A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce (specialising in Taxation) 13 April 2017 / ‘The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), is designed to prevent multinational businesses achieving nontaxation on profits or artificially shifting profits across borders to exploit lower corporate income tax rates’ (KPMG, 2014, p 5). ‘The OECD’s BEPS Action Plan, launched in July of 2013 and endorsed by the G20, included 15 key areas for identifying and curbing aggressive tax planning and practices and modernizing the international tax system’ (KPMG, 2013). It can be argued that the aim of the ‘OECD Action Plan on BEPS’ is to make provision for G20 countries, OECD countries and all other interested stakeholders to come together on an equal footing to inter alia develop new international tax rules. One of the key focus areas of the ‘OECD Action Plan on BEPS’, is ‘Preventing the Artificial Avoidance of Permanent Establishment Status - Action 7'. ‘The aim of Action 7 is to develop changes to the definition of a permanent establishment (PE) to prevent abuses of that threshold, including through the use of commissionaire arrangements and the specific activity exemptions to avoid PE status where core activities are involved’ (KPMG, 2015, p 14). The technical arguments to be argued for the purposes of this research report will inter alia involve commenting on commissionaire arrangements and how such arrangements have been problematic for international tax rules in their current form. In addressing the problems inherent in the definition of a PE, ‘Preventing the Artificial Avoidance of Permanent Establishment Status - Action 7' specifically proposes changes to Articles 5(5) and 5(6) of the ‘OECD Model Tax Convention’ which seek to revamp the dependent agent rule. The specific activity exceptions in Article 5(4) have also been further clarified in the OECD commentary on the ‘OECD Model Tax Convention’ through the inclusion of an explanation of the activities that will be considered as being preparatory or auxiliary in nature, as well as supporting examples which help illustrate the meaning of the said terms. ii In addition, the PE rule for construction projects set out in Article 5(3) will now include a principal purposes test, as well the addition of an example illustrating the application of the principal purposes test in the OECD commentary on the ‘OECD Model Tax Convention’ dealing with Article 5(3). ‘On 5 October 2015, the OECD issued a final package of reports in connection with its Action Plan to address BEPS, as well as a plan for follow-up work and a timetable for implementation. Many countries have already adopted or are poised to adopt changes to their international tax systems based on the OECD recommendations. While implementation and timing will vary across borders, this final OECD release marks a crucial shift from the recommendation and consultation phase of BEPS to legislation and implementation’ (KPMG, 2015, p 2). Key Words: ‘Action 7’, Article 5, ‘BEPS Action Plan’, Commissionaire Arrangements, Dependent Agent, Multinational Enterprises, ‘OECD Model Tax Convention’, PE. / GR2018

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce (Specializing in Taxation), Johannesburg, 2016 / The Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011 (TAA) came into effect on the 1 October 2012 and brought with it significant changes to the South African tax administrative regime, extending the powers of South African Revenue Service (SARS) while also indirectly emphasising taxpayers’ rights. This research report examines the impact that this ‘new legislation’ has had on taxpayers, more especially the procedural and administrative rights of taxpayers. This research report evaluates inherent procedural rights of taxpayers as contained in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa versus the current provisions in TAA and the remedies available to taxpayers should their rights be infringed upon. The research report extends to instances of good tax administrative practices in a few OECD countries and finally concludes with comments on the future of tax administration in South Africa. / MT2017

This study explores the impact of complexity upon unintentional non-compliance behaviour for personal taxpayers in Australia. This area of research did not appear to have been previously studied in an Australian context and in this respect, the study represents an original contribution. While studies have been conducted both in Australia and overseas, they have generally been directed at other types of compliance behaviour and tend to be inconclusive in their findings. According to the compliance literature, there appeared to be little consensus of opinion on the factors that determined behaviour and appropriate research methods. It emerged that more narrowly-defined studies with stronger research methods offered potential for furthering knowledge in this field. Thus the study focused on one behavioural outcome and one type of taxpayer, using a multi-paradigm research method. Unintentional non-compliance, as an outcome, was selected as it appeared to hold promise for improvements in overall compliance to be readily made, provided its causes were understood. Complexity was considered to be the most likely cause of unintentional non-compliance, and those who prepared their own income tax return, the group likely to be most affected. The study used both a quantitative and qualitative component from which a number of convergent results emerged. These included that the major cause of complexity was the ambiguity of tax laws and the volume of explanatory material required. Further, personal taxpayers were committed to compliance even though they regarded the system as less than fair. Together, complexity and commitment to compliance caused taxpayers to experience unnecessary compliance costs. Where taxpayers completed their own return, complexity resulted in a high level of errors that generally resulted in an overstatement of tax liability. In addition, some taxpayers chose to be over-compliant as a means of dealing with complexity and commitment. It was concluded that complexity compromised the integrity of the Australian income tax system by imposing an unfair burden on personal taxpayers in respect of both tax paid and compliance costs incurred. However, there appeared to be little, if any, financial incentive for the tax authority to address the causes of complexity for personal taxpayers.

Zugleich: Diss. Bochum, 2008. / Literaturverz.

O presente trabalho tem por o objeto de pesquisa pretende, a partir da contextualização da teoria do direito e direito positivo vigente, estabelecer a resposta para a seguinte pergunta: É possível a cessação dos efeitos da coisa julgada de relações jurídicas continuativas em matéria tributária em face de superveniente decisão plenária do Supremo Tribunal Federal? Para tanto, divide-se o trabalho em duas partes. Na primeira parte, analisaremos os seguintes aspectos: a) enfoque da teoria do direito, onde se estabelecem as premissas teóricas que serão contextualizadas no curso de todo o trabalho; b) complementando as premissas iniciais desenvolvidas anteriormente, analisa-se sanção de inconstitucionalidade sob a ótica constitucional. Ainda estudaremos o modelo teórico difundido pela maior parte da doutrina que o contrapõe ao direito positivo nacional; c) em seguida, a partir do estudo sistemático da coisa julgada e da eficácia da decisão plenária do Supremo Tribunal Federal sobre as relações jurídicas tributárias, serão indicadas as premissas menores do trabalho. Na segunda parte, busca-se, a partir da coleta de dados dos repositórios de jurisprudência do Superior Tribunal de Justiça e Conselho Administrativo de Recursos Fiscais, estabelecer uma análise qualitativa do modelo decisório definido por aquele órgão. A partir das premissas articuladas, conclui-se que o ordenamento jurídico brasileiro, ao menos no que se refere à relação tributária, atribui um caráter vinculativo às decisões plenárias do Supremo Tribunal Federal. Tal caráter constitui verdadeira alteração do arcabouço normativo prévio, pois insere uma nova expectativa normativa que deve ser obedecida pela administração pública e os contribuintes. Logo, a superveniente decisão do STF possui o condão de alterar o estado de direito da sentença atingida pela coisa julgada, o que permite a sustação da eficácia futura da sentença, por meio da ação de modificação / Is it possible to stop the concrete effects of a res judicata in a continuative tax legal relationship after a Supreme Court decision in the same issue? This research explores this question in two different ways: first, from Legal Theory point of view, will be analyzed the formal institutions related with object, with especial attenction to the unconstitutional norm sanction; second, confronting all theoretical models, this research collected data from one of Brazilian High Corts (Superior Tribunal de Justiça) and from High Administrative Court for Tax Disputes (Conselho Administrativo de Recursos Fiscais) with the scope to get a qualitative diagnosis of judicial and administrative decision making in disputes envolving the same object of this dissertantion. From these premisses, was found a trend to assign biding effects to Supreme Court precedents related to tax issues, inserting a new normative expectation to be obeyed by Governement and taxpayers. So, without any legislative reform, any incidental Supreme Court colegial decision can modify res judicata state of right, allowing the interruption of the future effectiveness of such sentences

The purpose of this treatise was to examine the fairness and efficacy of the penalty provisions in the Tax Administration Act (the Act). An integrative literature review research method was used. The study commenced with a review of the local and international literature on tax compliance and the fairness and efficacy of penalties. This was followed by a study of the stated objectives of the Fiscus in respect of the strategy and approach to maintaining and improving taxpayer compliance and an analysis of the penalty regime of the Act. A comparative analysis was then performed of the relevant taxing legislation of five countries, which were chosen using a purposeful sample selected from the major trading partners of the Republic and countries with a similar tax framework. Following this, a review was performed of a cross section of the most recent tax related court cases in South Africa in order to assess the extent, consistency and fairness of the application of the penalty provisions. The study then concluded with an integrated assessment of the fairness and efficacy of the penalty provisions in light of the research conducted, and highlighted areas where the legislation appears to meet this objective, followed by recommendations for amendments in respect of policy and implementation. Finally recommendations were made for areas of further research which might improve the validity of the conclusions with respect to the stated objectives of the present research and to inform policy formulation.

SARAs have been established to achieve dual objectives of improving efficiency and controlling corruption in tax administrations. Key question for this research include: why some SARAs have failed to effectively control opportunities for corruption and what should be done about it? To explore these questions, this thesis has set out an Anti-Corruption SARA Framework. The novel contribution of this thesis lies in developing the new lens (analytical framework) which causes us to see the topic of SARAs against corruption quite differently (due to differentiating between motivations and opportunities for corruption). In order to analyze the validity of the framework, a two-staged analysis of SARAs, labelled as the macro and micro analysis, was conducted for SARAs and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in Pakistan. In the macro level of analysis (through secondary literature analysis), it was found that SARAs made partial progress to control corruption by focusing more on controlling motivations for corruption (through personnel autonomy) and lesser focus on controlling opportunities for corruption (through effective accountability). In the micro analysis (through semi-structured interviews and secondary literature), it was found that FBR remained ineffective in controlling both motivations and opportunities for corruption despite focusing more on controlling motivations for corruption (through personnel autonomy) and lesser focus on controlling opportunities for corruption (through effective accountability). In both macro and micro analyses, continued interference from Ministries of Finance (MoF) was found to undermine not only effective accountability for SARAs and FBR, but also undermining control of opportunities for corruption. Findings of both macro and macro level of analysis resulted in three main recommendations. These findings pointed towards a recommendation of reforming SARAs into an organizational form which is far more disaggregated from the parent ministry, such that SARAs have no accountability link with MoFs in the presence of other effective oversight bodies. It is recommended that SARA countries should develop this understanding about importance of balancing both autonomy and accountability mechanisms to be fully effective against corruption for controlling both motivations and opportunities for corruption. Thirdly, research findings point towards a case of converting FBR into a SARA in the form of Pakistan Revenue Authority, such that it is free from any direct oversight by the MoF, and in contrast should be subjected to effective oversight by other oversight bodies, such as already existing Cabinet Committee for Federal Revenue.

Thesis (doctoral)--Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 7-13) and index.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-11-21T08:57:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Allan George de Abreu Fallet.pdf: 2495448 bytes, checksum: ec8edfde7c7586a16659948ce4ac7365 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-21T08:57:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Allan George de Abreu Fallet.pdf: 2495448 bytes, checksum: ec8edfde7c7586a16659948ce4ac7365 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-09-25 / The purpose of this study is the legal nature of the fiscal administrative process. In this regard, certain conceptual premises are herein presented, for instance, the guidelines set forth in the Federal Constitution and the tax constitutional system as well as the necessity of compliance with the tax constitutional principles, such as the due legal process, full defense, adversary system, publicity, legal security, real truth and in dubio pro taxpayer, for the legality of the tax-administrative acts. In special, we will analyze the constitutional base of the Brazilian administrative process, the guidelines of the federal fiscal administrative process and its relationship and differences with the tax judicial process. These elements are connected in order to determine that the search for the conception of the fiscal administrative process is considered an arduous task in several countries and the distinction between the administrative procedure and administrative process is substantial for the clarification of the objectives of this matter. Finally, it is concluded that the fiscal administrative process has an administrative process nature destined for determination and requirement of the tax credit, as instrument of legal control, for the Brazilian tax system, taking into consideration that it presents specific particularities in the application of the legislation by the Tax Administration at the same time that it obeys the Public Law rules / O presente trabalho tem por objeto a natureza jurídica do processo administrativo fiscal. Nesse sentido se expõem algumas premissas conceituais, como as diretrizes previstas na Constituição Federal e o sistema constitucional tributário, bem como a necessidade do cumprimento dos princípios constitucionais tributários, como devido processo legal, ampla defesa, contraditório, publicidade, segurança jurídica, verdade material e in dubio pro contribuinte, para a legalidade dos atos administrativo-tributários. Em especial se analisa a base constitucional do processo administrativo pátrio, as diretrizes do processo administrativo fiscal federal e a sua relação e diferenças com o processo judicial tributário. Tais elementos se reúnem para aferir que a busca pela conceituação do processo administrativo fiscal é tarefa considerada árdua em diversos países, e a distinção entre procedimento e processo administrativo é fundamental para o deslinde dos objetivos desse tema. Ao final, conclui-se que o processo administrativo fiscal possui natureza de processo administrativo destinado à determinação e exigência do crédito tributário, como instrumento de controle de legalidade, para o sistema tributário brasileiro, em razão de apresentar peculiaridades específicas na aplicação da legislação pela Administração Tributária, ao mesmo tempo em que obedece às regras de Direito Público

The objective of the study was to investigate the right of the South African Government to tax the income earned by a foreign company when rendering services in South Africa to a South African associated enterprise on a recurrent basis, together with the right to tax the amounts paid to the employees of the permanent establishment for services rendered in South Africa. At the same time the research investigated whether the services rendered by a foreign company to an associated enterprise in South Africa on a recurrent basis would constitute a permanent establishment, as this is essential before South Africa may tax either the foreign company or the employees of the permanent establishment (where such employees are not resident in South Africa).The research was conducted by means of a critical analysis of documentary data and data from a limited number of interviews with academics and the authors of textbooks and articles. In order to limit the scope of the research, a number of assumptions were made. Conflicting viewpoints underlying certain of these assumptions were discussed. Some of the important conclusions reached are that the provisions of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties should be taken into account when interpreting South African legislation (including Double Tax Agreements), and that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Commentary may be relied upon when interpreting OECD based Double Tax Agreements in South Africa. No conclusion was reached on whether to apply an ambulatory or a static basis of interpreting the OECD Commentary, however. The final conclusion of the research is that the services rendered in South Africa on a recurrent basis would be geographically and commercially coherent and consequently meet the "location test'. It is clear that as the services are rendered regularly and recurrently, they would be regarded as having the necessary permanence and would meet the 'duration test'. The place of business would therefore be regarded as being fixed (having the necessary degree of permanence). As the services would be rendered at the place of business of the South African entity, they would be regarded as being rendered 'through' the place of business and the foreign entity would be regarded as having a permanent establishment in South Africa (as defined in Article 5(1) of the OECD Model Tax Convention}. The South African Government would therefore be entitled to tax the income attributable to the permanent establishment and the income earned by the non resident employees, who rendered services in South Africa for the permanent establishment. Once the entitlement to tax exists, South African legislative rules determine how South Africa proceeds to tax the income.