The current research relates to a system driven by renewable energy and chemical energy contained in the feed, which will eliminate and reduce pathogens found in human excreta. A project in the form of an experiment for demonstration will be designed and built to operate in the local waste water treatment plant. Data will be analyzed and recorded, including fecal coliforms and E.coli levels, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total solids removal (TS). The effectiveness of the system will depend upon results obtained and weather conditions. The principal objective of the research is to test and demonstrate that the "Small Decentralized ATAD" is successful in removing/eliminating enteric pathogens found in human excreta. Most importantly, the Bill and Melinda Gates Charity Foundation is providing financial support (Grants) for new sanitation ideas to help developing countries overcome diseases, specifically water borne diseases and also diseases related to hygiene and sanitation. Moreover, the "Water, Sanitation & Hygiene: Grand Challenges Explorations" granted a $100,000 Grant to Professor James Blackburn from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in the Mechanical Engineering and Energy Processes Department. Consequently, the "Decentralized Next Generation for Diarrheal Pathogens" project will be tested using the ATAD (Autothermal Thermophilic Aerobic Digestion) to demonstrate its effectiveness in pathogen reduction and elimination.

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This thesis deals with the legal aspects of the fight against tax evasion with a particular focus on current legal instruments within the Czech legal order. The thesis is divided into five parts. The first part of the thesis defines the concept of tax evasion, compares the concepts of tax avoidance and tax evasion in the foreign literature. The term tax evasion does not have a legal definition in the Czech legal order and different views of the meaning of this term can be found. This thesis works with tax evasion as an illegal arrangement aiming at minimizing one's tax liability, as well as acting towards circumventing tax legislation. The second part also summarizes the knowledge about BEPS and its influence on the state budget, competition and society. The third part is devoted to selected specific legal instruments in the fight against BEPS, namely the institute of abuse of law, transfer pricing rules, low capitalization, international cooperation and double tax treaties. These tools are described in detail and their current form is analyzed. The work also expresses the author's personal opinion on these tools, which he considers to be very conservative. Similarly, the instruments introduced into the Czech legal system with the implementation of the ATAD Directive are analyzed. The last part of...

I dagens globaliserade samhälle drabbas EU:s medlemsstater av ett betydande inkomstbortfall på grund av vissa globala företags avancerade skatteplanering. En vanligt förekommande metod för att undvika skatt är att utnyttja hybridinstrument. Hybridinstrument är finansiella instrument som innehåller element av såväl skuld som eget kapital. Konsekvensen vid utnyttjande av hybridinstrument vid internationella transaktioner är att hybrida missmatchningar uppstår, dvs. att betalningen medges avdrag i ett land utan att den på motsvarande sätt tas upp till beskattning hos mottagaren. EU-kommissionen har som en motåtgärd tagit fram ett direktiv mot skatteundandraganden. Direktivets artikel 9 tar sikte på hybrida missmatchningar och syftar till att motverka skatteflykt. Sverige har fram till den 31 december 2018 på sig att implementera direktivet. Jag har utrett hur en implementering av direktivets artikel 9 kan göras i svensk rätt, så att de nya reglerna är lojala mot dess syfte och förenliga med svenska skatterättsliga principer. För att motverka hybridinstrument är det framförallt hybridregelns p. 2 som är aktuell. Regeln innebär att när en betalning leder till avdrag hos betalaren utan att den på motsvarande sätt beskattas hos mottagaren, ska betalarstaten vägra avdrag för betalningen. Befintliga svenska regler mot hybridinstrument går att finna i inkomstskattelagen, kupongskattelagen och skatteflyktslagen. Jag drar emellertid slutsatsen att nuvarande svenska regler inte ger ett skydd som motsvarar de krav som direktivets artikel 9 uppställer. Reglerna behöver således ändras och/eller kompletteras. Mitt förslag är att direktivets artikel 9 implementeras i 24 kap IL i form av en generalklausul. Närståendekravet mellan företagen bör vara samma som direktivets minimikrav, dvs. 25 procent. Rekvisitet ”ränta eller liknande” är en lämplig ordalydelse för de hybridbetalningar som artikel 9 p. 2 avses att tillämpas på.  Vid tillämpandet av regeln bör avdrag vägras till den del den inte beskattas i mottagarstaten.  Den hypotetiska bedömningen som görs enligt mottagarens lagstiftning bör framgå av lag.  Jag har även argumenterat för att ingen omklassificering av instrumentet bör göras, utan att enbart avdrag ska vägras. När en konflikt uppstår mellan 24:19 IL och den implementerade motsvarigheten till hybridregeln i direktivets artikel 9, bör specialregeln i 24:19 IL äga företräde. Slutligen anser jag att den svenska hybridregeln bör vara universellt tillämplig.

This thesis addresses Art. 4 ATAD and looks at it from two different angles. Firstly, Art. 4 ATAD will be examined in the light of the TFEU freedoms. Special regard will be had to the principle of proportionality. Secondly, it will be evaluated how Art. 4 ATAD, or rather its domestic implementation, aligns with the constitutions of the Member States. For the first part, Art. 4 ATAD has to be measured against the case law the ECJ has developed regarding testing anti-avoidance rules against the TFEU freedoms. An interest limitation rule like Art. 4 ATAD falls under the scope either of the freedom of establishment or the free movement of capital. However, since Art. 4 ATAD applies to cross-border interest payments in the same way as it applies to such payments on a purely national level, it does not impose a restriction on any of the freedoms. Since Art. 4 ATAD is not a domestic rule, which is tested against the TFEU freedoms, but EU law, it still has to follow the proportionality principle according to Art. 5 (1) TEU. For this reason, the proportionality test, which usually forms part of the justification test, still has to be conducted on its own. Art. 4 ATAD has to be suitable for securing the attainment of the objective which it pursues without going beyond what is necessary to attain it. As the name of the ATAD implies, its main objective is preventing tax avoidance. Regarding this justification ground, the ECJ has developed two different lines of judicature. The first line involves the anti-avoidance purpose on its own. Then, the given measure has to target wholly artificial arrangements, which do not reflect a real economic activity. Moreover, the taxpayer needs to be given the chance to prove such an economic reality. Art. 4 ATAD does not meet these requirements, because it covers all sorts of interest payments and does not provide for an exception in case of a proven sound business reason. The second line considers the anti-avoidance purpose combined with another justification ground. Then, the provision does not have to target only wholly artificial arrangements. Here, the balanced allocation of taxing rights is suitable for this purpose. Nevertheless, the problem still remains that Art. 4 ATAD is not limited to cross-border interest payments, but covers all kinds of interest payments and therefore overshoots its aim of securing the balanced allocation of taxing rights. This is why this justification ground is not able to render Art. 4 ATAD proportionate either, neither combined with the anti-avoidance purpose nor taken on its own. Art. 4 ATAD in not in line with the TFEU freedoms, because it violates the principle of proportionality, which is part of the justification test. For the second part, Art. 4 ATAD has to be measured against national constitutions. As an example serves the German interest barrier rule. This is, because it served as a blueprint for Art. 4 ATAD, so it can be seen as already implementing Art. 4 ATAD. Furthermore, the German interest barrier rule is currently under review by the German Constitutional Court, because its constitutionality is being questioned. The reason for this is that by limiting the deduction of interest expenses, the German interest barrier rule interferes with the objective net principle. In German tax law, the objective net principle is deduced from the ability-to-pay principle, which again is deduced from the principle of equality. The principle of equality is laid down in Art. 3 (1) of the German Constitution. Through the connection to the principle of equality, the objective net principle itself is covered by the German Constitution. This derogation from the objective net principle is not justified, because the German interest barrier rule - like Art. 4 ATAD - is not proportionate in relation to its objectives, i.e. the control of economic policy, the state's financing needs and the need to prevent abusive structures. The same problem would occur with an actual domestic implementation of Art. 4 ATAD. In case, the objective net principle is also covered by the constitutions of other EU Member States, they will face the same difficulties. Even if the objective net principle is not covered by the constitution of a Member State, it still is a fundamental principle of tax law. It is true, that EU law prevails over domestic laws and even national constitutions. However, according to Art. 4 (2) and (3) TEU, the EU also has to respect the national fundamentals and follow the principle of sincere cooperation. This means, that the EU should not counteract such fundamental principles of the Member States as the objective net principle and the ability-to-pay principle. By adapting Art. 4 ATAD, the EU does not meet these requirements. It can be concluded that Art. 4 ATAD results in difficulties both with primary EU law and with national constitutional law or at least fundamental principles. Although these concerns are rather of a theoretical nature, they still lead to the legitimate question if the EU legislators have made the right choice in phrasing Art. 4 ATAD as they did.

The diploma thesis deals with the impact of the BEPS on taxation of loan interests paid by legal entities. The aim of the thesis is to describe and evaluate the current legal situation, changes introduced into the area of tax deductibility of interest through BEPS action plans and propose a methodology for assessing tax deductibility of costs under the new rules.

Corporate income tax deductibility of interest after the implementation of ATAD Over the past few years, the media and the general public have focused heavily on tax avoidance of large corporations such as Apple and Google. OECD (2012) issued BEPS report in which it described tax base erosion and profit shifting methods. The tools described therein include also excessive use of foreign capital and the associated tax shield. The regulations and recommendations as set out in the BEPS report were implemented in the European ATAD Directive in 2016. This thesis focuses on the limitation of deductibility of interest, especially from the perspective of the analysis of the Czech implementation with regard to the regulation set out in the BEPS report and the ATAD Directive and fulfillment of their objectives. The main goal of the thesis is to assess the fulfillment of the objectives set out in the BEPS report and in the ATAD Directive within their Czech transposition, to analyze the Czech regulation and to point out possible shortcomings of the Czech regulation and problems related to the implementation of new rules limiting the deductibility of borrowing costs. The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter focuses on the problematics of interest and other borrowing costs deductibility,...

The aim of the thesis is to describe and evaluate the Czech implementation of Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD). It firstly introduces the problem of tax avoidance, its scale and defines basic concepts such as tax avoidance, tax evasion, tax havens and harmful preferential tax regimes. The author consequently describes origins of the Directive, OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Actions and other measures that are being implemented on the EU level such as international exchange of information in the field of taxation based on DAC Directives, the proposal of CCCTB. In the second chapter the ATAD is presented. It consists of five measures intended to neutralize the effects of tax avoidance practices, or in other words, to prevent erosion of the CIT base and the shifting of profits to jurisdictions enforcing little or no tax liabilities. First measure proposed is the interest limitation rule. It is intended to prevent the use of debt financing as a form of tax avoidance by limiting the amount of the tax-deductible borrowing costs that an entity is allowed to claim. Second measure is the exit taxation rule that requires the Member States to tax unrealised appreciation of assets based on the difference between amount equal to the market value of the transferred asset at the time of exit of the...

This diploma thesis deals with the impact of the ATAD on the taxation of income of foreign companies controlled by a Czech resident – a legal entity. It describes, analyzes and systematizes the current legal situation and changes introduced into the area by the implementation of rules for controlled foreign companies into domestic legislation. This thesis includes a draft of the methodology for the application of rules from the perspective of the Czech corporate income taxpayer.

The analysis of the legal regulation of transfer pricing in connection with the implementation of ATAD Abstract This diploma thesis deals with the topic of legal regulation of transfer prices. Considering the gradual globalization and the increasing number of multinational enterprises, transfer pricing is a very extensively discussed tax-related topic. It has become even more topical with the implementation of a new Council Directive (EU) 2016/1164 of 12 July 2016 laying down rules against tax avoidance practices that directly affect the functioning of the internal market. Transposition period for the majority of regulations presented in the directive is scheduled to 31 December 2018. The aim of the present thesis is to characterize the current state of legal regulations of transfer pricing in the Czech Republic as well as related supranational regulations. Within the context of the former and the latter, the thesis analyzes the options of the implementation of the Council Directive (EU) 2016/1164 of 12 July 2016 laying down rules against tax avoidance practices that directly affect the functioning of the internal market. Also, the thesis delineates and describes the approach of the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic, including an assumed financial impact of the implementation of individual...