Zugl. Diss. Universiẗat Kiel, 1995. / Literaturverz.: S. 152-173.

Thesis (Maste). / Collection of master theses of the postgraduate LLM program "International Tax Law", Viennna University of Economics and Business Administration.

Zugl.: München, Univ., Diss., 2009

Zugleich: Diss. Passau. / Literaturverz.

Master-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2008.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2005--Hannover.

This paper analyzes the effects of legal uncertainty around corporate income taxation on foreign direct investment (FDI). Legal uncertainty can take many forms: double tax agreements, different types of legal systems and corruption. We test the effect of legal uncertainty on foreign direct investment with an international panel. We find that an increase in the ratio of the statutory corporate income tax rate of the destination relative to the source country exhibits a negative impact on foreign direct investment. Interacting the statutory corporate income tax rate with measures of legal uncertainty, we observe a negative effect. / Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Series

If interpreted in a strict legal sense, beneficial ownership rules in tax treaties would have no effect on conduit companies because companies at law own their property and income beneficially. Conversely, a company can never own anything in a substantive sense because economically a company is no more than a congeries of arrangements that represents the people behind it. Faced with these contradictory considerations, people have adopted surrogate tests that they attempt to employ in place of the treaty test of beneficial ownership. An example is that treaty benefits should be limited to companies that are both resident in the states that are parties to the treaty and that carry on substantive business activity. The test is inherently illogical. The origins of the substantive business activity test appear to lie in analogies drawn with straw company and base company cases. Because there is no necessary relationship between ownership and activity, the test of substantive business activity can never provide a coherent surrogate for the test of beneficial ownership. The article finishes with a Coda that summarises suggestions for reform to be made in work that is to follow. (authors' abstract) / Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Series

This paper reports on a study of the tax treaty policy of a group of eleven East African countries. African tax treaties tend to follow one of two model treaties, an OECD model treaty that favours the interests of capital exporting nations and a United Nations model treaty that allows capital importing countries to retain more taxing rights. The study compares the policy outcomes in treaties signed by these countries with African nations, with relatively wealthy OECD countries, and with non-African countries that are not members of the OECD. It also compares selected outcomes in African-OECD treaties with those results in treaties between a group of Asian countries and OECD members to see whether African countries have been more or less successful at wringing preferences from wealthier nations. The study suggests the African countries studied have not been as successful in retaining taxing rights in treaties with OECD countries as have Asian countries. On the other hand, OECD countries are often more generous to African countries than are other African countries. (authors' abstract) / Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Series

Aufgrund der bekannten Probleme der umlagefinanzierten gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung versucht der deutsche Gesetzgeber seit einiger Zeit, die eigenverantwortliche Altersvorsorge zu fördern. Häufig steht dabei die betriebliche Altersversorgung (bAV) im Fokus. In dieser Arbeit wird mittels Experten- und Arbeitnehmerinterviews ausführlich herausgearbeitet, wo zentrale Verbreitungshemmnisse der bAV liegen und wie diese durch Anpassung der steuer- und sozialversicherungsrechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen adressiert werden können. Wesentliche Elemente dieser Reformüberlegungen sind in das zum 01.01.2018 in Kraft getretene Betriebsrentenstärkungsgesetz eingeflossen. Daneben wird in dieser Arbeit mithilfe einer experimentalökonomischen Analyse gezeigt, wie verschiedene Arten der Besteuerung individuelle Sparentscheidungen beeinflussen können. Dabei wird deutlich, dass Individuen die Wirkung einer nachgelagerten Besteuerung häufig nicht korrekt wahrnehmen. / Individuals make numerous decisions that affect their financial situation. Saving in general and saving for old age in particular are two of these decisions. Experimental economics investigate the influence of taxes on such individual decisions. The results show that the decisions actually made may differ from those predicted by model theory. So far, this was primarily shown for the influence of taxes on investment and labor supply decisions. It is found that in some cases individuals make biased decisions due to a misperception of certain fiscal regulations, such as tax treatments. Such findings are the motivation for the first part of this work: Using experimental methods, I show how different forms of taxation influence the decision between immediate consumption and saving. The parameters are chosen in such a way that the treatments “No Tax”, “Front-loaded Taxation” and “Deferred Taxation” have identical net payoffs, which should induce the same decision-making patterns. However, I find that these expectations are only met for the comparison of the No Tax treatment and the Front-loaded Taxation treatment. The participants in the treatment Deferred Taxation decide less often in favor of saving. This effect can be attributed to a misperception of this form of taxation. The individuals assess its influence as more negative than it actually is. Moreover, my findings show that the advantages from deferred or front-loaded taxation compared to a classic income tax are only partially recognized. While in the case of deferred and front-loaded taxation the periodic return is tax-free, this return is taxed in the system of a classic income tax. The latter should have a negative effect on the savings decision. The results of the experiment suggest that this is only true for the comparison of the income tax with the front-loaded taxation. Since the deferred taxation distorts the participants’ decisions negatively, I find no difference to the classic income tax. The second part of this work deals with the current and future legal regulations regarding company pension schemes (CPS) as a form of state-subsidized old-age provision. Although tax regulations are the main focus, social security law is also dealt with as it often corresponds to tax law. For some time now, the German legislator has been trying to increase the attractiveness of CPS in an attempt to encourage its wider use. There is considerable potential for this especially among earners of low and very low incomes. Therefore, this study examines obstacles to the continued spread of CPS by using qualitative methods, i.e. guided interviews with experts as well as partially standardized interviews with employees from this target group. On this basis, I consider potential reforms that may prove effective in addressing the identified obstacles. I then subject these reform ideas to an empirical review that involves interviews again with earners of low and very low incomes. It is shown that a “CBS subsidy” could be introduced, which involves granting a statutory subsidy to employers who contribute a certain minimum amount to the CPS on behalf of their employees. As a consequence, employees would be able to participate in a CPS without having to make a contribution of their own, which would induce the desired effect especially for earners of low and very low incomes. Besides that, already existing support schemes, i.e. the “Riester subsidy”, could be made more attractive by making appropriate adjustments. These analyses took place before the Company Pensions Strengthening Act (CPSA) was passed and thus before it came into force. Accordingly, the comments on the legal and initial situation refer to the status as of December 31, 2017. Some of the adjustments implemented in the CPSA are based on the reform proposals discussed in this work.