Category: Tax Avoidance

Tax affiliation of multinationals in view of the permanent establishment definition

Posted on | By Fabio Paggiola

International profit shifting allows multinationals to save immense amounts of taxes. However, there are many stakeholders involved in international tax competition. For instance, developing countries suffer from tax shifting strategies, while multinationals benefit by shifting profits to tax havens. In determining the taxes, the permanent establishment plays a key role. The OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action 7 is an approach to prevent the avoidance of permanent establishment status. In this podcast, I will do a holistic analysis of this topic.

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Automated Payment Transaction Tax (Micro Taxing)

Posted on | By Halvor Berg

A Micro Tax or an Automated Transaction Payment Tax is a radical change going from a larger and more complicated tax system to a system with a single comprehensive revenue neutral Automated tax, replacing the present system of personal and corporate income taxing. In this podcast, we aim to look at what it is, similar taxes that have already been introduced, political movements and the pros/cons of introducing this tax.

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CUM-EX DEALS – Tax Avoidance or Tax Evasion?

Posted on | By Kubilay Tayhan

Cum-Ex deals – the biggest tax scandal in the history of Germany – refer to very complex financial transactions that involved exploiting a legal loophole in order to enable several organizations to claim the same capital gains tax refund. It is estimated that this has resulted in a loss of several billion euros for the German state. Judiciary is now suppossed to determine whether these deals have been illegal. This podcast deals with the questions what challenges the state now faces and what the implications of this scandal for the political system in Germany are.

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International corporate tax competition : transfer pricing

Posted on | By Pierre Beau

Pierre Beau 20-621-751 This podcast depicts why and how multinationals use the current international tax environment and competition between states to shift their profits from high tax to low tax countries. It especially focuses and explains the mechanisms of one instrument of profit shifting transfer pricing. Finally, it shows using how the international community successfully launched the BEPS Project in 2015 tackling transfer pricing issues with extracts of an interview of Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of […]

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VAT evasion in Italy – Beeler Valentina

Posted on | By Valentina Beeler

Bibliography Allingham, G., & Sandmo, A. Income Tax Evasion: A Theoretical Analysis. Journal of Public Economics 1, no. 3- 4, Nov. 1972, pp. 323–338. doi: 10.1016/0047-2727(72)90010-2 Brosio, G., Cassone, A. & Ricciuti, R. Tax Evasion Across Italy: Rational Noncompliance or Inadequate Civic Concern?. Public Choice 112, 259–273 (2002). doi: 10.1023/A:1019985022106 Chiarini B., Marzano E., & Schneider, F. Tax rates and tax evasion: an empirical analysis of the long-run aspects in Italy. Eur J Law Econ […]

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Trade Liberalization and VAT Reforms in Developing Countries

Posted on | By Alex Sieber

While being a primary source of income for many developing and transitional countries, trade taxes such as tariffs arguably discourage the welfare-enhancing activity that international trade has been shown to be. Therefore, developing countries had been recommended to reduce the barriers to trade and open up their economies. The value-added tax, VAT, was key in the attempt to recoup the revenues lost in developing countries. But to what extent has the VAT actually been successful in doing so? Judging from the experience of developing countries, what factors make a successful substitution of trade revenues through VAT more likely? And what elements can account for the failure of VAT tax reform in a country such as Bangladesh?

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The Window Tax – indirect taxes, tax avoidance, and architecture

Posted on | By Loïc Jent

Many homes with bricked up windows represent integral icons in British towns and cities. Why so? In this podcast, we dive back into history to discover the Window Tax, that was in effect for more than 150 years up until 1851. We shall explore why such a tax came about; what its intended and unintended consequences were, and what role it had in revenue collection for the Crown, alongside other indirect taxes. Finally, we shall take a look at how tax avoidance behavior has left a permanent and observable mark on architecture across the world. This is a story of incredible ingenuity on the part of Englishmen in asserting their liberties against parliament by exploiting loopholes in legislation to free themselves from the burdens of taxation.

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