In order to achieve comparability, which is one of the fundamental principles of accounting, companies should be consistent concerning the accounting policies they use. Only under certain circumstances changes in accounting policies are allowed, and when there is a change in accounting policies, it is important that the change is reported in a way that assures that the financial reports still achieve comparability. The purpose of this thesis is to establish which rules and recommendations about changes in accounting policies that exist in Swedish and German law and what their meaning is. Further, the purpose is to compare these rules and recommendations and discuss their differences and similarities, advantages and disadvantages. Since publicly traded European companies will be obliged to prepare their consolidated accounts in conformity with International Accounting Standards (IAS) from 2005, I also describe the content of IAS 8 which deals with changes in accounting policies, and discuss what the consequences of this transition might be for Swedish and German publicly traded companies considering changes in accounting policies. The comparison and discussion is divided in three parts. One about what a change in accounting policies is, one about the permissibility to change accounting policies, and one about how changes in accounting policies should be reported in the accounts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-128). / Also available by subscription via World Wide Web / x, 128 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

This thesis explores the managerial benefits derived by small business entities as a result of complying with their tax obligations. This is the first study on managerial benefits that considers all federal taxes in the Australian context. While the managerial benefits of tax compliance were first identified by Sandford in the 1980s, there is only limited evidence to date about their perception by business taxpayers and no evidence at all about their actual occurrence. The work undertaken by Sandford together with the findings of empirical research on accounting in small businesses, provide the framework for the development of research hypotheses. With the purpose of testing these hypotheses, the research examines concurrently a sample of small businesses located in a regional area of Australia, and a sample of similar entities located in an external territory of Australia exempt from federal taxes and with minimal tax compliance obligations. The thesis adopts a mixed research method which combines a survey and a case study component from which a number of convergent results emerge. Results show that bookkeeping requirements imposed by tax compliance compel small businesses to upgrade their accounting systems, typically in the form of computerisation. The increased sophistication of the accounting system following this upgrade allows small businesses to derive managerial benefits in the form of a better knowledge of their financial affairs. The study also demonstrates that when small businesses seek the assistance of an accountant to comply with their tax compliance obligations, managerial benefits may be derived in the form of informal business advice and other services that come as a spin-off from tax compliance work. The findings of the research also indicate that a majority of small businesses value positively the accounting information generated as a result of tax imposed record keeping requirements, however further studies are required to establish the extent to which the additional information has a positive effect on decision making. Finally, the study identifies various possible approaches to quantify managerial benefits including a method based on the costs of alternative resources, and a valuation based on what owner-managers would be prepared to pay for the information.

Les divergences entre comptabilité et fiscalité ont largement contribué à obscurcir la véritable nature de leur relation. Pourtant l’article 38 quater de l’annexe III au Code Général des Impôts institue une relation complémentaire entre les deux disciplines. En réalité, cette relation complémentaire n’est qu’apparente car dans la plupart des cas de divergences, la fiscalité semble instaurer une domination arbitraire sur la comptabilité. Cette situation, que l’on peut qualifier de compromis s’est inversée au profit de la comptabilité depuis l’avènement des normes comptables internationales dont les règles, particulières en plusieurs points, ont permis au droit comptable un développement sans précédent, ce qui permet de qualifier la relation entre comptabilité et fiscalité de relation de compromis. Se faisant, les normes comptables internationales ont renforcé la tendance qui se dessine dans les sociétés contemporaines : le passage de l’ère juridique à l’ère économique. Les relations entre comptabilité et fiscalité ne sont que le témoin de cette évolution. Les principes de juste valeur et de substance économique au-delà de la forme juridique ont mis à l’ordre du jour des débats doctrinaux classiques tels que l’autonomie du droit fiscal par rapport au droit comptable et le liens qu’entretiennent ces disciplines avec d’autres, qu’elles soient juridiques (droit civil, droit commercial) ou non-juridiques (consolidation, finance). La nouvelle définition des actifs porte la marque de cette interdisciplinarité. Pourtant le système fiscal français n’est pas encore prêt à accueillir ces normes dans leur intégralité. Leur transposition totale dans le Plan Comptable Général entrainerait un abandon du système fiscal actuel pour une évolution vers les systèmes fiscaux anglo-saxons tout en entraînant des difficultés sources d’insécurité pour le droit fiscal. / Oppositions between accounting and taxation have led into some difficulties regarding the qualification of the real relation between accounting and taxation in France. Article 38 of the FTC seems to impose a complementary relation between accouting and taxation. In fact, this complementary relation is not true, since Tax rules often have an influence on accounting rules when they are in opposition. This particular situation can be qualified as a compromise between Accounting and Tax rules. Since the introduction of International Accounting Standards rules in The French Accounting System, the compromise between accounting and Taxation seems to benefit from the accounting rules. It does exit a huge influence of accounting on tax rules: accounting rules are becoming more relevant than in the past. By the way, the International Accounting Standards have reinforced the trend that is emerging in contemporary societies. This trend is the passage from a legal area to an economic area. The relationship between accounting and taxation is the witness of this evolution. Principles of fair value and substance over form have uploaded the debate over the relationship between Tax and Accounting and how they interact with other disciplines such as civil law, commercial law, finance and accounting. The new definition of Assets due to the IFRS influence on tax is the proof of the connection existing between the different disciplines. The French tax system is not ready yet to accept the full version of IFRS. Their full implementation would lead into an unsecured tax law system.

The topic of this thesis is to analyze leasing and credit financing with a focus on the accounting and tax implications of these forms of financing assets of enterprise in terms if force in the Czech Republic. The theoretical part focuses on the legal, accounting and taxation areas in leasing and loans. The practical sections will then analyze the effects of regular and early termination of the leasing and loan contracts in terms of accounting and taxation.

Kvalitet är i redovisningssammanhang ett komplext begrepp som är under ständig omvandling. Forskning kring begreppet syftar ofta till att kartlägga indikatorer som tillsammans ger en korrekt beskrivning av betydelsen av kvalitet. Forskare utgår från dessa indikatorer då de studerar redovisning med syfte att säga något om dess kvalitet. Särskild vikt har i denna studie lagts vid indikatorerna relevans, tillförlitlighet och jämförbarhet vilka kompletterar varandra och tillsammans utgör en helhetsbeskrivning av begreppet kvalitet. Forskning inom redovisning har ofta gjorts ur ett perspektiv där man ser till hur den färdiga redovisningen presenteras till användarna. Denna studie utgör ytterligare en dimension vid beskrivning av problematiken då utgångspunkten utgörs av flera olika infallsvinklar. Både tolkning, kommunikation och handling täcks in i studiens resultat. Resultatet av studien tolkas på filosofiska grunder och ytterligare en dimension tillförs då diskussion förs angående betydelsen av moral och etik. Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ analys av lagtext utifrån ett hermeneutiskt tolkningsperspektiv. Resultaten inbegriper även tolkning av uttalanden i fackpress och datamaterialet har kodats utefter de beskrivningar av relevans, tillförlitlighet och jämförbarhet som vi arbetat fram i den teoretiska referensramen. Studien undersöker skiftet av redovisningsstandard för leasing som skett vid inledningen av 2019 då IAS 17 ersattes av IFRS 16. Detta standardskifte utgör studiens urval för den lagtext som studeras. Resultaten illustreras genomgående genom analysen med hjälp av ett fiktivt bolag vars redovisning följer den redovisningsstandard för leasing som studien undersöker. Den teoretiska modellen som använts för analys av våra resultat bygger på tidigare forskning samt teorier gällande redovisning och dess användare. Modellen används för tolkning av resultat och illustration samt utgör en koppling mellan dessa. Studien utmynnar i slutsatsen att elasticiteten i beskrivningen av relevans, tillförlitlighet och jämförbarhet i lagtext bidrar till att företag ges möjlighet att snedvrida redovisningen vilket resulterar i att användbarheten för de finansiella rapporterna som beslutsunderlag sjunker. Elasticiteten mäts i vår studie med hjälp av kodning av lagtext samt uttalanden i fackpress utefter vår beskrivning av relevans, tillförlitlighet och jämförbarhet. Kodningen bidrar till beskrivning av lagens tolkningsutrymme i form av det spelrum företagen har att utforma redovisningen på olika sätt men samtidigt hålla sig inom ramen för vad som är lagligt. Studien ger slutligen resultaten filosofisk betydelse och understryker vikten av moral hos företagen och företagsledaren som komponent i en redovisning som håller hög kvalitet. Denna studie skiljer sig från tidigare forskning då den genomförs i alla led av redovisningen. Inledningsvis studeras lagstiftares incitament vid utformning av redovisningsstandard, studien övergår sedan till den faktiska redovisningen och företags tolkning av redovisningsstandard för att slutligen se till det sätt på vilket färdiga finansiella rapporter presenteras för användarna. Studiens bidrag är ökad konceptuell förståelse av begreppet kvalitet inom redovisning samt underlag till diskussion om betydelsen av filosofisk insikt och moral vid tolkning av redovisningsstandarder vid utformning av finansiella rapporter. / In the context of financial reporting the concept of quality is complex and under perpetual transformation. Historically scientific research has aimed to chart indicators to the concept of quality that together add up to correct description of the importance of quality. Researchers originate from these indicators in studies of accounting when the purpose of the studies is to say something about the quality. Special emphasis for this study has been placed on the indicators relevance, reliability and comparability. These indicators complement each other and together they form an overall description of the concept of quality. Scientific research in accounting has frequently been carried out from a perspective where the researcher merley studied how the accounting is presented to users. This study forms an additional dimension of the matter as the basis of the research is composed of several perspectives. The result of the study is interpreted on a philosophical basis and another dimension is added by discussion about the importance of morality and ethics. We have carried out a qualitative analysis of accounting legislation from a hermeneutic perspective. The results also include interpretation of statements in specialist press and the data material has been coded according to our description of the concepts relevance, reliability and comparability. The study investigates the shift of financial reporting standard for leasing that took place at the beginning of 2019 when IAS 17 was replaced by IFRS 16. The results are consistently illustrated in the analysis using a fictitious company whose accounting follows the accounting standard for leasing that the study investigates. The theoretical model used for analysis of our results is based on previous research and theories on accounting and its users. The process of this study leads us to the conclusion that the elasticity in the description of relevance, reliability and comparability in accounting standards contributes to companies being given the opportunity to disort the accounting, which results in the usefulness of the financial reports as a basis for decision-making is falling. In our study the elasticity is measured by coding legal text and statements in the specialist press according to our description of relevance, reliability and comparability. The coding contributes to the description of the leeway of the law in terms of latitude for companies to formulate their accounting in different ways but at the same time stay within the scope of what is legal. In conclusion the results is given a philosophical significance and emphasizes the importance of morals among the companies and the company leader as a component of a high quality accounting. This study differs from previous research because it analyzes all stages of the accounting. Initially the legislature’s incentives when designing accounting standards are studied, the study then goes to the actual accounting and the company’s interpretation of the accounting standard. Lastly the study analyze the finished financial reports are presented to the users. The study’s contribution is increased understanding of the concept of quality in accounting and the basis for discussion on the meaning of philosophical insight and morality in the interpretation of accounting standards when designs financial reports.

Auditors review documented financial figures to test for their accuracy and materiality. Lawyers analyze evidential facts and records to build sound legal arguments. These parties work toward a mutual purpose: to present their clients as legitimate and compliant businesses. But what happens when the concrete facts upon which lawyers and auditors base their work are obscured by their inability to see into the future? In other words, how can these professions conjunctively handle potential future obligations brought about by contingent liabilities? This study will attempt to resolve the tensions that emerge between lawyers and auditors when tasked with estimating the likelihood and financial value of contingent liabilities. It considers the strict regulations set forth by the ABA and FASB and how each side might circumvent the guidelines to allow for better collaboration. Addressing a focal point of contention between the legal and financial professions for decades, this study will also look at past attempts at mediating the conflict as well as current proposals to alter the contingent liability disclosure process. Most importantly, it distinguishes itself from prior research by implementing firsthand arguments from professionals in each field to improve the cooperative landscape. Collectively weighing previously attempted solutions, current regulatory barriers, and professional guidance, this study proposes a three-step solution toward initiating reform between lawyers and auditors to enhance the visibility, precision, and ease of disclosing contingent liabilities.

Tax evasion has been happening for decades, but after the highly publicized cases with two foreign banks, LGT and UBS, the United States (US) is cracking down on tax evaders. The latest addition to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)’s repertoire of enforcement tools is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, otherwise known as FATCA. The Act was enacted to incentivize tax information release by foreign financial institutions (FFIs) who would otherwise face a 30% withholding tax on any US source income. The question was whether or not the design of the Act and its implementation successfully met this goal. This paper explores the history leading up to FATCA’s creation, beginning from the basic data underlying tax evasion. With the US losing approximately $100 billion a year of tax revenue, the IRS is keen on reducing the money flow out of the US. It will dig deeper into the facts of the LGT and UBS cases which led to Congress’s realization that their other enforcement mechanisms were not sufficient and describe FATCA’s unintended impact. Through researching articles on the predicted impact of FATCA, surveys of FFIs, testimonials from US citizens, this paper will explain how FATCA has unfortunately detrimentally impacted FFIs and US citizens living abroad.

Section 11(a) of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 entitles taxpayers to a deduction in respect of expenditure actually incurred, provided that all the other requirements of section 11 and section 23 of the Act have been met. A company may issue its own shares, credited as fully paid up, as a payment for trading stock or services rendered, as was the case in C:SARS v Labat Africa (2011) 74 SATC 1. The question that was raised by this decision is whether the issue of shares constitutes “expenditure” as contemplated in section 11(a) of the Act. It is trite that a share in a company is a bundle of rights which entitle the holder to dividends when declared and to a vote in shareholders’ meetings and that a share does not come into the hands of a shareholder by way of transfer from the company, but is rather created as a bundle of rights for him in the company. In C: SARS v Labat Africa, the Supreme Court of Appeal decided that to issue shares as a payment for goods is not expenditure as contemplated in section 11(a) of the Act. The Act does not define “expenditure”. It has been interpreted in certain cases as a payment of money or disbursement, while it has been interpreted as the undertaking of a legal obligation in other cases. The Labat Africa case has been criticised for its interpretation of expenditure on the grounds that it is contrary to the principle that “actually incurred” does not mean “actually paid”. This research has argued that, in the context of the Labat Africa case, which related to an issue of shares in payment for goods, Harms AP’s judgment was concerned with showing why a share issue is not expenditure. He could not have intended to deny a deduction to transactions such as credit purchases.

Doctorat en sciences sociales, politiques et économiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished