E-commerce and transactions in virtual worlds has monetary value and may lead to actual cash flows. Where real money trade occurs tax authorities are bound to seek ways and means in which to levy and collect taxes (Pienaar, 2008:38). Previous research on the application of the South African income tax laws to transactions in virtual worlds has been conducted. The application of the charging section of the value added tax laws in South Africa has also been researched in the context of e-commerce and transactions in virtual worlds. Limited research has been conducted on the actual value added tax collection methods in the context of e-commerce and transactions in virtual worlds. This study critically analyses the value added tax collection methods employed in South Africa in the context of ecommerce and transactions in virtual worlds and compares the extent of its application to the extent of the goods and services tax collection methods’ application employed in Australia in this context. The study concludes that that the value added tax collection methods employed in South Africa and the goods and services tax collection methods employed in Australia are similar. Special rules have been adopted in Australia to ensure goods and service taxes are collected on the supply electronic goods. This is not the case in South Africa. However, in the case of transactions in virtual worlds, both countries’ collection methods struggle in ensuring value added tax and goods and service taxes is collected where the supplier of a virtual item is foreign in relation to South Africa or Australia. AFRIKAANS : E-commerce en transaksies in virtuele wêrelde het monetêre waarde en mag in sekere omstandighede kontantvloeie tot gevolg bring. Wanneer regte geld verhandel word sal belasting owerhede altyd maniere soek om belasting the hef op die onderliggende transaksies en dit in te vorder (Pienaar, 2008:38). Vorige navorsing rakende die toepassing van die Suid Afrikaanse inkomste belasting wetgewing in virtuele wêrelde is al voorheen gedoen. The toepassing van die heffings artikel in the belasting op toegevoegde waarde (BTW) wetgewing op e-commerce en transaksies in virtuele wêrelde was ook al vorheen nagevors. Min navorsing was gevind wat aleenlik fokus op die invorderings meganismes in die BTW wetgewing in die konteks van transaksies in virtuele wêrelde en e-commerce. Hierdie studie analiseer krities die toepassing van die invorderings meganismes in die Suid Afrikaanse BTW wetgewing in die konteks van e-commerce en transaksies in virtuele wêrelde en vergelyk die toepassing daarvan met die toepassing van die Australiaanse goods and services tax wetgewing se invorderings meganismes in dieselfde konteks. Die studie lig uit dat die twee lande se invorderings meganismes baie dieselfde is. The Australiaanse wetgewing maak egter spesiale voorsiening vir lewerings met betrekking tot e-commerce. Dit is nie die geval in Suid Afrika nie. Met betrekking tot transaksies in virtuele wêrelde sukkel beide lande se invorerings meganismes om seker maak dat BTW en goods and services tax ingevorder word waar die verskaffer nie Suid Afrikaans of Australiaans is nie. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Taxation / unrestricted

Interactive gambling transactions take place over the internet, which is essentially a borderless environment. Typically, interactive gambling providers are located off-shore in tax-friendly destinations in order to maximise their profits. In the context of cross-border transactions, value-added tax (VAT) place of supply rules provide certainty regarding where a supply is deemed to take place in order to determine the correct treatment for VAT purposes. In contrast to a number of other countries, South Africa has limited place of supply rules. This creates uncertainty regarding where the activities of a non-resident supplier is deemed to take place. The absence of detailed place of supply rules impacts on the determination of whether the transaction will be liable to VAT in South Africa and also creates uncertainty regarding whether or not a non-resident is liable to register for VAT in South Africa. The main purpose of this study is to critically analyse the South African VAT implications of interactive gambling in the absence of detailed place of supply rules. This objective is achieved by analysing the South African VAT Act in the context of interactive gambling legislation to determine whether it succeeds in providing certainty regarding the place of supply of interactive gambling for purposes of the VAT Act. This analysis highlights the problems associated with the limited place of supply rules in South Africa. This study also critically analyses the legislation in a number of countries with place of supply rules from a South African perspective. The study concludes that the VAT place of supply rules in South Africa are not specific enough to create certainty regarding where the supplies of a non-resident interactive gambling supplier to a South African resident is deemed to take place and consequently whether the supply will be subject to VAT in South Africa. This may result in a failure to bring these transactions within the VAT net. The study further concludes that the place of supply rules in the European Union are in line with the guidelines issued by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as well as recent South African case law (albeit not specifically related to the place of supply for VAT purposes), which indicates that interactive gambling transactions should be taxed where the consumer is situated. By implementing place of supply rules based on European legislation, through amending the current legislation or by issuing interpretation guidance, the problems associated with the limited place of supply rules in South Africa can be alleviated. This will also ensure that South African providers of interactive gambling services can compete on an equal footing with off-shore providers. AFRIKAANS : Inter-aktiewe dobbel transaksies vind plaas oor die internet, wat in beginsel ‘n grenslose omgewing is. Die verskaffers van inter-aktiewe dobbel dienste is tipies nie-inwoners wat gebaseer is in belastingvriendelike bestemmings om sodoende hulle winste te maksimeer. In die konteks van hierdie oorgrens transaksies, verskaf plek van lewering reëls duidelikheid oor waar lewering geag word plaas te vind om sodoende die korrekte behandeling in terme van belasting op toegevoegde waarde (BTW) vas te stel. Anders is in verskeie ander lande, het Suid-Afrika beperkte plek van lewering reëls. Dit veroorsaak onduidelikheid oor waar die aktiwiteite van ‘n nie-inwoner geag word plaas te vind. Die afwesigheid van gedetailleerde plek van lewering reels gee ook aanleiding tot onsekerheid oor of die transaksies van die nie-inwoner onderworpe sal wees aan BTW in Suid-Afrika, asook oor die verpligting van die nie-inwoner om in Suid-Afrika vir BTW te registreer. Hierdie studie het ten doel om die Suid-Afrikaanse BTW gevolge van inter-aktiewe dobbel in die afwesigheid van plek van lewering reëls krities te analiseer. Dit word bereik deur die BTW-wet in die konteks van inter-aktiewe dobbel te ontleed om sodoende vas te stel of die BTW-wet daarin slaag om duidelikheid te verskaf oor die plek van lewering van oorgrens inter-aktiewe dobbel transaksies. Hierdie analise bring die probleme wat gepaard gaan met die beperkte plek van lewering reels in Suid-Afrika na vore. Die studie kom tot die slotsom dat die huidige BTW plek van lewering reels in Suid-Afrika nie spesifiek genoeg is om duidelikheid te verskaf oor waar ‘n nie-inwoner se lewering van inter-aktiewe dobbel dienste aan ‘n Suid-Afrikaanse inwoner geag word plaas te vind nie. Gevolglik is daar onduidelikheid oor of hierdie transaksies onderworpe sal wees aan BTW in Suid-Afrika. Dit mag tot gevolg hê dat hierdie transaksies moontlik die Suid-Afrikaanse BTW-net ontglip. Die studie kom verder tot die gevolgtrekking dat die plek van lewering reëls wat in die Europese Unie toegepas word, bepaal dat inter-aktiewe dobbel transaksies vir BTW doeleindes belasbaar is waar die klient geleë is. Dit is in ooreenstemming met die riglyne van die OECD, sowel as onlangse Suid-Afrikaanse regspraak (alhoewel die betrokke hofsaak nie spesifiek die plek van lewering vir BTW doeleindes aangespreek het nie). Deur soortgelyke plek van lewering reëls in Suid-Afrika te implementeer kan die probleme wat met die beperkte plek van lewering reëls gepaard gaan, verminder word. Dit kan vermag word deur bestaande wetgewing te wysig of deur interpretasie riglyne deur die Suid-Afrikaanse Inkomstediens uit te reik. Die implementering van plek van lewering reëls sal ook verseker dat Suid-Afrikaanse verskaffers van inter-aktiewe dobbel dienste op ‘n gelyke voet met nie-inwoners kan kompeteer. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Taxation / unrestricted

No abstract / Mini Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Taxation / MCom Taxation / Unrestricted

The research will compare the alignment of the remuneration between United States and South African banks with respect to the Economic Value Added, a measure of a firm's economic profit that adjusts profit by subtracting the cost of capital.South African banks have been widely recognised for their high standard of corporate governance and stability during the financial crisis. Executive remuneration based on short-term equity has been recognised by both academic literature as well as bank regulators as one of the causes of the financial crisis. The research seeks to understand the differences in remuneration alignment between the failed and surviving banks.Misaligned incentives within the United States banks are accepted by both academics and regulators as one of the causes of the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent economic downturn. This research puts this theory to the test by comparing the alignment of executive remuneration between South African banks that were internationally recognised for successfully navigating the financial crisis, and the largest United States banks, of which three failed catastrophically over the same time period.The remuneration for the largest United States and South African banks is tested for correlation against Economic Value Added (EVA®), share price and return on equity. Correlation between executive remuneration and the constructs is tested between the two countries before as well as after the financial crisis.South African bank executive remuneration correlated strongly with EVA® and this correlation strengthened after the financial crisis. In comparison, the United States sample banks exhibited strong correlation between share price and remuneration before the financial crisis. The failed United States banks had no correlations between executive remuneration any of the constructs, a pattern that has been repeated in the United States Banks that have survived the financial crisis.Practically, the research demonstrated the vast differences in executive remuneration alignment between the United States and South Africa. In South African banks, executive remuneration is far more closely aligned to EVA®, whereas the United States banks only correlated with share price before the financial crisis, raising the question of whether managers are able to exert excessive power. The research demonstrates the magnitude of the gap between the recommendations of regulators and remuneration policies, with South African banks far more closely aligned than their United States counterparts.The research findings concur with theory presented in literature that misaligned incentives based on equity contributed towards the financial crisis. Of particular concern is the change in remuneration correlation after the financial crisis, where South African banks increased correlation with EVA® while United States banks no longer correlated with EVA®, ROE or share price. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Management Summary Die Orthopädie- und Rehatechnik Dresden GmbH ist ein innovatives Unternehmen der Orthopädietechnik in Dresden und der kompetente Partner für Gesundheit, Wohlbefinden und Mobilität. Ein Schwerpunkt liegt bei der Fertigung orthopädischer Hilfsmittel. Dabei wird die gesamte Bandbreite möglicher Versorgungen abgedeckt. Diese sind: — Bein- und Armprothesen, — Bein- und Armorthesen, — Korsetts zur Behandlung von Wirbelsäulendeformationen, — Sitzschalen für Rollstühle, — Orthopädische Maßschuhe. Mit hoher handwerklicher Präzision werden die Hilfsmittel in der eigenen Werkstatt individuell für jeden Kunden gefertigt. Die Wertschöpfungskette besteht abhängig von der Versorgungsart aus unterschiedlichen Bestandteilen. Allgemeingültig für alle Versorgungen sind: — Maßnahme beim Kunden, — Modellierung und Erstellung von Positivmodellen, — Herstellung der Hilfsmittel bis zur Anprobe, — Anprobe und Anpassung der Hilfsmittel, — Endmontage und Fertigstellung der Hilfsmittel, — Einweisung in den Gebrauch sowie Auslieferung. Sinkende Vergütungen durch die Krankenkassen, stark zunehmende Versorgungszahlen und die immer schwieriger werdende Gewinnung von Fachpersonal erfordern eine Straffung der Wertschöpfungskette. Erreichbar ist diese Straffung nur über eine Umgestaltung der zugrundeliegenden Produktionsprozesse. Die Geschäftsführung entschied, innerhalbeines Projektes zu prüfen, ob der Einsatz digitaler Datenerfassungs- und Bearbeitungstechniken einen wirtschaftlichen Vorteil für die künftige Unternehmensentwicklung darstellt. Dabei sollen künftig die betroffenen Körperbereiche der Kunden individuell durch geeignete 3D-Digitalisiertechnik erfasst, aufbereitet, modifiziert und archiviert und schließlich als Modellvorlagen in einem CAD/CAM-Verfahren durch CNC-Fräsen hergestellt werden. Für die Orthopädie- und Rehatechnik Dresden GmbH als stark handwerklich geprägtes KMU ist dieses Projekt ein Meilenstein für die weitere Entwicklung, sowohl hinsichtlich des Investitionsbedarfes als auch der Projektorganisation und der Kommunikation der Änderungen im Unternehmen. Bedingt durch die Art der angebotenen Produkte und Dienstleistungen finden sich im Unternehmen Mitarbeiter, die über hochspezialisiertes Wissens und individuelle Fähigkeiten verfügen. Die hohe Mitarbeiterzahl im den Bereichen Orthopädie-technik und Orthopädieschuhtechnik erlaubt eine Spezialisierung von Mitarbeitern auf einzelne Produktgruppen. Diese ist der entscheidende Wettbewerbsvorteil in einem von starkem Wettbewerbsdruck geprägten Markt. Sie ist sowohl notwendig für den wirtschaftlichen Erfolg als auch für die erfolgreiche Umsetzung der Veränderungsprozesse. Eine Umgestaltung der Produktion wie Sie im Rahmen dieses Projektes angestrebt wird bedeutet eine tiefgreifende Veränderung des bisherigen Arbeitsumfeldes. Es entstehen neue, spezialisierte Aufgaben, Verschiebungen von Arbeitsinhalten sowie die Notwendigkeit, vermehrt Aufgaben zu delegieren.

This Master’s Thesis concerns the technical problems and solutions in the Telia Mobile’s Golden Gate Architecture. The Golden Gate project will bridge service control from the IPnetwork to the circuit switched network. Connecting the different users of PSTN, GSM, W-LAN, and GPRS networks together will require solutions to many problems. Most of the problems have already been defined by Telia. Our task is to evaluate two parts of the Golden Gate architecture, namely the Interconnect- and Service Provider roles. The Interconnector provider connects networks of different technical standards and enables other network operators to reach Service Providers on the Internet or other IP-based networks. The role concerns mainly mapping between SS7 signaling and the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), charging and billing. Via the Interconnector the Service Provider can connect different services to any network. We will describe the SIP-protocol in detail and then we will look into the mapping between SS7 and SIP. We will also propose a charging model. It is important to have a solution that supports roaming between the different networks, we will evaluate such a solution. Most of the protocols (INAP, ENUM, MAP and ISUP) that are involved in the Golden Gate architecture are not completely defined. There are many Internet Drafts that discuss the possible functionality of the protocols and the interworking between them. Many different Internet-workgroups are working with these issues. No one seems to have the right answers for the interconnection between the protocols involved. Since the IP-telephony will probably replace today’s telephony systems, it is important to ensure a suitable Quality of Service (QoS), security that guarantees privacy, and a fair billing function. These are the three major problems in the IP-telephony world. IP-Telephony or Voice over IP (VoIP) has been on the market for a long time, there are many 'free IP-call sites' that use VoIP, but the quality of the calls are not yet good enough to replace traditional telephony. Our task here is to make sure that the necessary quality of service is provided, and a reliable charging model is used.

The general mindset of most vendors is that if they have a valid tax invoice, they can claim all their input VAT. They are, however, not aware of the requirements of section 17(1) of the Value-Added Tax Act. Section 17(1) explains that vendors cannot claim all their input tax if their expense relates to both taxable and non-taxable supplies and that, consequently, input tax need to be apportioned in some or other way. There are several methods of apportionment available to vendors of which the turnover-based method is the only approved method by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) for which no ruling is necessary. This study investigates the most common methods used by vendors, how these methods function and also under which circumstances these methods are recommended. The sectors that are influenced the most by this provision in the Value-Added Tax Act are banks, universities and municipalities. These sectors have large amounts of exempt supplies but also taxable supplies with expenses incurred that cannot be allocated specifically to a certain income. Therefore, a method of apportionment should be used to allocate the input VAT. Information was obtained through financial reports and questionnaires from 29 entities in South Africa. The information was used to calculate an average percentage of apportionment in each sector and also to establish which method of apportionment is the most commonly used method of apportionment in each sector. The conclusion was drawn that there might, under certain circumstances, be uncertainty on whether some income should be included or excluded in the apportionment calculation. Under these circumstances, it is recommended that a ruling should be obtained from SARS to avoid problems in the future. Copyright / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Taxation / unrestricted

It is generally well understood that venture capital (VC) is an important and significant source of financing for small firms. Questions revolving around the increased likelihood of a firm backed by Venture Capitalists (VCs) to be export oriented have yet to be fully explored. Responding to this research gap, a sample of Canadian VC backed firms is used to compare the performance of Canadian VC firms in terms of facilitating internationalization among their portfolio companies. The particular reference of this study is Export Development Canada (EDC), a crown corporation mandated to promote export among Canadian firms. This research finds that EDC as a VC investor and export-oriented consultant has no association with the increased probability of exporting. Also, stage of the investment does not show any relationship with internationalization. These results run contrary to previous speculation that syndication of VCs increases the probability of internationalization among portfolio firms.

Studying how firms and individuals respond to tax policy changes is key to assess their trade-off between equity and efficiency. Among individuals, taxpayers at the top of the income distribution have received special attention in the Public Economics literature. Progressive tax systems disproportionately rely on high income individuals to raise revenues, making them susceptible to strategies adopted by these taxpayers to reduce their tax liability. In the first two chapters of this dissertation, I provide new empirical evidence on the characteristics of high income individuals that can inform the design of tax policies. Chapter 1, focusing on the UK, shows that migrants have become more prevalent among high income individuals, thus altering the composition of individuals in the top 1 percent. Chapter 2, focusing on Italy, provides evidence of long term persistence in economic status among present-day descendants of noble dynasties. These chapters shed light on the characteristics of high income taxpayers and their path to the top of the distribution in these two countries. Understanding the composition of individuals at the top of the income distribution is key for analyzing their response to tax policies and for informing the trade-off between equity and efficiency. Firms too are a central part of the tax system of developed countries. They remit payment of the vast majority of government revenues, either fulfilling their own tax liabilities or on behalf of third parties. As a result, governments implement enforcement strategies to reduce evasion while minimizing their costs. In Chapter 3, I analyze one of these government interventions aimed at curbing tax evasion of Value Added Tax (VAT) in Italy and I provide evidence on a new margin of response adopted by businesses. As the government shifted the responsibility to remit VAT from the seller to the buyer for a subset of transactions in the economy, it altered the distribution of costs between the two sides of the transaction. I show that smaller firms face the largest increase in costs and, thus, exhibit higher exit rates, leading to higher market concentration. Chapter 1, which is joint work with Arun Advani, Felix Koenig, and Andy Summers, studies the contribution of migrants to the rise in UK top incomes.Using administrative data on the universe of UK taxpayers we show that migrants are over-represented at the top of the income distribution, with migrants twice as prevalent in the top 0.1 percent as anywhere in the bottom 97 percent. These high incomes are predominantly from labor, rather than capital, and migrants are concentrated in only a handful of industries, predominantly finance. Finally, we calculate the contribution of migrants and natives to the observed growth in the UK top 1 percent income share over the past 20 years. We find that almost all (92 percent) of the observed growth can be attributed to migration. Chapter 2 documents that present-day descendants of aristocratic dynasties enjoy high economic status in Italy, several decades or centuries after their ancestors received a title. Over this period of time, Italy experienced wars, annexations, political reforms, and a structural transformation of the economy. Yet, the income distribution of noble taxpayers living in Milan in 2005 is shifted to the right relative to the one of all other taxpayers. On average, noble descendants obtain 41,125 Euros (or 1.77 times) more, controlling for observables. Moreover, aristocrats are three times more likely to be involved in firms, either as shareholders or company officials. Chapter 3 analyzes how firms and markets adapt to a reform of the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT), combining a new administrative dataset on firm-to-firm links from Italy and a quasi-experimental research design. The reform shifted the responsibility to remit payments of VAT from sellers to “trusted" buyers, such as government entities and large firms. I present three main findings. First, firm-to-firm links subject to the new rules are more likely to become inactive after the introduction of the new rules. Second, I find that the reform was costly for the average firm. Firms more exposed to the reform experienced lower sales and higher exit rates, relative to the counterfactual. Third, I document that the burden of the reform was not evenly distributed across firms. Small firms were hit hardest, while large firms did not appear to be negatively affected. As a result, I show that markets more exposed to the reform became more concentrated.

The literature on nexus between trade and business cycle synchronization have provided mixed and weak evidence of the effect of trade on business cycle synchronization as a result of lack of value-added bilateral trade data which provides solution for overestimation or underestimation of shock exposure when using gross trade data. Also, due to limited data on sectoral bilateral value-added trade, the literature has not been able to pinpoint the sectors where synchronization is necessary in order to economically direct all effort to these sectors in forging economic integration. The paper uses value-added trade data to examine the impact of trade on business cycle synchronization at the aggregate level and sector level and find a highly significant and highly positive effect of trade on the aggregate level. Estimates for agriculture, manufacturing, construction, total business, electricity gas and sewer, and other service sectors yield a positive significant effect in the service sector, indicating that attention should be focus on the service and business sector when integrating economically.In this paper we examine output cycle synchronization patterns of the countries that joined the Eurozone later and countries that are in preparation or committed to join in relation to the original Eurozone members. We analysis this in the contest of before, during and recovery periods of the global financial crisis investigate the differences in the patterns of synchronization for late and future members of the Eurozone. For more understanding, we examine the pattern on disaggregate level using data for agricultural, manufacturing, construction, utility, total business and other services sectors from 1995-2015. Also, we examine the importance of trade on output synchronization both on the aggregate and disaggregate level using System GMM which not only solves the problem of endogeneity, but it estimates the persistence of business cycle synchronization efficiently. The result provides evidence of a positive persistence; however, synchronization pattern differs between late and future member states. Also, the financial crisis had a negative effect on synchronization in the European sub region as result the difference in the response by member states. The result shows a weak evidence of the importance of trade as a channel of synchronization. Even though previous studies have provided evidence improvement in UK and the Eurozone output comovement, Brexit came to pass. This has questioned the potency of the Enlargement of the Eurozone Initiative. This paper reexamines the degree of business cycle synchronization between the Euro area countries and United Kingdom in attempt to find an economic reason for Brexit. We also examine if the disaggregate economy have share similar pattern as the aggregated economy using the output synchronization in the agricultural, manufacturing, constructions, utility, total business and other service sectors between the euro area countries and United Kingdom. Using valued-added trade data between 1995 and 2015 from WTO-TiVA database we further examine effect of trade (sectoral trade) on the output (sectoral output) synchronization. Furthermore, we analyze the same questions in the contest of before and after the global financial crisis. The result show that the UK-EMU trade channel is no important to the output cycles synchronization. Also, due the unstable pattern or persistence of UK-EMU synchronization the EMU will have little effect from the Brexit if there exit one.