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...

Business tax reform in Australia. Includes analysis by local and overseas industry experts of past tax reforms, our current business tax system and potential future developments as canvassed by the Australian Government's Future Tax System Review (Henry Review)

In the 1970s, the Australian income tax system was subject to a wave of avoidance and evasion unprecedented in this country and probably unmatched anywhere else in the world. The episode cost revenue billions of dollars, did untold damage to the social fabric of our country and permanently...

Hungary was the first post-socialist country in eastern Europe to adopt a general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR). The original GAAR adopted in 1990, best described as a "form and substance" GAAR, was supplemented by a second GAAR in 1998, best described as a "proper use of rights" GAAR. The tax...

Australian tax laws have contained a general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) for over a century. The income tax GAAR proved robust for over half a century but ceased to be effective when read down in the 1970s and was replaced in 1981. The current GAAR has been recently amended to include specific...

The proliferation of exempt supplies in VAT systems, particularly the traditional European VAT, undermines the integrity of the tax in many respects. Exempt supplies bear a tax burden equal to the input tax imposed along the supply chain up to the exempt supply. This leads to overtaxation of...

Tax reviews are not a new phenomenon in Australia. Since 1950, in addition to several reviews by Parliamentary committees and government — appointed officials or bodies, including the Australian National Audit Office, the Inspector-General of Taxation, and the Board of Taxation, tax has been...