The South African tax system currently provides for wealth transfer taxation by virtue of estate duty in terms of the Estate Duty Act and donations tax in terms of Part V of the Income Tax Act, which are primarily levied on the transferor. At the outset, this study investigates the conceptual justification for this type of taxation in the South African context, especially in view of the fact that some countries have recently abolished their wealth transfer taxes. It is concluded that the arguments against wealth transfer taxation are not compelling enough to justify its abolition from the South African tax system. It is also submitted that the levying of capital gains tax on the death of a wealth holder cannot act as a substitute measure to tax wealth transfers in the South African system. It is, however, explained that the levying of both taxes reflects a scenario of double taxation on a deceased estate and that the equity criterion supports the taxation of wealth transfers in the hands of the recipient. The possibility of merely including inheritances and gifts in the “gross income” of a beneficiary is explored, but is submitted that such a move would be politically and administratively unlikely. After having come to the conclusion that wealth transfer taxation is indeed justifiable for the South African tax system, two key issues are explored in the study. The first issue relates to the lack of integration that exists between the taxation of inter vivos transfers (under the donations tax regime) and the taxation of transfers on death (under the estate duty regime). After having compared the systems in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Ireland, it is concluded that it is conducive to equity, neutrality and tax administration that the rules relating to the jurisdictional basis, double taxation relief, tax rates and valuation rules apply (in general) equally to inter vivos transfers and transfers on death. It is evident, however, that it remains necessary to distinguish between the two types of transfers, because this creates a flexible platform to accommodate special circumstances and differences. A number of measures to improve integration under the current regimes are recommended, but it is suggested that, ideally, the Estate Duty Act and Part V of the income Tax Act should be replaced by a single integrated statute. The second issue deals with the question whether or not the well-established estate duty and donations tax regimes should be replaced by a recipient-based system, especially in view of its theoretical appeal. After having shown that a recipient-based wealth transfer tax offers more appropriate solutions to some of the problem areas common to wealth transfer taxation in general (such as the accommodation of third-party life insurance benefits, limited interests and a special regime for discretionary trusts), it is concluded that the current regimes should be replace by a recipient-based wealth transfer tax, which may even be accommodated as a separate schedule to the existing income Tax Act in much the same way as capital gains tax. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Mercantile Law / unrestricted

Submitted by Frederico dos Reis (frederico.r.dos.reis@gmail.com) on 2014-10-15T08:20:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DETECTING PATTERNS OF THE SPINOFF DECISION OF COMPANIES AND ACCESSING THE DETERMINATION OF THE ABNORMAL RETURNS.pdf: 927414 bytes, checksum: 095739efdcc3d7734ba7ca813bc5495d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luana Rodrigues (luana.rodrigues@fgv.br) on 2014-10-15T12:27:07Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DETECTING PATTERNS OF THE SPINOFF DECISION OF COMPANIES AND ACCESSING THE DETERMINATION OF THE ABNORMAL RETURNS.pdf: 927414 bytes, checksum: 095739efdcc3d7734ba7ca813bc5495d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-15T13:17:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DETECTING PATTERNS OF THE SPINOFF DECISION OF COMPANIES AND ACCESSING THE DETERMINATION OF THE ABNORMAL RETURNS.pdf: 927414 bytes, checksum: 095739efdcc3d7734ba7ca813bc5495d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-25 / This paper examines value created through spinoffs over a period from 2002-2010. The net debt to average share price ratio and the debt to asset ratio of a company impacts the decision for this restructuring process statistically significant. The announcement of a spinoff yields abnormal returns (AR) for the stockholders of the parent. The relative size of the spin and the financial leverage correlated with the AR positively, whereas the net debt per share and the return on asset negatively. Therefore, no direct wealth transfer from the debt holders of a company to the equity holders can be derived from these results. / Esta tese examina o valor gerado através de processos de spin-off durante o período compreendido entre 2002 e 2010. Os rácios da Dívida Líquida/Preço Médio das Acções e da Dívida/Activo de uma empresa reflectem impactos estatísticos significativos na decisão deste tipo de processos de reestruturação. Assim sendo, o anúncio e decisão de se proceder a um spin-off contribui para que seja gerado um retorno anormal) (RA) para os accionistas da empresa-mãe. O tamanho relativo do spin-off e a respectiva alavancagem financeira correlacionam-se positivamente com os RA, enquanto, por outro lado, a dívida líquida por acção e a rendibilidade líquida dos activos correlacionam-se negativamente. Deste modo, não é possível verificar uma transferência de riqueza dos detentores de títulos de dívida de uma empresa para os detentores de capital próprio.

This thesis examines the case for a wealth transfer tax in Thailand, against the background, inter alia, of the failure of Thailand’s defunct tax law on estate and inheritance (the Estate and Inheritance Tax Act, 1933). Thailand has a significant problem with income and wealth distribution, with an increasing gulf between the rich and the poor—a root cause of the nation’s ongoing political conflicts. Such substantial economic inequality is partly caused by imbalances and inequalities in the Thai taxation system, and it will be argued that the tax system requires restructuring through the introduction of the wealth transfer tax. This would be a significant tax policy initiative that may assist in tackling a root cause of Thailand’s political and economic crises. In addressing the above issues, this thesis examines aspects of the US federal estate and gift taxes and the UK inheritance tax systems. Comparisons between the criteria, rules and concepts in the US and UK systems reveal that Thailand should not simply import wholesale the approach of either country. Both systems have commendable features that may, when combined, help address the causes of the failure of the Thai Estate and Inheritance Tax Act of 1933. It will be argued that a wealth transfer tax should be introduced in Thailand, in the form of a transferor-based system, which incorporates selected criteria, rules, and concepts arising from both the US and UK jurisdictions. In adopting the proposed reform, it is essential to consider Thailand’s political, economic, social and legal contexts, including Thailand’s current legislation relating to wealth transfers, as such laws will inform and partly shape the drafting of a prospective wealth transfer tax in Thailand.

不動產價格不斷飆漲，高房價已成為一般大眾不可承受之重。不動產價格可能因總體環境、貨幣、土地與稅制政策影響所致。政府亦會透過經濟與金融層面管制、稅務制度調整與土地政策推行等層面，進行不動產價格之調控措施。 高資產個人於不動產資源配置上，應針對不同時空背景，採取不同之規劃模式與安排。以往高資產個人租稅規劃，較著重於單一時點之租稅規劃，並未通盤考慮政府相關政策影響。故本研究首先分析景氣循環波動對不動產市場之影響，針對我國歷次不動產景氣波動之原因進行說明，並彙整政府採取之相對應不動產調控措施，以及歸納可能影響不動產價格波動之因素。另佐以高資產個人以及家族企業個案實例，進行推估假設與試算進行說明分析。以透過本文分析彙總，提供高資產個人與社會大眾於進行資產配置時之安排與規劃參考。 我國歷次不動產景氣概況變動，主要仍受經濟成長、國民所得增加、通貨膨脹、優惠金融環境與土地及稅制調整影響。政府不動產調控政策，主要著重於金融政策（貨幣供給、利率調整及信用管制）、稅制政策（奢侈稅之推動、實價登錄、房地合一）與土地政策（使用管制、都市健全計畫）。 個案中高資產個人進行資產規劃之目的，係將其所持有之大量不動產傳承予女兒。於資產移轉方式選擇上，可藉由出售移轉、贈與移轉及遺產繼承達成目的，其稅負負擔與效益影響各有不同。經個案試算，若資產移轉子女，子女不另行出售不動產，資產移轉應以出售移轉為最佳選擇；若子女預計再行出售所受贈之不動產，於景氣衰退階段下，仍以出售移轉為較佳方案。若從父母替子女創造資金證明觀點，不動產標的物型態亦會造成決策影響，短時間之資金證明創造伴隨著鉅額之稅負負擔，此為高資產個人資產移轉前需深思考量之處。 本文另一個案公司係屬家族企業，主要透過公司持有不動產之模式，大幅降低個人稅負負擔，進而經營與控制家族企業，並透過層層交叉持股與股權比例設計配置，達到「家族不分家」之理念。本文分析該個案公司於公司經營策略之調整、長輩逝世前遺產規劃、並對所採用之家族傳承與財產規劃方式進行規劃說明。 隨著不動產稅制制度漸趨完善，對高資產個人而言，若其所持有不動產主係早期購置持有，現階段應無出售不動產之理由，但資產移轉將成為其未來無法避免之問題與挑戰。政府不動產調控政策之制定雖能達到一定之防杜成效，然仍無法達成平均社會財富之目的與效果，且隨我國經濟發展漸趨穩定，政府所扮演之角色更為重要，可預見之未來，人口問題亦將嚴重影響不動產市場，高資產個人除財富移轉外，亦應思考下一代於資產使用與配置效率之問題；政府亦應及早制定相關政策與規劃，以因應未來結構性變化所衍生之問題。 / The real estate prices have gone through the roof in the past few years. In an attempt to curb the house price, the government released many policies such as credit policy, tax policy, land policy and financial policy. The real estate markets are mainly affected by economic growth, national income, inflation, financial environment and the adjustment of the policy. The government’s control policy mainly focused on monetary policy, tax policy and land policy over past few years. Faced with the changes in the circumstances, the highly wealthy individual should adapt their tax planning strategies to the government’s various new policies. Therefore, this study address three topics - the impact on house market of the business cycle, the development of the Taiwan real estate market and the regulation of government policy. Besides, the study covers tax saving plans by conducting studies. Real estate can be transferred through various ways, such as selling, inheritance, gift and trust. Different way of transfer can bring a lot of differences on tax cost. In this study, take the high personal assets Mr. T case for example, Mr. T planning to transfer his large number of properties to his daughter. If his daughter wouldn’t expect to sell the real estate, selling to his daughter by Mr. T would be the best way in terms of overall tax costs. Further, even when her daughter wants to sell the proprieties, selling remains a better choice in time of business recession. From financial perspective, the types of object will have an impact on decision-making. The other case in this study addresses a family-owned business in Taiwan managing their family proprieties by corporation. By corporatization of family properties, the family can reduce their individual tax burden to a minimum cost and make family relationship united. Besides, this study also analyzes the family business strategy, the inheritance planning before the death of the elders, and the tax planning for the family inheritance project. With the government’s real estate tax policies putting in place, the transfer way of the real estate for the high asset individual becomes their primary concern. The government’s policy to curb real estate prices has achieved some results as expected; however, it still beyond the reach of equal distribution of wealth. The role of the government becomes more important in the foreseeable future. Accompanied by the population aging problem, the wealth transfer and the efficient utilization of asset have became a major public issue for the high asset individuals. The government should dot all the i’s and crossed all the t’s.

米国における富の移転課税制度とその課税根拠論について検討し，その検討結果を踏まえて，今後のわが国における富の移転課税制度のあり方について考察した。本研究の主な検討課題は，(1)課税制度の歴史的展開，(2)実体法としての連邦遺産税，贈与税および世代跳躍移転税の検討，(3)課税根拠論，である。本研究により，米国における富の移転課税は，税法独自の定義と概念に基づいて法が構築されていることが明らかとなった。 / The wealth transfer taxation in the United States of America was studied to clarify the legal characteristics in the tax system. The study is composed of a history of federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping taxes, current legal aspects of those taxations, and the rationale for the taxations. The characteristic of the legal aspects in the wealth transfer taxation in the nation is to tax a right and competence for a wealth. The theory of the taxation would be important issues in Japan. / 博士(法学) / Doctor of Laws / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University