The main aim of presented thesis is an analysis of value added tax since its existence until 2013. The first part consists of tax theory and general explanation of tax terminology. The next part describes tax system in the Czech Republic. However, the last two captures are the most important parts. The first capture of these two summarises the changes in the tax rates within the specific time frame and the consequences on the individual users, the consumer prices and state income. The second part concentrates on tax evasion problem and its prevention. There is also a list of noticeable tax evasion cases which came to light in the Czech Republic.

This thesis consists of three essays that explore incentives and disincentives in the U.S. social safety net. In the first essay, my coauthors and I measure the size and impact of U.S. marriage taxation. Our marriage tax measure incorporates all major federal and state taxes and transfer programs. The measure is calculated as the expected percentage loss in lifetime spending from marriage, controlling for partner choice. We find an average marriage tax of 2.69 percent that is substantially higher for low-income individuals. Exploiting state-level variation, we find that the marriage taxes strongly disincentivize marriage. Among females with children, a one percentage point increase in the marriage tax rate decreases the probability of marrying by 3.69 percentage points. The second essay evaluates the effects of free pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) programs on maternal labor force participation (LFP). Pre-K rules vary across U.S. states, and most states have income eligibility requirements. To estimate the causal effects of access to Pre-K on labor supply, we examine the change in the LFP of mothers whose child becomes age-eligible for Pre-K controlling for individual factors. We find that access to Pre-K increases overall maternal LFP by 2.3 percentage points. However, the effect is significant only for mothers with certain demographic characteristics. Our results are robust across a series of placebo tests and alternative specifications and sample restrictions. In the third essay I estimate how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) changed the returns to work and affected labor supply decisions. First, I identify three natural experiments where the ACA changed work incentives. I find that depending on the experiment and affected population, the ACA changed weekly hours worked by between -3 and +2. Next, I use an exogenous shock to effective marginal tax rates (EMTRs) introduced by the ACA as an instrument to estimate the overall labor supply elasticity. I find it to be 0.1. Using this elasticity, I estimate the aggregate effect of the ACA on work effort. I find that, in the aggregate, the ACA did not affect US labor supply. However, for some groups the effect was economically and statistically significant.

Master's thesis is devoted to the study of prospects for improving the excise taxation of alcoholic beverages. Final qualifying work consists of an introduction, three chapters, conclusion and list of references. The first chapter examines the theoretical foundations of the excise taxation of alcoholic beverages. In the second chapter an analysis of the receipt of excise taxes on alcohol products in the budget system for 2007-2016. The third chapter developed recommendations for improving the excise taxation of alcoholic beverages. / Магистерская диссертация посвящена исследованию перспектив совершенствования акцизного налогообложения алкогольной продукции. Выпускная квалификационная работа состоит из введения, трех глав, заключения и списка использованных источников. В первой главе изучены теоретические основы акцизного налогообложения алкогольной продукции. Во второй главе проведён анализ поступления акцизов на алкогольную продукцию в бюджетную систему за 2007-2016 гг. В третьей главе разработаны рекомендации по совершенствованию акцизного налогообложения алкогольной продукции.

Master's thesis is devoted to improving the taxation of real estate of individuals in the PRC. Final qualifying work consists of introduction, three chapters, conclusion and list of references. The first chapter examines the models of real estate taxation of individuals used in different countries. The second chapter analyzes the effectiveness of taxation of real estate in the PRC. The third chapter provides recommendations for reforming the property tax on individuals in China. / Магистерская диссертация посвящена совершенствованию налогообложения недвижимости физических лиц в КНР. Выпускная квалификационная работа состоит из введения, трех глав, заключения и списка использованных источников. В первой главе изучены модели налогообложения недвижимости физических лиц, применяемых в разных странах. Во второй главе проведён анализ эффективности налогообложения недвижимости в КНР. В третьей главе разработаны рекомендации по реформированию налога на недвижимость физических лиц в Китае.

"This study consists of two phases: (1) as study of existing financial conditions of the public schools of Hill county based on assessed valuations, tax rates, expenses per scholastic, and investments per scholastic in bond and capital outlay, and (2) a proposed plan for equalizing the existing inequalities..the study includes all of the 82 public schools of Hill County,Texas. The study includes 63 common school districts, 4 independent districts under county supervision, 2 rural high schools, and 13 independent districts. These schools range in scholastic population from 27 to 1974."--leaf 1

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar como a política fiscal brasileira respondeu às variações do ciclo econômico no período de 1997 a 2016. A partir do uso de dados trimestrais, busca-se entender se a política fiscal brasileira apresentou comportamento pró-cíclico, isto é, se atuou no sentido de reforçar os ciclos econômicos, se apresentou comportamento anti-cíclico, no qual as medidas de política fiscal são implementadas a fim de possibilitar um movimento fiscal na direção contrária aos ciclos, ou se foi tipicamente acíclica, sem possuir qualquer relação com o momento no qual a economia se encontrava. O estudo se dará analisando o superávit primário e enfatizando como certas variáveis macroeconômicas reagem a variações do hiato do produto. A análise se dará tanto do lado da despesa, com ênfase no gasto e também no consumo do governo, como também no que tange à receita. A análise pelo lado da receita é a grande contribuição deste trabalho para a literatura existente uma vez que os trabalhos já existentes para o caso brasileiro focam apenas no lado do gasto. Ainda no que diz respeito à receita, como a arrecadação total possui um comportamento tipicamente endógeno já amplamente discutido pela literatura existente, o foco se dará usando alíquotas efetivas médias de arrecadação tributária calculadas em estudos recentes. Os resultados indicam um comportamento pró-cíclico da política fiscal brasileira nos últimos vinte anos, tanto do lado da receita como da despesa, bem como uma inércia fiscal que ajuda a explicar o agravamento do problema da dívida pública e de solvência fiscal que o Estado brasileiro vem enfrentando recentemente. / The aim of this work is to analyze how the Brazilian fiscal policy responded to the variations of the business cycle within the period from 1997 to 2016. By using quarterly data, we seek to understand if the Brazilian fiscal policy presented a procyclical behavior, that is, if it acted so as to reinforce the business cycles, if it presented countercyclical behavior, in which the fiscal policy measures are implemented in order to allow a fiscal movement in the opposite direction of the cycles, or if it was typically acyclical bearing no relation to the moment in which the economy was subject. This study analyzes the primary surplus and emphasizes how certain macroeconomic variables react to the variations of the output gap. The analysis is conducted from the point of view of the expenditure, with emphasis on public spending and also in the government consumption, as well as the revenue. The analysis from the point of view of the revenue is the great contribution of this work to the existing literature as the already existing studies for the Brazilian case focus only on the point of view of the expenditure. Still regarding the revenue, as the total revenue has a typically endogenous behavior already largely discussed by the existing literature, the focus is on the average effective tax rates of the tax revenue calculated in recent studies. The results indicate a procyclical behavior of the Brazilian fiscal policy over the past twenty years, from both points of view: the revenue and also the expenditure, as well as a fiscal inertia which helps to explain the aggravation of the problem of the public debt and the fiscal solvency that the Brazilian State has been facing recently.

Although much research on corporate dividend policy exists, the evidence is far from conclusive. Understanding how dividend taxes affect firm-level decisions is crucial to evaluating dividend imputation credits which provide shareholder-level tax credits for dividends received or decreased shareholder-level dividend tax rates, which reduce the double taxation of dividends. Using changes in New Zealand and Australia’s tax regimes, this dissertation provides new evidence on the relationship between tax incentives for R&D investment and dividend payment. The results show that the theory that the tension between R&D investment and dividend payment decreases when a country previously not offering tax incentives for R&D investment or dividend payout, implements one, does not hold using New Zealand firms. Further, New Zealand dividend-paying firms with higher marginal tax rates behave in the manner predicted for firms moving from a tax regime offering a tax incentive for R&D investment to a tax regime offering tax incentives for both R&D investment and dividend payment. The results using Australian data, demonstrate that that the tension between R&D investment and dividend payment increases when a country previously offering only a tax incentives for R&D investment, offers one for both R&D investment and dividend payment. This result is driven by firms with high marginal tax rates. These findings demonstrate that the relationship between tax incentives for R&D investment and dividend payment varies according to firm marginal tax rates and typical dividend payment policies. It also reiterates the importance of considering firms’ abilities to use R&D tax incentives, via their marginal tax rates, when contemplating the effects a shareholder-level dividend tax decrease will have on R&D investment. This dissertation also provides new insight into the corporate dividend policy views. The results support the double taxation and tax irrelevance views in dividend-paying firms operating in a tax regime with dividend imputation and capital gains taxes. By documenting a significant decrease in R&D investment after a change in dividend taxes, this dissertation also highlights a void in the current corporate dividend policy views and shows the need for the inclusion of R&D investment.

This paper describes and develops a trade off model of optimal capital structure by Bradley et al. (1984). The model is then tested to examine how changes in corporate tax rates affect the optimal capital structure of firms. Based on theoretical implications of the model, four hypotheses are derived stating that firms’ optimal debt-to-value ratio is (1) negatively related to financial distress costs, (2) negatively related to non-debt tax shields, (3) negatively related to firm volatility and (4) positively related to the corporate tax rate. Based on the results of two regression models applied on 753 Scandinavian and German firms, we find empirical support for hypothesis 1 and 3 while we find no empirical support for hypothesis 2 and 4. These results can be explained by problematic empirical proxies and in the light of the pecking-order theory.

本研究以民國86年至民國93年上市公司財務報表資料探討我國企業赴中國大陸投資相關因素對有效稅率的影響。經本研究實證結果發現，有赴中國大陸投資的上市公司其有效稅率低於未赴中國大陸投資者；上市公司透過間接方式投資大陸地區之比重愈高者以及大陸地區投資獲利愈高者，由於有較多租稅規劃的空間，其有效稅率愈低。整體而言，在研究期間中，我國上市公司之平均有效稅率明顯低於營利事業所得稅名目最高邊際稅率；公司規模對有效稅率有負向影響，符合政治權力假說；本研究以長期負債、固定資產、存貨、研究發展費用做為投資理財決策的代理變數，皆與有效稅率呈現負相關，因此投資理財決策具有稅盾效果，可以降低公司稅負；另外，上市公司的獲利能力愈佳，有效稅率也愈高；證券以及土地交易所得等免稅所得較多的上市公司，有效稅率較低。上述分析顯示，上市公司赴中國大陸投資因素對於其租稅負擔有顯著影響，值得政府有關單位做為研擬相關法規的參考。 / This study uses 1997-2004 financial statement data to explore the relationships between investment in Mainland China and the effective tax rates (ETRs) of listed companies in Taiwan. The empirical results show that investment in Mainland China of the listed companies has a negative and significant impact on the ETRs. This study finds that ETRs is negatively related with the scale of indirect investment and the level of profit of subsidiaries in Mainland China, perhaps due to a higher flexibility and feasibility of tax planning. Our results also reveal that average ETRs of listed companies are substantially lower than the statutory tax rate of the Income Tax Act of R.O.C. Small firms are more likely to have greater ETRs, supporting the political power hypothesis. Moreover, because of the tax shield effects, long-term debts, fixed assets, inventories, and R&D expenses, all as proxies for the financial decisions, have negative and significant impacts on the ETRs of listed companies. Finally, ceteris paribus, profitable companies tend to have higher ETRs, and tax-exempt capital gains from stock and land transactions also reduce the ETRs of listed companies. These findings indicate that investment in Mainland China by listed companies plays an important role in their tax burdens, and this fact should be taken into account by the government in devising future tax reforms.

Formation of a common single market without distortions is one of the main priorities during the integration process of the European Union. For this purpose it is necessary to coordinate activities of all the Members throughout the entire Community ant it should lead to European integration and convergence. The main aim of this work is to verify European formation of the common single market throughout European tax policy in other words, through the convergence of the tax burden. Secondary aim is focused on the question of what impact do convergence of tax mixes and tax competition have on the convergence of the taxation in the EU. For this purposes data from the years of 1965 - 2011 in combination with methods of Beta Convergence, Sigma Convergence and panel regression analysis with fixed effects are used. Results confirm the tax systems convergence and its speed not only in the area of total tax burden but also in tax mixes, implicit tax rates and some statutory tax rates. Panel regression analysis with fixed effects subsequently confirmed the positive impact of the convergence of nearly all tax mixes parts and tax competiton on the total tax burden convergence. The highest impact on the tax convergence was verified at the tax competition and property taxes. All models accomplish diagnostic tests and are econometrically robust. It was confirmed the European Union has been fulfilled its primary aim through the tax policy and under established assumptions the highest impact on tax convergence have tax competition and property taxes.