Money launderers and tax havens: Two sides of the same coin?

This paper investigates whether tax havens have an incentive to maintain low regulatory standards in order to attract black money activities. Using a new dataset on money laundering regulation, the results of this study show that tax haven and money laundering services coincide within the same country. This effect is especially observable for regulative instruments which increase the probability of detecting money laundering; whereas in the case of punitive regulation for money laundering the complementary relationship is weaker, perhaps due to a “false friends” effect. If we classify tax havens according to their per capita GDP, poorer tax havens in particular tend to supply both services, because the gains from their tax haven status are low compared to those of wealthier and well-established tax havens. From a policy perspective the results add new insights to the debate on the welfare effects of tax havens since the results suggest that poorer tax havens might be reluctant to provide the necessary regulatory environment in order to constrain money laundering. This externality is beyond the familiar tax revenue effects caused by tax havens.     

Tax Havens: Renegade States in the International Tax Regime?*

Taxing multinational enterprises (MNEs) is inherently conflictual because national tax systems are not well designed to handle their international activities. The OECD has been instrumental in developing an international tax regime to govern the conflicts and interdependencies induced by national taxation of MNEs. The strength of this regime depends on the extent to which states adhere to the regime's norms and practices. We examine the OECD's Harmful Tax Competition initiative, arguing that tax havens have been as renegade states in the international tax regime. We explore how the OECD initiative developed and evaluate its impact on regime effectiveness.     

Culture Change in Three Taxation Administrations: From Command-and-Control to Responsive Regulation

Law and policy is one thing, but their implementation and administration is affected by organizational cultures. Meidinger has argued that knowledge of regulatory and organizational cultures assists understanding of how law and policy work in practice. This article examines three revenue administrations that are moving from a command-and-control style of regulation to a more persuasive and responsive style of regulation. The central argument is that there is a determining step in the process of clarification, reconciliation, responsiveness, and design of a tax system. That step is the extent to which organizational culture can be changed to embrace inclusive discussion and creative solutions to the administration of tax law and policy.     

Medicaid program; health care-related taxes

This final rule revises the collection threshold under the regulatory indirect guarantee hold harmless arrangement test to reflect the provisions of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006. When determining whether there is an indirect guarantee under the 2-prong test for portions of fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2008 and before October 1, 2011, the allowable amount that can be collected from a health care-related tax is reduced from 6 to 5.5 percent of net patient revenues received by the taxpayers. This final rule also clarifies the standard for determining the existence of a hold harmless arrangement under the positive correlation test, Medicaid payment test, and the guarantee test (with conforming changes to parallel provisions concerning hold harmless arrangements with respect to provider-related donations); codifies changes to permissible class of health care items or services related to managed care organizations as enacted by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005; and, removes obsolete transition period regulatory language.     

新《企业所得税法》的一般反避税条款再审视

新《企业所得税法》中的一般反避税条款作为弥补法律漏洞的、具有一般防范性的、兜底性的条款,可以网罗其他的那些无法归在转让定价、避税地、资本弱化等具体反避税条款中但又构成需要法律规制的避税行为。但是一般反避税条款在具体实施中的缺点也显而易见。由于我国目前的税收执法水平、税收执法队伍素质、税收司法审理等,一般反避税条款的实施面临着诸多现实问题。在对一般反避税条款进行评析的基础上,结合我国的现实情况,提出进一步完善一般反避税条款的建议。     

浅论国际避税地法律制度的新模式

长期以来 ,市场经济发达国家为维护本国的税收权益 ,通过国际经济组织的联合行动 ,采取种种法律手段 ,推行避税地对策税制 ,以图抵制传统避税地以低税或免税为主要形式的“有害税收竞争”。但在经济全球化条件下 ,一些欧美市场经济发达国家在坚持推行避税地对策税制的同时 ,先后通过修改税法 ,在本国境内实行税收优惠 ,大力吸引外资 ,发展本国经济。这些欧美市场经济发达国家的所作所为 ,实际上已经使它们逐渐堕变为新型的“避税地”。这种避税地法律制度新型模式的产生和发展 ,不仅更加加剧了发达国家与发展中国家之间和税收权益的竞争 ,而且给构建一个公平、有序的国际税收秩序带来了重重的障碍。     

Corporate health benefits and the indexing of the personal income tax

This note focuses on the role of the personal income tax in reducing the effective price of health care benefits. Tax-bracket creep is shown to provide a cushion that absorbs relatively large increases in health benefit costs, thus reducing the impetus for employer initiatives to control health care costs. It is hypothesized that the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, with its provision for the indexing of tax brackets, will increase employer concern, and may therefore spur the development of effective employer initiatives to reduce the costs of health benefits.     

税收国家及其法治构造

现代国家源起于现代意义的税收,税所具有的公共对价性、非营利性与国家的民主法治性结合而成税收国家,税收国家必须反映公共目的及国家目的的两个面向。没有税收国家,就不可能有以经济自由为中心的实质法治国家;反之,税收国家须营造一个完善法治的构造。税收国家的法律主义、平等主义和人权主义原则起源于财政民主理念,以此为导引完善财政立宪制度、财政分权制度和相关程序制度,由此为税收国家权力运作设定一个起码的边界。     

Is the power of a state to impose sales tax in Nigeria fettered by the imposition of value added tax by the federal government?

The imposition of sales tax by some states in Nigeria has been resisted on the grounds either that a state lacks the power to impose taxes under Nigeria’s constitution or that a state cannot validly impose sales tax as long as the Value Added Tax Act, a federal law, remains in force, the Value Added Tax Act having ‘covered the field’. This article contends that none of these grounds is valid under Nigeria’s constitution: a state government can impose sales tax in exercise of its residual powers; and the doctrine of covering the field is inapplicable in the inquiry.     

生态文明视域下的环境税收法治省思——从平移路径到并行路径

近年来,环境税收法治的结晶集中体现为环境费改税与环境税立法。要评估环境税收法治在生态文明建设中的表现,庇古税原理是重要标尺之一。由此观之,由于未能严格秉持庇古税原理进行设计,立法者在生态文明建设和政治文明建设任务"竞合"且时间紧迫的情况下,选择了一条成本最小的"平移路径",导致环境税成了迷你版环境税,环境税立法也未能与整个税制的"生态化"统筹起来。对此,应全面、正确理解庇古税理论,统筹环境税法与整个税法制度"生态化"两路并进,不仅从征税范围、税率结构、税收优惠、税权配置等方面完善《环境保护税法》,而且同步优化相关税制,以环境税收法治并行路径来积极推进生态文明建设。     

Overview of penal response towards tax compliance in Nigeria

Tax offences and penalties are created to tackle tax non-compliance. Tax penalties bear civil liabilities while tax offences portends criminal sanctions. This paper employs the deterrence theory of penalty to determine whether tax penalties and enforcement agencies are effective in ensuring tax compliance in Nigeria. It is found that the dwindling economic situation in the country has diminished the deterrent effect of pecuniary tax sanctions. Hence, there is need to review the tax statutes. Corroborative effort between tax authorities would facilitate the probability of detection and punishment of tax offenders, thereby improving tax compliance in Nigeria.     

刍议税收优先权的法律位序

我国《税收征收管理法》第45条规定了税收优先权,但该条对税收债权之间的优先权,以及税收之债与其他民事债权优先权之间的位序,没有明确规定。法律需要在这方面加以解释与细化,以指导税收工作中的实践行为。     

远程在线销售的课税问题与中国的对策

远程在线销售具有区别于传统商业交易方式的特点,对中国现行的以增值税和营业税为代表的一般流转税制度提出了问题和挑战。从目前各种在线交易的内容和现行增值税与营业税的课税对象以及适应电子商务国际税收协调的发展趋势看,我国应明确认定此类交易在性质上属于现行营业税意义上的销售劳务或无形财产。对在线销售交易,中国现行营业税制度应区分境内交易和跨境交易,对前者实行提供方所在地课税原则,对后者适用接受方所在地课税原则。在跨境远程在线交易的营业税征管方式上,对B-to-B交易应适用境内接受方申报纳税的逆向课税机制,对B-to-C交易宜适用非居民企业境内税务登记代为收缴营业税的征管机制。     

Do Corporate Tax Concessions Really Matter for the Success of Free Economic Zones?

Not only a large number of developing countries but also transition economies have established free economic zones (FEZs) with the aim of attracting foreign capital by providing tax incentives, creating employment opportunities, and promoting exports and regional development. Tax investment promotion schemes include profit tax exemption, free or accelerated depreciation, investment tax allowance, subsidy for investment costs, etc., the effects of which on firms’ investment decisions can be compared based on the net present value model. This study suggests that even a low corporate tax rate combined with generous depreciation rules does not provide incentives for investors when the inflation rate is high. A case study on Najin–Sonbong FEZ in North Korea delivers a wide range of more crucial economic and political reasons why such a development project can fail, although tax concessions offered there are more favourable than those in China and other Asian nations.     

论基于确立“新型产业结构”的税法修正

产业结构失衡已成为我国经济可持续发展的最大障碍之一,建立“新型产业结构”刻不容缓.税法在产业结构调整中具有很好的引导作用.但现行税法与“新型产业结构”的形成有一定的冲突,有必要在以下几个方面进行修正:扩大增值税征收范围、抵扣范围以及确定合理的扣除率;改变消费税的征税范围和计税依据;进一步改进企业所得税间接优惠方式和亏损转结的规定;扩大资源税征收范围和改变计税方式.     

Moving Beyond Command-and-Control: Reflexivity in the Regulation of Occupational Safety and Health and the Environment

Direct or "command-and-control" regulation has had limited success in dealing with occupational health and safety and with environmental regulation. This lack of success has led policymakers to experiment with self-regulation as an alternative means of achieving the goals of social regulation. The economic subsystem fails to acknowledge its social identity and, therefore, appears to be blind to its negative performance regarding the environment and the workplace. The authors of this paper argue that moving beyond command-and-control can be feasible and desirable, at least to a certain extent, but that pitfalls are omnipresent. "Regulatory dilemmas" need to be solved, sound empirical studies need to be conducted, and a guiding theory needs to be drafted. To achieve these goals, the authors suggest use of the key concept of "reflexivity," which refers to the economic organization's relationship with itself. The practical usefulness of this theoretical concept is explored against the background of regulatory practice in the areas of occupational safety and health and the environment. It is concluded that a mode of reflexive administrative law requires a "negotiating government," which adopts a mixture of strategies and learns to cope with issues like third-party interests, access to information, and enforcement.     

Rhetoric or Reality? ‘New Governance’ in EU Environmental Policy

Abstract:  When scrutinising the literature on EU environmental policy, it becomes apparent that there has been a comprehensive transition in underlying governance ideas during the last two decades. At the core of these changes is the abolition of traditional patterns of interventionist command-and-control regulation in favour of economic instruments and 'context-oriented' governance. In view of these developments, this article has two objectives: first, it looks into which causes and factors initiated these discussions; second, it analyses the effects these reform ideas had on actual patterns of governance. As will be shown, changes in governance ideas are only partially expressed in changes in policy instruments.     

从税务行政诉讼看税务执法风险的产生和防范

税务机关行政执法的风险之一就是引发行政诉讼,在税务行政诉讼中,税务机关败诉的情况时有发生,因此,有必要从税务行政诉讼角度对税务执法风险问题进行探讨。本文对税务行政诉讼中出现的问题进行了分析,提出了规避税务执法风险的六种措施。     

论电子商务交易的流转税法律属性问题

如何确定电子商务在线交易数据化产品的流转税法律属性,是目前中外各国财税当局在电子商务税收实践中面临的共同问题,税法理论界也存在着不同的观点。在我国现行流转税体制未进行结构性的改革调整的情况下,在线交易的数据化产品提供,不宜视为增值税意义上的销售货物行为,而应该区别具体情况,分别确定为营业税意义上的提供服务或转让无形财产交易。这样能够在更大程度上体现税收中性原则和实现课税公平,也有利于我国对电子商务课征流转税的制度与未来可能形成的电子商务流转税国际协调规则的接轨。     

对完善我国《个人所得税法》的思考

随着中国社会经济的发展,个人所得税在调节个人收入,维护社会公平方面的重要意义将更加凸显.我国现行的《个人所得税法》存在的主要问题有:税制模式不能体现纳税人税负的公平合理;个人所得税的征收范围窄,不利于发挥税收的调节作用;费用扣除标准的设定不合理;税率设定复杂显失公平;税收征管缺乏力度;全社会依法纳税的意识依然淡薄,纳税义务人故意隐瞒收入.其改进方案包括:选择合理的税制模式;拓宽个人所得税的征税范围,减少减免税项目;调整费用扣除标准;税率调整;加强税收源头控制,防止税款流失;加大对偷漏个人所得税行为的查处、打击力度,维护法律的严肃性.通过有针对性的改革,进一步修改、完善适合我国社会主义市场经济发展需求的科学的《个人所得税法》.