era addresses current issues and proposes ways to coordinate VAT rules on cross-border digital supplies. This new book is essential reading for academics, researchers, governments, and other financial organisations involved with the world's most important indirect tax.

Short-Term Rental Platforms as Deemed Suppliers in the EU VAT System

Short-Term Rental Platforms as Deemed Suppliers in the EU VAT System
Author: Emilia Teresa Sroka
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2024-09-19
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9403543183

Although much has been written and discussed about value-added tax (VAT) as an important source of public revenue in the EU, to date, the complex issue of the VAT liability of intermediaries operating in the digital realm remains underexplored. This book is the first to provide an in-depth examination of the VAT qualification of short-term rental platforms and their associated regulatory challenges, and also analyse and compare three deemed supplier models – intermediators of electronic services, e-commerce, and accommodation services – within the EU VAT system. The author details all the essential topics arising from the platform economy’s impact on the short-term rental sector and VAT collection challenges, including the following: existing VAT regulations relevant to the accommodation sector; online hosts as VAT taxable persons; classification of services provided by platforms; platforms as undisclosed agents; application of Article 28 of the VAT Directive to short-term rental platforms; the role of intermediaries in the VAT collection; the concept of the deemed supplier and its role in the EU VAT system. By describing the deemed supplier solution on the example of transactions through short-term rental platforms, the book facilitates compliance and strategic planning for platform operators, tax practitioners, and other professionals dealing with VAT in the EU. It will also prove advantageous in the development of effective VAT policies and regulations, ultimately contributing to improved tax collection and economic efficiency.

Political Philosophy and Taxation

Political Philosophy and Taxation
Author: Robert F. van Brederode
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 421
Release: 2022-06-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9811910928

This book explores how taxation is related to the role of the state and its relationship with its constituents, the concept of private property rights, the concepts of societal fairness and justice, and the battle between the individual and the collective. This book appeals to students and scholars who want to know how philosophers in the past and present think about taxation, and how their thinking has developed through cross-influencing. There exists no comprehensive study providing such an overview. This book is a foundational study on the philosophical justification of taxation (qualitative aspect) and the normative qualifications required of tax law to constitute tax that is just and fair (distributive or quantitative aspect). The latter includes evaluation of what type of tax is morally correct or acceptable to realize distributive justice. This book covers periods from the Enlightenment era until the present. The philosophers are grouped together in schools of thought and each chapter except for chapter 1 and chapter 13, are is dedicated to a specific philosophical school. Moreover, this book aims to provide an overview of each school of thinking and the individual philosophers, including placing them in the context of their times. The book has particular importance as the study of taxation is an underdeveloped area of political and legal philosophy.

Fiscal Policy and Public Financial Management

Fiscal Policy and Public Financial Management
Author: Pinaki Chakraborty
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2024-08-31
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0198930453

Over time, the scope of public finance, as a branch of economics, has expanded with the changing role of governments. When considered from the positive as well as normative perspectives, this subject is no longer confined to the understanding of only public revenue or taxation, public expenditure, and public debt. Issues related to climate finance and climate change, environmental federalism, and the trans-jurisdictional implications of global public goods have emerged as themes of critical relevance. When it comes to public financial management, several new areas have become relevant for policy, including the understanding of fiscal transparency, legislative control over borrowing, and the establishment of independent fiscal institutions such as fiscal councils. Fiscal Policy and Public Financial Management presents a range of contributions dealing with the evolving frontiers of research on the subject. It highlights specific themes related to direct and indirect taxes, tax evasion, public expenditure and debt, fiscal and environmental federalism, fiscal transparency, budget management, climate change and climate finance, and public sector investment appraisals. The diverse array of issues covered in this volume thus provides important analytical insights on the complexity and challenges of fiscal management in India and the emerging issues in public financial management, including climate finance.

Economic Objects and the Objects of Economics

Economic Objects and the Objects of Economics
Author: Peter Róna
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2018-08-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3319945297

This book examines the nature of economic objects that form the subject matter of economics, and studies how they resemble or differ from the objects studied by the natural sciences. It explores the question of whether economic objects created by modern economics sufficiently represent economic reality, and confronts the question whether tools, techniques and the methodology borrowed from the natural sciences are appropriate for the analysis of economic reality. It demonstrates the unsustainability of rational choice theory. It looks at economic agents, such as individuals, groups, legally constituted entities, algorithms, or robots, how they function and how they are represented in economics. The volume further examines the extent, if any, that mathematics can represent the objects of the economy, such as supply and demand, equilibrium, marginal utility, or the money supply as they actually occur in the economy, and as they are represented in economics. Finally, the volume explores whether the subject matter of economics – however defined – is the proper subject of theoretical knowledge, whether economics is an analytic or a descriptive discipline, or if it is more properly seen in the domain of practical reason. Specifically, the book looks at the importance and the ambiguity of the ontology of modern economics, temporality, reflexivity, the question of incommensurability, and their implications for economic policy.

Philosophy for AS and A Level

Philosophy for AS and A Level
Author: Michael Lacewing
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 497
Release: 2017-07-14
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1351696130

Philosophy for AS and A Level is an accessible textbook for the new 2017 AQA Philosophy syllabus. Structured closely around the AQA specification this textbook covers the two units shared by the AS and A Level, Epistemology and Moral Philosophy, in an engaging and student-friendly way. With chapters on 'How to do philosophy', exam preparation providing students with the philosophical skills they need to succeed, and an extensive glossary to support understanding, this book is ideal for students studying philosophy. Each chapter includes: argument maps that help to develop student’s analytical and critical skills comprehension questions to test understanding discussion questions to generate evaluative argument explanation and commentary on the AQA set texts ‘Thinking harder’ sections cross-references to help students make connections bullet-point summaries of each topic. The companion website hosts a wealth of further resources, including PowerPoint slides, flashcards, further reading, weblinks and handouts, all structured to accompany the textbook. It can be found at www.routledge.com/cw/alevelphilosophy.