This article explores the compliance burden imposed by the value added tax (VAT), which has traditionally been recognised as one of the more onerous taxes so far as compliance by business taxpayers is concerned. It compares the UK's VAT compliance burden with that experienced elsewhere in the...

This paper looks at the sources for VAT design in Africa. It begins with a brief comparison of the two alternative designs used for taxes on final consumption, the retail sales tax and the value added tax. While the VAT has emerged as the consumption tax of choice outside North America, both...

To date, the focus of most literature on VAT and financial supplies has been on the appropriate treatment of the cost of financial intermediary services related to investments and business loans. This paper broadens the inquiry to a wide range of financial services including consumer loans,...

Prior to 2012, the Chinese VAT applied primarily to supplies of goods, with supplies of services, including financial services, subject to a turnover tax known as the Business Tax. The value of financial services in respect of a loan was interpreted as the gross interest payable on the loan. As...

Prior to May 1, 2016, the supply of loan intermediary services and many other services in China was subject to tax under a turnover tax regime known as the Business Tax. As a turnover tax, the system had a tax cascading effect, with suppliers unable to recognize input taxes incurred on...

In most federal systems, state governments are funded through a combination of direct fiscal transfers from the central government, and the revenue they collect directly from locally adopted taxes. Ethiopia is a federal polity, but follows a slightly different path in the case of its most...

A significant cause of compliance costs for taxpayers is legal uncertainty resulting from ambiguity in the law and indistinct borders between differing tax rules. The self-assessment principles found in most modern tax systems require taxpayers to interpret the law, with the risk of penalties if...

In May 2016, China's indirect turnover tax on services and transfers of real property, the Business Tax, was terminated and with supplies formerly subject to the tax shifted into the VAT. This paper explains the background to the transition from the Business Tax to the VAT and the new rules that...