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Developed countries have had commendable success in improving their taxation policy systems over the years. However, developing countries face numerous tax policy challenges when they attempt to establish efficient tax systems. Uganda’s tax structure has been greatly improved in recent years, and it appears to mirror the tax system in other Sub-Saharan Africa countries, in terms of the types of taxes and rates. Nevertheless, growth in domestic revenue mobilization after various reforms has not significantly improved as demonstrated by the increase in overall budget deficits. The persistence of budget deficits makes it clear that Uganda’s tax policies urgently need to be reviewed to increase tax revenues. This thesis reviews the pros and cons of changes made to the tax system and assesses the extent to which they can solve the deficit dilemma. In particular, this thesis demonstrates that Uganda’s approach to tax policy does not take into consideration prevailing domestic social phenomena like the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the ongoing civil war in Northern Uganda, the expanding informal sector, and barriers to effective tax administration, all of which are rapidly eroding the tax base. Policy solutions that address these systemic problems are suggested. / Thesis (Master, Law) -- Queen's University, 2007-09-27 08:58:01.813

The fundamental question in development economics is what causes some countries to become more prosperous than others. The literature, starting with Hall and Jones (1999), has identified differences in total factor productivity (TFP) as being the driver of cross-country income differences. I investigate policies that may give rise to these differences in TFP. I pay particular attention to the influence of informal economies in developing countries and how macroeconomic policies can distort firm-level incentives to innovate and operate formally. To address these questions, I construct a series of macroeconomic models which have several common elements. First, I model firm-level decisions with regard to innovation. These firm-level decisions ultimately give rise to differences in productivity across countries. Second, I embrace the role of firm heterogeneity in productivity to examine the dynamics of firm choice. Finally, through the use of computational methods, I simulate these models to evaluate the macroeconomic effects of policy distortions on firm-level decision making. Subject to the common elements above, each chapter answers a specific policy question. Chapter II asks whether size-based tax distortions can generate firm-size distributions often observed in developing countries. I find that a model with innovation and firm-level heterogeneity can explain the prevalence of large firms in response to tax distortions, but additional frictions are necessary to explain the ubiquity of small firms in most developing countries. It also illustrates tax distortions may have little impact on aggregate output while dramatically reducing innovation. Chapter III documents that tax rates can negatively affect growth by inducing firms to participate in the informal sector rather than the formal sector. Finally, Chapter IV shows how tax revenues are affected by changes in tax rates given the provision of a productive public good.

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This thesis examines the implementation of fiscal decentralization in Ghana, originally known as the Gold Coast in West Africa. It focuses on the Government of Ghana’s policies regarding subnational entities especially those related to own-source revenues, property taxes and government fragmentation. Ghana began the implementation of fiscal decentralization during the colonial era, but commenced more rigorous reforms only after 1988, with the enactment of laws to implement a Constitutional provision to allocate 5 percent of tax revenues to subnational governments and to fragment growing subnational units to smaller ones, in order to aid service delivery. The effectiveness of these polices has not yet been assessed by the Government of Ghana. This thesis examines these policies by posing three questions: First, “how effective is fiscal decentralization in supporting subnational autonomy in Ghana?” Second, “To what extent do revenue and expenditure assignments as well as intergovernmental transfers impact on regional gross domestic product in Ghana?” Third, “to what extent do subnational fragmentation and intergovernmental transfers impact on own-source revenue and more specifically property tax revenue in assemblies in Ghana?” The thesis concludes that Ghana has been more successful with political and administrative decentralization relative to fiscal decentralization. Of the pillars of fiscal decentralization, the intergovernmental transfers pillar is the most effective, although its implementation is bedeviled with delays in the transfer of funds. Revenue and expenditure autonomy are limited in Ghana, partly because of financial capacity constraints at the local level and over the financing of their capital budgets. It also concludes that subnational debt is not a challenge in Ghana. However, fragmentation at the regional and assembly levels has an overall negative impact on regional GDP, own-source revenue generally and property taxes more specifically, with some nuance at the level of metropolitan assemblies. Finally, this study confirms that intergovernmental transfers have an aggregate negative impact on own-sourced revenue, but no impact on the property taxes. I therefore recommend a detailed analysis of the institutional capacity of assemblies to generate own source revenue to be carried out before assemblies are fragmented. In addition, the central government needs to progressively increase the performance-based proportion of its intergovernmental transfers and provide technical assistance to assemblies that require support to enhance their revenue collection. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / University of Pretoria, African Tax Institute. The World Bank- IEGEC / Economics / PhD (Tax Policy) / Unrestricted

This study examines the issue of tax neutrality of the income tax treatment of credit swaps in Canada in domestic context. It analyzes the applicable tax regime consisting of rules on tax characterization, timing and tax rates through the lenses of symmetry, consistency and certainty approaches. The study argues that the Canadian tax policy focuses on achieving symmetry in income tax treatment, rather than consistency. This is because introducing consistency would contradict the fundamental principles of the Canadian law. The study finds that the current tax regime is only partially neutral because symmetry has not been achieved in respect to credit swaps entered between non-financial organizations. To enhance symmetry, the study proposes to adopt a mandatory mark-to-market basis of taxation of credit swaps for the non-financial organizations. Further, to make income tax treatment more certain, the study proposes that the CRA should issue a non-binding guidance on credit swaps.

This study examines the issue of tax neutrality of the income tax treatment of credit swaps in Canada in domestic context. It analyzes the applicable tax regime consisting of rules on tax characterization, timing and tax rates through the lenses of symmetry, consistency and certainty approaches. The study argues that the Canadian tax policy focuses on achieving symmetry in income tax treatment, rather than consistency. This is because introducing consistency would contradict the fundamental principles of the Canadian law. The study finds that the current tax regime is only partially neutral because symmetry has not been achieved in respect to credit swaps entered between non-financial organizations. To enhance symmetry, the study proposes to adopt a mandatory mark-to-market basis of taxation of credit swaps for the non-financial organizations. Further, to make income tax treatment more certain, the study proposes that the CRA should issue a non-binding guidance on credit swaps.

This paper discusses the rise of carried interest in investment partnerships and its controversial tax treatment; it looks into the history of private equity as well as recent literature in determining whether its current treatment is justified, and moreover, suggests further considerations with regards to the matter.

Overall objective The overall objective of this dissertation is to identify and analyse decisions in tax cases in which the concept of receipts and accruals has been applied over the years. As there is no definition in the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 as amended (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') as to the meaning of the terms 'received by' or 'accrued to', the other available option is to resort to case law as interpreted by the courts. The research involves an analysis of reported cases, statutes and any research relevant to the topic with the hope of bringing a better understanding of the meaning of a receipt or an accrual, and to make appropriate recommendations. The dissertation includes the following chapters: Aims of the topic Introduction The meaning of 'accrued to' the taxpayer The meaning of 'received by' the taxpayer and beneficial receipt or accrual Non-monetary receipts and accruals including barter transactions Time of accrual and valuation of the accrued amount Conclusion Research question The question to be answered by this dissertation will be an evaluation of the phrase 'received by' or 'accrued to' with emphasis on the valuation of non-monetary receipts for the purpose of the definition of 'gross income'. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2008.

archives@tulane.edu / The dissertation includes three chapters analyzing the effects of divided tax policy changes in China. Specifically, this study discusses how firms responded to dividend policy changes, answers the question of whether such policy changes helped the government achieve its goal of lowering stocks’ turnover rates/trading volumes to increase financial market stability and explores the relationship between dividend taxation and firms’ value. The data shows that firms reacted quickly after the 2005 dividend tax cut. The total cash values of dividend distributions, distribution activities, and the number of firms that initiated/increased dividend payouts all increased after the announcement of this policy change. The paper finds that firms’ behaviors, in this case, were tax-driven. By conducting difference-in-differences method and propensity score matching with a variety of matching algorithms, I find that, after the 2005 policy change, lowering the dividend tax decreased the turnover rate and the number of trading volumes by over 18% and 68 million shares, respectively. However, when I extend this analysis to the 2012 dividend tax policy change, I find that the differentiated dividend tax has nearly opposite effects. Moreover, by using a logit model and price variation model, I find that firms’ value went up after the 2005 policy change. There is no evidence showing that the 2012 policy change had such effects. / 1 / Ziqi Xie