...IoD Big Picture Summer 2013 Tax avoidance: remedies and collateral damage SNAPSHOT • The term ‘tax avoidance’ needs to be carefully defined and is not the same as ‘tax abuse’ or ‘tax evasion’. This article considers where avoidance becomes abuse and, in particular, the advantages and disadvantages of some measures to control it. Tax avoidance: remedies and collateral damage Richard Baron, former Head of Taxation at the IoD, and Stephen Herring, his successor, consider the proper use of the term ‘tax avoidance’, where avoidance becomes abuse, and the pros and cons of some measures to control it. • The basics of UK tax law are simple, but difficulties arise from complex transactions that require specific rules – which in turn create opportunities for aggressive tax avoidance and abuse. ax avoidance has rarely been out of the news over the past two years, although the term has also rarely been properly defined and has often been muddled both with tax abuse and, even more incorrectly, tax evasion. Commentary has focused on two separate assertions that tax avoidance is taking place. Firstly, claims that some multinational groups of companies, generally US-owned, have undertaken planning which might involve recognising profits in one country rather than another that has higher corporation tax rates. Secondly, introducing planning arrangements to secure better treatments of financing costs, intellectual property rights and undistributed profits by locating business...
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...released the draft Direct Tax Code (‘DTC’) along with a Discussion Paper in August 2009 for public comments. Various stakeholders have provided their feedback and the Government subsequently released a Revised Discussion Paper in June 2010 addressing some of the key concerns on the DTC. The DTC would replace the existing direct tax legislation constituted by the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the Wealth Tax Act, 1957 with effect from April 1, 2011. It aims to simplify the language with an intention to remove uncertainty in interpretation of the tax law and mitigate undue litigation. While most of the provisions in the DTC meet these objectives, there are certain provisions relating to Minimum Alternate Tax (‘MAT’), General Anti-Avoidance Rules (‘GAAR’) and Determination of Residential Status of Foreign Corporate, which could have adverse and undesirable consequences. This term paper provides an overview of the key proposals in the DTC and their impact on both domestic and international businesses in India. Introduction The compatibility and conduciveness of a taxation system plays an important lubricating role in the overall growth and direction of an economy. Tax laws are often seen not as a mere framework for the government to collect revenues, but as an effective tool to direct and propel the economy to higher levels, more so in a developing economy like Indian economy. The government of India proposed several changes in the tax system from time to time. The new Direct Tax...
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...Top Questions from Union Budget 2015-16 Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget for 2015-16 on 28 February 2015. This was the first full budget of the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Following are the important questions coming out of the proposals coming out of this Budget. [pic] 1) What is the name of the proposed micro and SME development finance unit that was announced in the Budget? – MUDRA Bank [pic] 2) How much allocation has been made for the proposed MUDRA Bank, which has been proposed for giving boost to micro and SME sectors? – Rs. 20,000 crore [pic] 3) Which regulator is proposed to be merged with the SEBI as announced in this budget? – Forward Markets Commission – FMC (FMC is the regulator of the commodities market in India) [pic] 4) The service tax has been hiked from present 12.36% to – 14% [pic] 5) 100% tax deduction has been allowed for contribution to which two important central govt. schemes in this budget? – Swachh Bharat Fund and Namami Gange Fund [pic] 6) Which tax has been abolished with a cess in this budget? – Wealth Tax (It has been replaced with a 2% cess on super rich individuals. The super rich individuals are those with an annual income of over Rs. 1 crore) [pic] 7) The establishment of a new film production centre (Centre for Film Production and Animation) in which Northeastern state has been proposed in the budget? – Arunachal Pradesh [pic] 8) What is the name of the new scheme to empower...
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...of Rs. 11,218 crore on Vodafone on its acquisition of Hutchinson's stake in Hutch-Essar through a deal in Cayman Islands in 2007. The Supreme Court, however, quashed the order in January this year. After the apex court's ruling, the Income Tax Act was amended with retrospective effect to bring into tax net such deals. Section 119 of the Finance Act, 2012, seeks to validate the October 2010 order of the Income Tax Department,w which also passed an order imposing a penalty of Rs. 7,900 crore on Vodafone in April, 2011. Finance Minister P Chidambaram recently said the Income Tax Department will take a decision on the Vodafone taxation issue after the Parthasarathi Shome Committee has given its report on General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR). Talking to reporters, he said the decision whether to send another notice to the British telecom major will be taken by the concerned assessing officer in the backdrop of amendment to the Income Tax Act, Supreme Court judgment in the Vodafone case, and the opinion of the Attorney General on the issue. “Section 119 today is part of the law. We said that there is a judgment in the Supreme Court, there is Section 119 and there is opinion of the AG. And it is for the assessing officer (AO) to take all this into account before deciding the next step,” he said. “Whether another notice is required or not, it’s for him to decide....
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...doonayaa inaan umada soomaaliyeed ugu muujiyo ama aan ugu sawiro halka aan mareeno soomaali ahaan iyo halka ay dunidu joogto marka la fiiriyo qeebaha kala duwan ee nolosha sida HEERKA NOLOSHA , AMAANKA, DOWLAD WANAAGA, DHAQAALAHA IYO HORUMARKA GUUD. Soomaaliya waa wadan kamid ah wadamada caalamka ee xurta ah waxa uuna ku yaala bariga Africa, dadka quburada ku ah arimaha joqoraafiyada waxa ay sheegaan in soomaaliya ay ku taalo marin istiraatiiji ah iyadoona ku teedsan badweynta hindiya ilaayo bada cas halkaas oo ay isaga kala gooshaan in badan oo kamid ah maraakiibta ganacsi ee u kala socota daafaha aduunka, sidookale wadanka ayaa leh qeeraad aad u farabadan kuwaasoo ay kamid yihiin xoolaha nool oo ay aad u dhaqdaan dadka soomaaliyeed gaar ahaan geela oo lagu tilmaamo inuu yahay wadanka labaad ee ugu geela badan aduunka, qeeyraadka ku jira badda sida kaluunka nuucyadiisa kala duwan, dhul beereed aad u weeyn kaasoo lagu beeran karo dalagyada nuucyadooda kala duwan iyadoona mooska ugu dhadhanka macaan caalamka uu ka baxo wadankeena soomaaliya iyo macdanta ku jirta gunta hoose ee dhulka sida shidaalka, dahabka iyo yuuraaniyoonta oo ay baarayaal caalami ah sheegeen in soomaaliya aad uga buuxdo. Ka sokoow qeeyraadkaas uu illaah ku maneestay umada soomaaliyeed waxaa kale uu allah ugu nimceeyay in soomaali ay tahay dadka kaliya ee aduunka ka siman waxkasto ha’ahaato diinta, dhaqanka, afka iyo jinsiga intaba taasoo aysan jirin umad ka mideesan dhamaantood, waxa ayna midnimadaas adag...
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...SUMMARY OF THE EURO CRISIS – OVERVIEW OF EVENTS TILL DATE The Euro Crisis had its making in the US financial crisis of 2008-09. Before 2008, Euro Zone nations had been borrowing indiscriminately owing to low interest bonds available due to being part of Euro Zone. Also, they were banking on their high growth rates to pay back those loans. However, as a result of US financial crisis, growth slowed down, resulting in slowing down of tax revenues. Meanwhile, the interest on loans was accruing. Combined, these factors led to huge fiscal deficits. Greece was the first country to feel the heat due to high budget deficits. When new government came into power in Greece in 2009, it announced that previous government had fudged about the fiscal deficit, and showed it to be lower than it actually was. It was found that Greece’ debts actually exceeded the size of its economy. Seeing the higher risks associated with giving loans to Greece, lenders started asking for higher returns not only from Greece, but from other heavily indebted countries – Ireland, Spain and Portugal. The four countries are together referred as PIGS. Unlike Greece, in Ireland, government kept its spending in check but ended up in debt by guaranteeing the liabilities of banks which lost their money in property bubble burst. The high lending costs for Greece coupled with the high debt made the fears of Greece defaulting on loans real. Since the banks of Germany and France had exposure to 15% of Greece’s debt, defaulting...
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...Rupee heading for 60? It is difficult to stop the slide The Indian rupee is making headlines today, but mostly for the wrong reasons. Its value has been falling against the US dollar steadily and since the beginning of 2012, it has fallen 23 per cent, closing at a record low of Rs 55.39 on Tuesday. The worrisome fact, however, is that no one has any inkling, the government and the Finance Ministry the least, as to how deep the rupee will fall and how long will the downturn last? Research units of some banks have already predicted that the rupee may soon touch 60 to a dollar. About a month ago when the rupee was at 48, such predictions would have looked preposterous, but not anymore. Worst, neither the Finance Ministry nor the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) can do much to stop the fall. There are several reasons behind this pessimistic view. The most important factor is that India’s deficit in foreign trade – excess of imports against exports – has ballooned to an all time high of $185 billion in 2011-12, a whopping 56 per cent more than $119 in 2010-11. Similarly, the import bill for gold and silver was at $60 billion, the second largest item in the basket. Our imports went up by 32 per cent in 2011-12 to Rs 489 crore, our exports at Rs 304 crore were higher by 21 per cent. Since the financial turmoil in Europe has resulted in severe demand contractions in many European countries, a major destination for Indian exports, India’s total export earnings, experts believe...
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...Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement - India & Mauritius: Does revising treaty loosen up the existing relations? The island Mauritius located in the south west part of the Indian Ocean lies about 3,900kms south west of India. Despite the long distance separation between the countries, Mauritius still possesses the seeds of Indian origin sown back in 1820’s during the time of colonial rule. According to the statistical data, 68% of the Mauritians are Indian origins called as ‘Indo – Mauritians’. The another interesting fact which still more strengthens the Indian origin prevalence in the country is by noticing the chronological tenure of presidents and prime ministers of Mauritius which reveals that all presidents except Karl Offmann and all prime ministers except Paul Berenger are from the community Indo – Mauritians. Indian influence is felt still in Mauritius. The diplomatic relations began between the two countries post-independence. India is maintaining very good relations with Mauritius from the then 1948 to the present in terms of political, commercial and cultural relations. Frequent visits of the presidents, prime ministers and government bureaucrats of their respective countries to the foreign countries indicates their interest in strengthening the existing relations and development of the countries with mutual support. The very recent Limit of Credit extended to Mauritius in civilian infrastructure development is 500million USD by India. Today, India is developed...
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...Jawaab Celin Ka Socota Arday Ka Qalin Jabisey Dugsiga Sare ee Abaarso School of Science and Technology Waxa aan warqaddan u diraynaa dhammaan ummadda Somaliyeed, meel kasta oo ay joogaan. U-jeedadayaduna waxa ay tahay in aannu faahfaahin ka bixinno jahawareerka ka dhashay booqashada uu suxufiga Anderson Cooper ku yimid Somaliland, gaar ahaan socdaalkii uu ku tagey dugsiga Abaarso. Isla markaana waxa aannu jawaab ka bixin doonnaa eedaymaha aan salka iyo raadka lahayn ee loo soo jeediyay dugsigayega. Waa marka koowaad’e, dhammaantayo waxa aannu ka midaysannahay in khaniisnimadu (ama is guursiga dadka isku jinsiga ahi) aanay dhaqan Soomaaliyeed iyo diin Islaam midnaba meel ku lahayn. Hadaba, waxaa is waydiin mudan: maxaa sababey in Somaliland ay yimaadaan Anderson Cooper iyo kooxda suxufiyiinta ah ee wehelinaysay? Maxaa ayse ka soo dooneen dugsiga Abaarso kooxdan weriyayaasha ah ee ka socotay shabakadda CBS News? Soddomeeyyo sano ayaa ka soo wareegtay markii u dambaysey ee arday Soomaaliyeed oo ku dhalatay kuna barbaartay dhulkooda hooyo ay fursado waxbarasho ka helaan jaamacadaha caalamka ugu sarreeya sida Harvard, Yale, MIT, Brown iyo qaar kaloo badan. Dugsiga Abaarso waxa uu dib u bilaabay in uu soo saaro ardey la tartami karta facooda ku kala nool daafaha dunida. Ardeydan waxaa la siiyey fursado waxbarasho oo u sahleysa in ay dhistaan mustaqbal ay dadkooda, dalkooda, iyo diintoodaba ku anfici karaan. Warkan farxadda leh ayaa ay doonaysaa CBS News qaybteeda “60 Minutes-ku”...
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...Tax Havens pull up socks in ‘transparency’ era The great ‘subprime’ crisis has had its share of fallouts over past 24 months; yet there is a silver lining emerging from under the dark clouds which has the world order gearing up for a brand new era of financial discipline and enhanced regulation. Ironically, one of the positives borne out of the recent economic upheaval has been staggering focus on ensuring robust transparency standards in tax matters. Before delving further into how tax transparency and information exchange are critical for sorting financial disorder across economies, let me try and explain the concept of ‘money laundering’ and how the absence of strict standards in tax discipline have abated this menace. This also helps putting in perspective the role that the international tax policy, in tandem with other non-tax measures, plays in combating tax evasion, whether with or without aid of money laundering. What’s the color of money!! Money laundering is loosely used to describe ‘washing’ of unaccounted or illicitly sourced money through a cobweb of complex financial transactions, usually involving more than one jurisdiction. The objective of the process deployed to ‘clean’ the money is to hide either the ownership or the destination of such funds. A typical ‘laundering’ scheme could see three stages: a) Placement stage – at this stage, the objective of stakeholders is to move the illicit funds away from source location; sources of such funds can be...
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...Mobile Food Carts Thesis statement: Food Carts are the Future Works Cited “Andrea Juarez”- interview. "Certification 101 Workshop | AustinTexas.gov - The Official Website of the City of Austin." Certification 101 Workshop | AustinTexas.gov - The Official Website of the City of Austin. City of Austin, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. Gaar, Brian. "Food Trailers Bloom into Key Piece of Austin's Economy." Austin News, Sports, Weather, Longhorns, Business. Statemen, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. "Story - Hey Cupcake!" Story - Hey Cupcake! Hey Cupcake, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. "Torchy's Tacos — Torchy's Story." Torchy's Tacos — Torchy's Story. Torchy's Tacos, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. http://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Health/Environ http://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Health/eh_mobilefoodvendor_english__6_23_11.pdf http://www.statesman.com/news/business/food-trailers-bloom-into-key-piece-of-austins-econ/nSLPx/ https://www.heycupcake.com/story Food Carts the Future Food Carts have always been around in countries like Mexico, Honduras, and Italy. Some of the best food in other countries are often sold at a food cart or stand. It wasn’t until recently that the fascination with food carts began in the U.S. more specifically in Austin. Austin is becoming one of the fastest growing cites in America, so it is only natural that the food cart industry is growing as well. Food carts are going to be large part of the future of the food industry...
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...1. Indian currency (INR) has depreciated close to 22% in the last 1 year. In the article we will try to study the concerns of a country facing depreciating currency, the factors that led to this depreciation and the measures government can take to stabilize the situation. Most importantly we will see if global economic uncertainty rides over all the other domestic factors to determine strength of a currency especially in developing economies. Why don’t we need a depreciating INR? The persistent decline in rupee is a cause of concern. Depreciation leads to imports becoming costlier which is a worry for India as it meets most of its oil demand via imports. Apart from oil, prices of other imported commodities like metals, gold etc will also rise pushing overall inflation higher. Even if prices of global oil and commodities decline, the Indian consumers might not benefit as depreciation will negate the impact. The depreciating rupee will add further pressure on the overall domestic inflation and since India is structurally an import intensive country, as reflected in the high and persistent current account deficits month after month, the domestic costs will rise on account of rupee depreciation. Exchange rate risk also drives away foreign investors which in turn depreciates the local currency. Indian Rupee is currently caught in this vicious cycle; it will have to find a stable level to regain investors’ confidence. The depreciating rupee has serious effects on the external debt...
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...Question 11- Maharashtra state launches ‘Manodhairya’ scheme for whom? Ans- For rape victims Question 12- First women chief information commissioner of India ? Ans- Deepak Sandhu Question 13- Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards(From India) ? Ans- The Good road Advertising Sbi Recruitment Current Affairs Books Question Papers Question 14- What is the Maximum limit in prority sector by public sec? Ans- 40 % Question 15- Who got Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award for the year 2013 ? Ans- Sarod Maestro Amjad Ali Khan Question 16- Which of the bank opened its 15000 branches ? Ans- State Bank of India Question 17- Sundarban is located in which state ? Ans- West Bengal Question 18- Which is the GAAR (General Anti-Avoidance Rules) implementation date? Ans- Earlier it was April 1, 2014 and now it is April 1, 2016 Question 19- Who is the director of FMC (...
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...Budget 16-17 HIGHLIGHTS OF UNION BUDGET 2016-17 Growth of Economy accelerated to 7.6% in 2015-16. India hailed as a ‘bright spot’ amidst a slowing global economy by IMF. Robust growth achieved despite very unfavourable global conditions and two consecutive years shortfall in monsoon by 13% Foreign exchange reserves touched highest ever level of about 350 billion US dollars. Despite increased devolution to States by 55% as a result of the 14th Finance Commission award, plan expenditure increased at RE stage in 2015-16 – in contrast to earlier years. ROADMAP & PRIORITIES 'Transform India' to have a significant impact on economy and lives of people. Government to focus on – ensuring macro-economic stability and prudent fiscal management. boosting on domestic demand continuing with the pace of economic reforms and policy initiatives to change the lives of our people for the better. Focus on enhancing expenditure in priority areas of - farm and rural sector, social sector, infrastructure sector employment generation and recapitalisation of the banks. Focus on Vulnerable sections through: 1. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana 2. New health insurance scheme to protect against hospitalisation expenditure 3. facility of cooking gas connection for BPL families FISCAL DISCIPLINE Fiscal deficit in RE 2015-16 and BE 2016-17 retained at 3.9% and 3.5%. Revenue Deficit target from 2.8% to 2.5% in RE 2015-16 Total expenditure projected...
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...Dysfunctions of a Team- Patrick Lencioni Bhavya Seth - 0568958 Trang Nguyen - 0567279 Kevin Baker - 0568890 MGT 210 Professor: Shane McQuade Golden Gate University 1 I. Introduction Team work has become a core competence in many organizations such as Whole Food, IDEO, or Cisco. A team is defined as “a group whose members work intensely with one another to achieve a specific common goal or objective” (Jones and George, 2011, p.495). One of the main reasons why team work is more preferable nowadays is that the organization wants to take advantage of synergies. For example, many teams lack cohesion in which team members do not consider themselves as part of a team. Some teams have to suffer from social loafing which means that team members do not contribute or get involved in the project as they do when working independently. Other teams are face with the problems of shared goals as team members pursue their individual goals rather than trying to achieve the team’s goal. Groupthink is another concern of team leaders because the team consider consensus as a primary goal. Consequently, they do not want to get involved into the debate and this may undermine team performance. All of these above problems are characteristic of a dysfunctional team. In fact, teams are made up of imperfect human beings which means teams are inherently dysfunctional and that decreases team performance. Organizations fail to achieve teamwork because they unknowingly fall prey to five natural but dangerous...
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