Purpose: Accounting practices vary not only across firms, but also across countries, reflecting the respective legal and cultural background. Attempts at harmonization therefore continue to be rebuffed. The purpose of this paper is to argue that different wordings in national laws, and different interpretations of similar wordings in national laws, can be explained by taking recourse to the philosophy of language, referring particularly to Searle and Wittgenstein. Design/methodology/approach: The example of the substance over form principle, investigated in seven countries, is particularly suitable for this analysis. It is known in all accounting jurisdictions, but still has very different roots in different European countries, with European and international influences conflicting, which is reflected in the different wording of the principle from one country to the next, and the different socially constructed realities associated with those wordings. Findings: This paper shows that, beyond accounting practices, the legal and cultural background of a country affects the wording of national law itself. The broad conclusion is that different socially constructed realities might tend to resist any attempt at harmonized socially constructed words. Originality/value: The paper contributes to the debate surrounding the possible homogenization of accounting regulations, illustrating the theory of the social construction of both "reality" and "language" on the specific application of one common principle to various Member State environments.

Uppsatsens syfte är att mot bakgrund av införandet av 53 kap. IL och den s.k. X och Y- domen, analysera när ett lån från ett utländskt holdingbolag, kan omklassificeras till utdelning genom en tillämpning av principen om rättshandlingars verkliga innebörd. EU-domstolens dom i X och Y-målet föranledde att reglerna i 53 kap. IL ändrades och gjorde det möjligt för svenska privatpersoner att överlåta aktier till underpris till egna bolag i utlandet utan några omedelbara beskattningskonsekvenser. De nya reglerna öppnade upp för en omfattande skatteplanering genom upplägg med utländska holdingbolag. Genom att låna medel från ett holdingbolag som etablerats i utlandet, har svenska privatpersoner kunnat kringgå låneförbudsreglerna i ABL och därmed undvika beskattning. Under 2009 ändrades reglerna för beskattning av förbjudna lån. De nya reglerna tillämpades från den 13 februari 2009 och innebär att lån från utländska juridiska personer numera ska beskattas. Skatteverket har dock fortsatt att angripa lånetransaktioner som har företagits före denna tidpunkt och hävdat att lånen egentligen utgör skattepliktig utdelning. Principen om rättshandlingars verkliga innebörd innebär att domstolarna kan omklassificera en felaktigt betecknad rättshandling och låta den verkliga innebörden ligga till grund för beskattningen. En omklassificering kan endast göras om en rättshandlings beteckning inte stämmer överens med den verkliga innebörden. Ett lån från ett utländskt holdingbolag borde därför kunna omklassificeras till utdelning endast om lånet kan an-ses utgöra förtäckt utdelning enligt ABL. En samlad bedömning måste göras av samtli-ga omständigheter i det enskilda fallet. Frågan har dock inte prövats i högre instans och rättsläget är fortfarande oklart. / The purpose of this thesis is to analyse when, in the light of the X and Y case and chapter 53 IL, a loan from a holding company could be classified as a dividend by applying the principle of substance over form. The ruling of the Court of Justice in the X and Y-case, led to a change of the rules in chapter 53 IL. The new rules made it possible for natural persons to transfer shares in companies at undervalue to foreign legal persons owned by them, without immediate taxation. The new rules resulted in wide tax planning with foreign holding companies. By taking a loan from a holding company established abroad, natural persons could circumvent the ban on credit rules in ABL, and thereby avoid taxation. In 2009 the tax rules concerning forbidden loans where changed. The new rules were applicable from the 13th of February 2009 and imply that loans taken from foreign legal persons should be taxed. However, the tax authorities continue to inspect transactions carried out before this date, claiming that the loans constitute taxable dividends. According to the principle of substance over form, courts are free to reclassify a legal act that is not labeled correctly. Thus, a legal act should be taxed due to its actual substance independent of what form or label it has. A reclassification can only be made when the label of the legal act does not correspond with its real meaning. Hence, a loan from a holding company should only be reclassified to a dividend, if the loan is considered to constitute such disguised dividend according to ABL. All facts need to be considered in the evaluation. The particular question has not been tried by a higher court and therefore the legal position is still unclear.

This thesis examines the concept of EU corporate tax abuse in light of the tensions between the protection of EU Fundamental rights and the susceptibility of those rights to abuse. Consideration is given to the major tax abuse practices and arrangements, accompanied by analyses of the responses of a selection of EU member states, and the role and impacts of judicial, state and commercial stakeholder interests. Consequent upon an examination of why past proposals have failed to attain either policy adoption or policy success, it is suggested that the legal concepts of abuse of rights, substance over form and proportionality may be of value in assessing and validating a corporate tax abuse proposal. It will be argued that Member State tax rules and policy initiatives to date have been unsuccessful in eradicating the effects of corporate tax abuse deriving from the exploitation of Fundamental Freedoms and that this failure is attributable to reasons of poor transactional data lineage and disclosure, unresolved political and judicial conflicts between balancing Member State rights with the Internal Market ideal and from a corporate culture that is incentivised to circumvent tax rules with limited recourse. Following an assessment of whether reform should focus on transactional based tax rules or on a broader legal framework to induce taxpayer behavioural changes, it is contended that EU corporate tax abuse can be addressed by rejecting the traditional ideals of tax harmonisation, formulary apportionment, and principles or rule-based tax law approaches as a complete solution. An effective scheme of reform should instead be based on Enhanced Disclosures and Attestation incorporating country-by-country reporting, additional reporting metrics and legal attestations, underpinned by civil and criminal penalties.

Malgré une large adoption des normes comptables internationales, les pratiques restent diversifiées. Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse explorent les raisons possibles à cette harmonisation inachevée. Un premier chapitre identifie les politiques d’adoption des IFRS menées dans le monde et leurs déterminants. Les chapitres suivants analysent le rôle de la langue, du système juridique et de l’usage de l’information comptable par les préparateurs, comme obstacles possibles à l’harmonisation des pratiques. Les résultats mettent en évidence un certain nombre de difficultés : les normes IFRS n’ont pas toujours la même place dans les réglementations locales ; la traduction des normes achoppe sur la difficulté majeure de traduction de principes fondateurs ; les normes doivent s’adapter à des systèmes juridiques divers ; enfin l’information comptable sert à la fois pour des besoins externes et internes, ce qui peut donner lieu à des pratiques hétérogènes. Des pistes d’amélioration émergent toutefois. Certaines politiques d’adoption semblent plus propices à une application cohérente du référentiel, en particulier lorsque les entités soumises à ces normes peuvent les utiliser pour tous leurs jeux de comptes. Certains pays européens ont mis en oeuvre une pratique continentale du principe de substance, sous une forme différente du système anglo-saxon, mais avec une même finalité en termes de traitements comptables. En France où le principe n’est pas formellement intégré en comptabilité, cette prééminence de la substance est déjà prise en compte dans d’autres domaines réglementaires, réduisant la difficulté pressentie à son introduction dans le droit comptable / Despite a wide adoption of international standards, IFRS practice remains diverse. The studies presented in this thesis explore the possible reasons for this unachieved harmonisation. The first chapter identifies the IFRS adoption policies throughout the world and their determinants. The following chapters analyse the role of language, legal system and usage of financial information by preparers, as potential obstacles to practices’ homogeneity. The result unveil some issues: IFRS standards do not have the same function in local regulations; standards’ translation stumbles over the major difficulty related to fundamental principles; standards need to adapt to various legal systems; finally the financial information is used both for internal and external use which can result in heterogeneous practices. Ways to improve still appeared. Some adoption policies appear to conduct to a coherent application of IFRS, in particular when entities have the possibility to follow the same standards for all their accounts. Some European countries have found a continental way to use the substance over form principle, different from the Anglo-Saxon, yet with the same target in terms of accounting rules. In France where the substance principle is not formally integrated in accounting, this principle is already used by other regulatory fields, which comforts the feasibility of its introduction in our accounting law.

En tilltagande globalisering inom redovisning har bidragit till att internationella redovisningsprinciper och regler befinner sig i en harmoniseringsprocess. Bokföringsnämndens K-projekt pekar på att Sverige är del av denna process. Börsnoterade företag inom EU är tvingade att upprätta den finansiella rapporteringen enligt IFRS, men för svenska onoterade företag finns valmöjligheten att tillämpa de svenska reglerna. Argumenten för frivilligt antagande av IFRS bygger på ökad kvalitet, transparens och jämförbarhet i de finansiella rapporterna, vilket ska öka användbarheten för intressenterna. År 2012 inledde IASB ett arbete avseende revidering av den befintliga föreställningsramen, vilken beräknas vara färdigställd under år 2017. Den reviderade föreställningsramen lyfter fram betydelsen av tre primära intressenter, vilka utgörs av investerare, långivare och andra kreditgivare.Syftet med studien är att utreda hur svenska onoterade moderbolags val av att anta IFRS frivilligt, i stället för att tillämpa K3, påverkar de finansiella rapporterna och de primära intressenterna utifrån ett informationsbehovsperspektiv. Detta illustreras med fyra stycken hypotetiska typfall. För att uppnå syftet undersöks vilka skillnader som föreligger vid redovisningen enligt IFRS och K3 avseende finansiella instrument, goodwill vid rörelseförvärv, FoU-kostnader samt förvaltningsfastigheter med fokus på upplysningar. Metoden som tillämpas i studien är en deskriptiv analys med en abduktiv ansats inom ramen för kvalitativ forskning.Resultaten av studien visar på att det föreligger stora skillnader mellan IFRS och K3, vilket får effekten att företag som redovisar enligt IFRS framstår som mer lönsamma och mindre riskfyllda. Ett frivilligt antagande av IFRS bidrar till mer användbar information i de finansiella rapporterna samt att dessa bättre speglar företaget ekonomiska verklighet. Sammantaget framstår redovisningen enligt IFRS som mer attraktiv i förhållande till K3, utifrån de primära intressenternas informationsbehov. / Due to expanding globalization of accounting, the international accounting principles and regulations are currently in a process of harmonization. The K-project of the Swedish accounting authority Bokföringsnämnden, indicates that Sweden is a part of this process. According to EU-regulation listed companies are obligated to prepare financial statements in accordance with IFRS since 2005, but for unlisted Swedish companies there is an option of applying local Swedish regulations. The arguments in favor of a voluntary adoption of IFRS rest on promises of improved quality, transparency and comparability of financial statements, which further will increase its usefulness to stakeholders. In 2012, the IASB initiated a project regarding a revised Conceptual Framework, which is expected to be completed during 2017. The revised Conceptual Framework highlights the importance of three primary stakeholders, consisting of investors, lenders and other creditors.The objective of this study is to examine how unlisted Swedish parent companies’ choice of adopting IFRS voluntarily, instead of applying K3, affects the financial reports and primary stakeholders based on an information need perspective. This is illustrated by four hypothetical scenarios. In order to achieve the objective of this study, the existing differences of reporting under IFRS and K3 regarding financial instruments, goodwill in business combinations, R&D expenses and investment properties focusing on disclosures, are examined. The method used in the study is a descriptive analysis with an abductive approach within the frames of qualitative research.The findings indicate that there are major differences between IFRS and K3, which results in companies reporting according to IFRS appear to be more profitable and less of a risk. A voluntary adoption of IFRS contributes to more useful information in the financial statements and a better reflection of the company's financial reality. Overall, financial reporting according to IFRS appears more favorable than reporting under K3, based on the information need of the primary stakeholder.This paper is written in Swedish.

Les documents comptables occupent une place centrale dans la vie des affaires. Il est intéressant de porter un regard juridique sur eux pour plusieurs raisons. Tout d'abord, leur élaboration obéit à des règles se plaçant au service d'un objectif qui les dépasse : l'image fidèle. Le préparateur des comptes doit ainsi avoir le souci du lecteur des documents comptables, ce qui peut le conduire, dans certains cas, à déroger à la règle. Cette originalité dans la mise en œuvre de la règle comptable se double d'une originalité des qualifications comptables qui en découlent : les droits et obligations figurant dans les documents comptables sont soumis à une grille de lecture qui dépasse les catégories juridiques traditionnelles, ce qui ouvre de nouvelles perspectives pour le juriste, et conduit à remettre en cause la vision classique de l'activité comptable. Cet intérêt se renforce au moment de la réception juridique des documents comptables, qui invite à s'interroger sur les effets que l'on peut leur accorder. D'une part, quelle est la valeur juridique d'un enregistrement comptable : quelle est sa force probante ? Est-il éligible à la qualification d'acte juridique, voire d'engagement juridique unilatéral ? D'autre part, quelles sont les fonctions classiques des agrégats révélées par les documents comptables ? Doivent-elles être remises en cause par l'avènement des normes IFRS ? Enfin, quelles sont les sanctions attachées aux documents comptables ? Une telle question renvoie à la responsabilité des auteurs principaux, que sont les dirigeants, et à celle des professionnels du chiffre, que sont le commissaire aux comptes et l'expert-comptable / Accounting records hold a central place within the framework of business life. For a variety of reasons, it is interesting to consider these accounting records within the legal scope. First of all, the drafting of these documents is subjected to a special regulation which keystone is to present a true and fair view of the accounts. The person drafting the accounts should always keep in mind this purpose and the necessary readability of thesaid documents. This aim can sometimes lead this person to depart from the accounting rule. This originality of the implementation of the accounting rule has to be coupled with an originality of the subsequent accounting qualifications. The rights and obligations drawn up within the accounting records are subjected to a reading grid which goes beyond the classical legal categories. This specificity is opening new horizons to the legal expert and leads to a reconsideration of the traditional understanding of the accounting activity. This interest is strengthened at the time of the receipt of the accounting documents which suggests questioning ourselves about the effects of the latter. On the one hand, which is the legal force of an accounting record, in other words, what is its probative force? Can an accounting record be qualified as a legal transaction or perhaps even more as a unilateral contract? On the other hand, what are the traditional functions of the aggregates revealed by the accounting documents? Should these traditional functions be challenged by the IFRS standards? Finally, which sanctions are foreseen as to accounting documents?

憲法第19條規定：「人民有依法納稅之義務」，明示租稅法律主義應以法律明訂，針對未規定之租稅項目，原則上不得比照、援引或類推適用其他法令之規定，租稅法律主義成為稅法之基本重要原則。隨著經濟水平的提升，個人與企業租稅負擔增加幅度急速上升，錯綜複雜之交易型態層出不窮，納稅義務人往往透過規避稅捐，使其獲得租稅優惠之條件或達到免除租稅負擔之目的。為確保租稅公平，民國98年5月13日修正公布稅捐稽徵法第12條之1，明訂課稅事實認定之原則，其認定之構成要件應以實質經濟事實關係及其所生實質經濟利益之歸屬與享有為依據，然其適用範圍亦未明確，對於納稅義務人之侵害自然無所規範。其中與人民息息相關之稅捐法體系當中尤以土地交易爭議之衝突甚為明顯。 本研究以租稅法律主義及實質課稅原則為主軸，輔以探討土地改革之歷史發展及土地交易所得本身性質，並以相關稅務行政救濟案例，針對不同判決見解進行分析及常見爭議，發現其爭議在於當前土地增值稅之規定與漲價歸公之理念無法並駕齊驅，尤其公告現值與真正出售之價值相去甚遠，導致「窮者欲窮、富者欲富」。探討其精神核心，無論是憲法、土地增值稅、實質課稅原則，無非達到租稅公平原則，依此核心思考，本研究試圖針對憲法與法律兩層面提出建議解決方案以貫徹租稅公平原則： 1. 憲法層次：將土地增值稅予以廢除，改徵土地交易所得稅。 2. 法律層次： （1） 將土地交易所得納入「最低稅負制」，修正所得稅額基本條例第12條。 （2） 改採實價課稅並增訂商業會計法第42-1條，將處分土地資產之溢價收入納入資本公積，恢復其資本公積增減資免稅之規定。 / Article 19 of the Constitution provides that the people shall have the duty of paying taxes in accordance with law. This means that when the State imposes a tax or provides a preferential tax deduction or exemption treatment for its people, this must be based on laws or regulations clearly authorized by law, prescribing the constituent conditions of the tax such as the subject, subject matter, tax base, tax rates, methods of payment and period of payment. The interpretation of relevant laws by the competent authority within its competence shall abide by the principles of the Constitution and the meaning and purpose of the relevant laws, and comply with the general rules of legal interpretation. Any interpretation that exceeds the bounds of legal interpretation of law and that creates tax duties not provided for under the law is not permitted by the Principle of Statutory Taxpaying under Article 19 of the Constitution. With the rapid economy, the taxpayers pursue the profit maximization by means of tax avoidance. To maintain the tax equity, the officials decided to amend the “Tax Levy Act” to provide clear definition for “Substance-Over-Form Principle ”, and then the newly-added Article 12-1 of Tax Levy Act was published on 13th May 2009.However, it has not embodied in “Substance-Over-Form Principle ”,so that the conflicts are still obvious in tax system ,especially in Land Capital Gain. The study focuses on conflict between the Principle of Statutory Taxpaying and Substance-Over-Form Principle, with the investigation of historical development and nature of taxation in Land Capital Gain. Besides, the administrative remedy should take into consideration in practice under the study. The regulation in Land Value Increment Tax currently is not put in range with land appreciation belong to the public, especially in Current Land Value. To understand the legislative purposes, we can find the “tax equality ” is the top priority between constitution and regulation. The following are suggestions we provide: 1. Constitution: Abolish the Land Value Increment Tax and promulgate Land Capital Gain Tax. 2. Regulation: (1) The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) includes the land capital gain, with amendment article 12 in AMT. (2) Additional Paid-In Capital contains the land capital gain and amend the article 42-1 of commercial account law ,with real-estate tax policy based on actual market price.Simuntanously, capital increase and decrease out of capital reverse exempted from income tax.

Multinational enterprises have been widely accused of using aggressive tax planning schemes to avoid paying tax all over the world. The purpose of this study is to analyse the methods used by multinational enterprises in the context of business restructurings to shift profits from high to low tax jurisdictions. Transactions between associated entities have generally been manipulated by applying non-arm’s length prices to these transactions, as well as devising agreements where the economic substance varies from the form of the transaction. The study aims to investigate some of the practical challenges faced by tax administrators in the application of the arm’s length principle. The study was conducted based on a literature review, as well as analysing specific examples reported in newspapers where multinational enterprises have used aggressive tax planning schemes to shift profits. International case law was also analysed to evaluate some of the factors considered by the courts in the determination of the arm’s length price. It was found that multinational enterprises definitely use aggressive tax planning schemes to shift profits. The practical challenges in the determination of arm’s length prices, complexity of the transactions involved, as well as a lack of resources, especially in the developing nations, are some of the factors that cause tax administrators to battle to find a solution to deter and detect these schemes. Other methods such as the unitary taxation method and the country by country reporting concept have been brought forward as alternatives to the arm’s length principle. These alternatives have been proposed in an effort to find a solution to the challenges posed by the arm’s length principle. Specific measures have also been recommended for developing nations’ tax administrators to resolve the issues that they currently experience in this context. / Thesis (MCom (South African and International Taxation))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Multinational enterprises have been widely accused of using aggressive tax planning schemes to avoid paying tax all over the world. The purpose of this study is to analyse the methods used by multinational enterprises in the context of business restructurings to shift profits from high to low tax jurisdictions. Transactions between associated entities have generally been manipulated by applying non-arm’s length prices to these transactions, as well as devising agreements where the economic substance varies from the form of the transaction. The study aims to investigate some of the practical challenges faced by tax administrators in the application of the arm’s length principle. The study was conducted based on a literature review, as well as analysing specific examples reported in newspapers where multinational enterprises have used aggressive tax planning schemes to shift profits. International case law was also analysed to evaluate some of the factors considered by the courts in the determination of the arm’s length price. It was found that multinational enterprises definitely use aggressive tax planning schemes to shift profits. The practical challenges in the determination of arm’s length prices, complexity of the transactions involved, as well as a lack of resources, especially in the developing nations, are some of the factors that cause tax administrators to battle to find a solution to deter and detect these schemes. Other methods such as the unitary taxation method and the country by country reporting concept have been brought forward as alternatives to the arm’s length principle. These alternatives have been proposed in an effort to find a solution to the challenges posed by the arm’s length principle. Specific measures have also been recommended for developing nations’ tax administrators to resolve the issues that they currently experience in this context. / Thesis (MCom (South African and International Taxation))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

L'innovation financière tire avantage de la déconnexion entre forme juridique et substance économique. Les contrats financiers sur actions permettent de répliquer synthétiquement les attributs économiques de la propriété des actions sans organiser le transfert des droits sur la chose. Tandis que le droit des sociétés reconnaît le principe d'autonomie juridique des contrats financiers à l'égard des actions sous-jacentes en attribuant les droits politiques et pécuniaires de l'associé aux seuls titulaires de la propriété juridique des titres financiers, les principes directeurs du droit boursier conduisent à y faire exception face aux perturbations engendrées par ces techniques de dissociation de la forme juridique et de la substance économique. Affichant son pragmatisme, le régulateur boursier saisit la complexité de cette réalité dérivée pour appréhender, au-delà des catégories juridiques formelles, la substance économique des opérations réalisées. Le droit boursier adopte une approche substantielle de l'avoir et du pouvoir au sein des sociétés par actions, pour déterminer notamment l'application des régimes de déclaration des prises de participations significatives et d'offre publique obligatoire. Apparaissent alors les contours d'une méthode raisonnée de régulation de l'innovation financière en droit des sociétés cotées. La démarche que nous proposons opère tant ex ante sur le plan normatif qu'ex post au stade de la sanction. Elle suppose une réflexion d'ensemble sur l'élaboration de la norme en droit des sociétés cotées et les conditions de son application par le régulateur boursier. dans sa double fonction normative et contentieuse. / The dissociation of legal form and economic substance is one of the main drivers of financial innovation. Equity derivatives allow parties to replicate the economic substance of share ownership without transferring the legal title itself. Whereas corporate law acknowledges the autonomy of the financial contract with respect to the underlying shares by granting voting and dividend rights to their sole legal owner, core principles of securities regulation are challenged by transactions taking advantage of the dissociation between form and substance. Taking a pragmatic stance, the regulator addresses the complexity of this derivative reality by grasping the economic substance of such transactions beyond their mere legal form. Recent developments in the major shareholding notification regime and the mandatory tender offer rule indicate an increasing focus on the substance of beneficial ownership and voting power in listed companies. From this evolution emerge the contours of a regulatory approach aiming to tackle the specific issues raised by financial innovation. The approach we advocate operates both ex ante at the normative stage and ex post at the enforcement stage of the regulatory process. It is an invitation to rethink the determinants of securities regulation as well as the role of the securities regulator in the exercise of its dual power to establish norms and to impose sanctions.