The acts of the EU tax law and double tax treaties: the problems of correlation in establishing anti-tax avoidance rules

The subject. The specifics of the functioning of tax systems and the risk of double taxation require a solution to the issue of whether tax competence can remain only at the national level. Modern cross-border tax relations operate within a multi-level system of legal regulation based on the norms of international, supranational and national lawThe difficulties of correlating these levels are rooted in the fact that, in accordance with international law, each State has the right to tax persons or transactions with which it has a sufficient connection. Different situations may occur when both countries believe that the taxpayer is their resident, or when each of them claims that the income was received in this state. States solve this problem both unilaterally with the help of national legislation, and on a bilateral basis with the help of a double tax treaty.With the adoption of the Action Plan aimed at combating the erosion of the tax base and the withdrawal of profits (hereinafter referred to as the BEPS plan) and the EU Council Directive 2016/1164 (ATAD), tax strategies for using gaps and inconsistencies in tax rules to artificially transfer profits to low-tax jurisdictions were limited.Purpose of the study. The article discusses possible scenarios arising from the interaction of tax agreements and acts of EU tax law. It is necessary to take into account the obligation of the Member States to eliminate inconsistencies between acts of national legislation and acts of EU law. Member States have committed to achieve this goal at the time of EU accession and, therefore, before the adoption of any secondary EU law.Methodology. The research was carried out with the application of the formally legal interpretation of legal acts as well as the comparative analysis of international and European legal literature. Structural and systemic methods are also the basis of the research.The main results. Due to the clear coordination between the European Union and the OECD of actions in terms of establishing common measures to combat tax evasion and focusing on the subjective element of assessing potential abuse situations, a new standard for combating tax evasion has been established.Сonclusions. The author comes to the conclusion that the priority of the EU law over DTTs has been established. However, Member States retain the right to establish their own tax regimes and enter into tax treaties, thereby creating conflicts in legal regulation. In order to be directly applicable, the norm of the treaty must be clearly and definitely formulated, as well as be unconditional and independent of any national implementation measures.National legislation provides measures to eliminate the legal multiple taxation only for its residents. On the other hand, with respect to tax agreements concluded with third countries, the predominance of one system over another depends on the specific scenario, and in some cases the result achieved is the result of interpretation of existing provisions. In particular, tax treaties should prevail only when concluded before a state joins the EU.

Policies for Promotion of Malaysian SMEs Go Global in the Digital Economy

The main purpose of this study is to seek industrial players' inputs on fiscal and monetary policies necessary to enhance SME export performance. The authors use survey data from 215 small and medium enterprises having export markets. They report the most essential governmental export support policies from the perspective of the industry players. The study revealed that accessing to financing is the top request to the government. Other policy recommendations are related to market access, human capital development, tax regimes, infrastructure and technology adoption, legal and regulatory environment, and monetary policies. This study gives implications for Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) policymakers and export-oriented small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The study contributes to the Malaysian SMEs in relation to inputs to the government to improve their export performance especially using e-commerce.

ПОДАТКОВІ ІНСТРУМЕНТИ ФІНАНСОВОГО ПІДТРИМКИ МАЛОГО БІЗНЕСУ В РОСІЇ

This article is devoted to the study of the topic of tax levers for regulating the activities of small businesses in Russia. Tax aspects of business are included in the scope of financial support from the state for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs. The aim of the study is to analyze the tax instruments through which the state provides financial support to small businesses. The subject of the research is the measures of state financial support for small businesses in terms of taxation. In the course of the research, such methods were applied as: comparative, statistical, descriptive, analysis and synthesis. Research hypothesis. Identification of the optimal tax instruments for financial support of small business will allow the subjects of this sphere of the economy to function effectively without causing a conflict of interest between entrepreneurship and the state in paying taxes to the budget. Presentation of the main material. Small business entities in the Russian Federation have the right to state support in the form of financial, property, information, and consulting assistance. Financial assistance, as the most significant, consists in the provision of government subsidies, preferential types of loans, tax holidays, special tax regimes, simplified accounting procedures, etc. Tax instruments of financial support are of key importance for business entities, as they allow regulating the tax burden depending on the types of activities, the scale of the organization, the amount of income and many other factors. For Russian business entities, there are 5 taxation regimes, of which one is general and four special (preferential), tax holidays for small businesses and tax incentives for types of taxes. Originality and practical significance of the research. A comparative analysis of special tax regimes showed that the profitability of a particular tax regime is determined by the goals of the business, the scale and scope of activity. Conclusions and prospects for further use. The use of special tax regimes helps to optimize tax payments, and tax incentives reduce the tax burden of business entities. However, in the current conditions of the spread of the pandemic, increased attention from the state to small businesses is required in order to regulate the possible loss of profitability due to the introduction of restrictive measures, and, as a result, a decrease in the population's ability to pay, which, in turn, will negatively affect the replenishment of the country's budget with tax payments.

Real Effects of Private Country-by-Country Disclosure

We investigate the effects of mandatory private Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) to European tax authorities on multinational firms’ capital and labor investments as well as their organizational structures. We exploit the threshold-based application of this 2016 disclosure rule to conduct difference-in-differences and regression discontinuity tests. We document increases in capital and labor expenditures in Europe, but these effects are more pronounced in countries with preferential tax regimes. Cross-sectional tests and analysis using consolidated financial data provide evidence consistent with multinational firms reallocating capital across Europe to mitigate increased tax enforcement risk, as well as with CbCR hindering capital investment efficiency. We also find evidence consistent with firms responding to CbCR by reducing organizational complexity. Collectively, our results support the conclusion that mandatory private CbCR causes firms to change real investment activities to substantiate their tax avoidance activities in Europe while reducing the appearance of aggressive tax practices.

Impact of changes in economic pressures on the activities of foreign oil and gas companies in Venezuela

The article discusses several new laws in the oil and gas sector of Venezuela, which appeared at the beginning of the 21st century. It also presents the tax regimes in this area of the country and the types of tax and economic burdens that apply to these regimes; highlights the main problematic aspects of changes in tax legislation and the consequences on the activities of foreign companies and the development of the oil and gas sector of the country as a result of such changes. It is concluded that the increase in state revenues not solve the problem of attracting investments in the oil and gas sector of the country, and only scare off a large company in the future (Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips have left the Venezuelan market), resulting in a fall in production at the country, its government revenues, and then slowing down economic growth in the country. As an alternative approach to improving state regulation and the conduct of the oil business in the country, the options for improving this situation are presented: to increase the share of foreign companies in strategic partnerships; review the tax system for oil companies; allow some programs to be implemented directly by foreign companies; and propose new distribution and profitability schemes that will adapt to the current international hydrocarbon market.

Are Women Human? Tampon Taxes and the Semiotics of Exclusion

By now, there is a robust body of scholarship critiquing the taxation of menstrual products from material, expressive, constitutional, and human rights perspectives. This literature highlights the issue of access to sanitary products in prisons, in secondary schools, and in poor countries. Invoking the expressive function of law, scholars have noted how the tax signals to women that their basic physical and health needs are not human necessities that merit tax exemption—like say Viagra—but are rather luxuries that should be taxed—like cigarettes and alcohol. In this tax regime, human needs considered basic enough to merit tax relief—thinning hair, for example—are male needs. So what else is new? As Catherine Mackinnon asked, ironically, decades ago: Are women human? In this Article, I want to turn the expressive critique of tampon taxation in the direction of semiotics. Culture constitutes systems of signs through which we understand our world. These signs convey meaning though their difference from other signs, not through any intrinsic meaning. Tax law has its own signs. By imposing differing tax regimes on people and things, it tells us how to read them. For example, through differing taxation, it tells us what a family is (one organized around a formal marriage) and is not (networks of dependence organized around cohabitants), what work is (labor exchanged for goods) and is not (housework), etc. Taxes also tell us which goods are luxuries and which are necessities by imposing a luxury tax on certain items and exempting others.

Time for a U.S.–Brazil Tax Treaty

The U.S. is the most relevant trade partner with whom Brazil does not have a tax treaty. Previous attempts to conclude it were not successful, with the main alleged reason being Brazil’s insistence on tax sparing. With the change in time and developments in treaty policy and in the domestic tax regimes of the countries, tax sparing should no longer be an obstacle. After discussing the potential benefits of a treaty for both countries and their respective taxpayers, this Article addresses the technical issues that may arise during negotiations resulting from differences of tax treaty practice and demonstrate that none of them seem significant enough to be a “deal breaker,” with the most relevant currently being sourcing rules on technical services. Should the governments of both countries, which in recent months have given signs of political synchrony unseen in the past decades, decide to pursue the conclusion of a tax treaty, the technical conditions are more than ever present.

Comparative characteristics of domestic and foreign experience of regulatory regulation of the tax on individuals of individuals in conditions society

The paper proves that personal income taxation always causes a number of heated debates in any state. The peculiarities of the normative fixing of the personal income tax rate in Ukraine and some countries are considered. It is determined that the development of a modern information system in our country provides real opportunities for large-scale effective transformations in the tax sphere. The author focuses on the fact that the personal income tax rate in different countries is based on the principle of differentiation. The application of a differentiated tax system has a scientific basis. The tax primarily has a regulatory and incentive function, and therefore with the help of a differentiated tax rate it is possible to make competitive entire sectors of the economy by establishing loyal tax regimes. It is this “social orientation” in tax reform that ensures the sustainable existence of a market economy and the absence of “shadow markets”. Also in many countries and in Ukraine the category of “marginal income” is used – the minimum income limit below which a person is exempt from paying tax. When forming appropriate amendments to the tax code, the principle of economy must be observed, which consists in reducing the costs of tax collection, streamlining the taxation system. One of the priority areas in the development of tax policy in our country should be its gradual socialization, which involves focusing not only on the implementation of the fiscal function of the tax, but also the implementation of the social function of the tax, aimed at universal values. In order to achieve social justice and increase the welfare of the people, it is necessary to take a set of economic, tax, administrative measures that work in a single direction and will allow to build a modern information society.

Tax Regimes in the USA: The Review and the Effect on Small Businesses

Subject. The article discusses the development of small businesses in the USA though supporting measures. Objectives. We suggest how small businesses should be supported and developed by analyzing the relevant practices in the USA. We also identify and analyze factors and conditions that contribute to the development of small businesses through supportive measures taken in the USA. Methods. We use the methods of analysis, synthesis and logic research through the creative data approach. Results. In this article we analyze the specifics of tax treatment of business and small business, first of all, in Foreign Trade Zones and in the USA as a whole. We reveal special tax regimes in the USA, referring to the business environment of SME in Russia just for the sake of comparison. Having analyzed relevant positive practices in the USA, we suggest how small businesses should be supported and developed in Russia, which is the novelty of this study. Conclusions and Relevance. We conclude that the apparatus the USA uses to bring its small business sector to the international market and expand its operations, helps businessmen increase their profit and sales, get more free from seasonal fluctuations and turbulence in the domestic market and receive real financial aid. Supporting the small business, the State should prioritize ensuring sufficient jobs for the people, including the creation of additional ones.