Automation of VAT System

The automated tax system has been taken as an effective tool for modernizing the tax system. The automated tax system can easily store all types of reported income, and it makes the tax submission procedure easy and convenient, resulting in reducing the compliance cost. The main objective of this chapter is to explain the necessity of an automated value added tax (VAT) system for raising domestic resource mobilization and how automation can be a better alternative to finance sustainable development goals projects. The secondary data was collected from the National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh. This study explains that the entire VAT system's automation can reduce the taxpayers' incentive to evade tax by reducing the tax compliance and taking bribes of tax officials. In sum, automation of the tax system would ultimately be pragmatic tax reform for the financing in the SDG projects.

Domestic Resource Mobilization and Human Capital Development in Sub- Saharan Africa

This study investigates the nexus between domestic resource mobilization using aggregated and disaggregated taxes, and human capital accumulation as measured by the index of human capital and total factor productivity. The study explores panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag. We further explore the linear and nonlinear effects of taxes on human capital accumulation. The results from the scatterplots show that taxes at aggregate and disaggregated levels positively correlated with the two measures of human capital. On the linear analysis, the impact of aggregated and disaggregated taxes is largely negative under the index of human capital but largely positive under the second measure in the short-run. However, the long-run results indicate that aggregate and disaggregated taxes significantly amplify human capital accumulation. On nonlinearity, there is no presence of human capital laffer curve (HCLC) in the short-run under the two measures of human capital. However, there is presence of HCLC in the long-run. The net effects results show that some taxes (such as indirect taxes, taxes on goods and services) are distortionary in improving the level of human capital development while some taxes (such as total tax, direct tax, taxes on income, profit, and gains) can distort human capital development in the SSA region.

Identifying Spatial Driving Factors of Energy and Water Consumption in the Context of Urban Transformation

Urban energy and water consumption varies substantially across spatial and temporal scales, which can be attributed to changes of socio-economic variables, especially for a city undergoing urban transformation. Understanding these variations in variables related to resource consumptions would be beneficial to regional resource utilization planning and policy implementation. A geographically weighted regression method with modified procedures was used to explore and visualize the relationships between socio-economic factors and spatial non-stationarity of urban resource consumption to enhance the reliability of predicted results, taking Taichung city with 29 districts as an example. The results indicate that there is a strong positive correlation between socio-economic context and domestic resource consumption, but that there are relatively weak correlations for industrial and agricultural resource consumption. In 2015, domestic water and energy consumption was driven by the number of enterprises followed by population and average income level (depending on the target districts and sectors). Domestic resource consumption is projected to increase by approximately 84% between 2015 and 2050. Again, the number of enterprises outperforms other factors to be the dominant variable responsible for the increase in resource consumption. Spatial regression analysis of non-stationarity resource consumption and its associated variables offers useful information that is helpful for targeting hotspots of dominant resource consumers and intervention measures.

Direct Recycling R&D at the ReCell Center

The expected rapid growth in electric vehicle deployment will inevitably be followed by a corresponding rise in the supply of end-of-life vehicles and their lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The batteries may be reused, but will eventually be spent and provide a potential domestic resource that can help supply materials for future battery production. However, commercial recycling processes depend on profits from recovery of cobalt, use of which is being reduced in new cathode chemistries. The U.S. Department of Energy, therefore, established the ReCell Center in early 2019 to develop robust LIB recycling technology that would be economical even for batteries that contain no cobalt. The central feature of the technology is recovery of the cathode material with its unique crystalline cathode morphology intact in order to retain its value and functionality. Other materials are recovered as well in order to maximize revenues and minimize waste-handling costs. Analysis and modeling serve to evaluate and compare process options so that we can identify those that will be most economical while still minimizing energy use and environmental impacts. This paper provides background and describes highlights of the center’s first 2 years of operation.

Taxation and Customs Reforms in Fragile States: Between Bargaining and Enforcement

In the last decade, African authorities and the international community have called for support to increase taxation capacity in order to reduce reliance on aid flows. This commitment to support tax administrations was reflected in the 2015 Addis Tax Initiative (ATI), which advocated ‘to double assistance to developing countries in order to strengthen their tax systems and administrations’ by the year 2020 (IMF 2017: 6). Increasing domestic resource mobilisation is even more salient for state-building in fragile states, in terms of providing costly services to citizens, including security, across national territory. There is a rich literature (Acemoglu and Robinson 2012; Besley and Persson 2009) arguing that robust and inclusive fiscal institutions are essential for state-building and economic growth. This is not the situation in fragile states.

Economic Efficiency and Distortions to Incentives in Production of Cotton and Rice Crops in Punjab

The study based on crop budgets, for 2010-12 crops, was, inter alia, designed to examine economic efficiency and distortions in incentives to production of cotton and basmati rice, long grain aromatic rice, crops in Punjab. The analysis has confirmed the competitiveness of their production in Punjab as farmers’ gross revenues from these crops exceeded their total costs, enabling farmers make some profit. The competitiveness, nevertheless, is sensitive to changes in prices of the produce and those of the inputs. The analysis conducted at economic prices have indicated economic efficiency and comparative advantage of Punjab in producing both basmati rice and cotton. The domestic resource cost coefficients for basmati as well as cotton were consistently less than one, confirming Punjab’s comparative advantage and economic efficiency in their farming. The estimation and analysis of nominal projection coefficients and effective protection coefficients for basmati and cotton crops have indicated implicit taxation as well as some protection to domestic producers. The results of economic efficiency and comparative advantage, of both basmati and cotton, are quite sensitive to the fluctuations and developments in world markets with spill over to the domestic market, impacting their competitiveness.

Segmented terrorism in the Sahara-Sahel zone. The first stage: 2007-2015. Part 1

The article deals with complex dynamics of interaction and evolution of extremist groups in the context of clan-cast structures of Tuareg and sub-Saharan Arabs. The “war on terror” has long posed the problem of data misrepresentation in the studies of “Al-Qaeda in land of Islamic Maghreb”. Resilience and fragmentation of this and other terrorist organizations, the trajectory of their divisions and alliances can be only understood in the context of their connection with local elites, ethnic rivalries, reasons of youth recruitment, foreign and domestic resource generating practices. This context-sensitive approach is generally missing in the crime-terror nexus studies. There is little or no ideology-free and reliable information in the field of counter-terrorism - every single fact demands verification. To this end, the research applies the methods of a triangulation of primary and secondary sources and a systematic chronological and contextual investigation of all the facts, events and personalities referred. Contrary to the widespread wisdom, strategies of survival used by different actors in the Sahara-Sahel zone are incompatible with the crime-terror nexus models. The conceptual framing of terror-groups as hybrid, crime-terror enterprises, is misleading because it obscures the pivotal function of hard-core jihadists as a backbone of the whole structure. Parting with one extremist organization, they create another one or seek to establish new alliances to support their cause and terror activities. Not exclusively ideology or pragmatism constitutes the basis of these alliances, but as well local clan-cast structures. The research is relevant for the current political situation in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and adjusted regions of Algeria and Mauritania.

Automation of VAT System

The automated tax system has been taken as an effective tool for modernizing the tax system. The automated tax system can easily store all types of reported income, and it makes the tax submission procedure easy and convenient, resulting in reducing the compliance cost. The main objective of this chapter is to explain the necessity of an automated value added tax (VAT) system for raising domestic resource mobilization and how automation can be a better alternative to finance sustainable development goals projects. The secondary data was collected from the National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh. This study explains that the entire VAT system's automation can reduce the taxpayers' incentive to evade tax by reducing the tax compliance and taking bribes of tax officials. In sum, automation of the tax system would ultimately be pragmatic tax reform for the financing in the SDG projects.