The latest empirical results of the size of the shadow economy in 18 OECD countries are presented, using the currency demand approach to calculate the shadow economy over time. The results indicate a strong increase in the size of the shadow economy, over the period 1960 to 1998 and for 15 of...

Getting tax and transfer systems to efficiently deliver sufficient revenues to achieve macroeconomic targets, address goals in re-distribution and social welfare, encourage employment, accommodate business-competitiveness concerns and incorporate environmental issues is difficult. In Australia,...

The latest empirical results of the size of the shadow economy in 18 OECD countries are presented, using the currency demand approach to calculate the shadow economy over time. The results indicate a strong increase in the size of the shadow economy, over the period 1960 to 1998 and for 15 of...

In 2013, the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) will mark 100 years. Attacks on the tax policy generally, and on the Code specifically, have formed part of the income tax landscape since the enactment of the Code in 1913. For nearly 100 years, taxpayers have engaged in reasonable, and...

The unbridled intent to maximize the return for shareholders has earned an enviable place for the tax-planning fraternity in corporate structuring deliberations. More often than not, elevating the trend akin to an axiomatic proposition, cross-border transactions are tested for tax-efficiency...

Many people — perhaps most — want to make money and lower their taxes, but few want to unabashedly break the law. These twin desires have led to a range of strategies, such as the use of “paper corporations” and offshore tax havens, that produce sizable profits with minimal costs. The...

On January 1, 2013, the federal estate tax regime in effect from 2001 to 2012 is scheduled to revert to its pre-2001 structure. A 35% rate will soar to a 55% rate. A $5 million exemption will plummet to $1 million. Some deductions and credits enacted in 2001 will disappear while others repealed...

As most of us are aware, the failure to comply with the tax law can lead to tax penalties, which almost always take the form of monetary sanctions. But tax noncompliance has other consequences as well. Collateral sanctions for tax noncompliance — which apply on top of traditional tax penalties...

Over the past decade, a number of well-publicized data leaks have revealed the secret offshore holdings of high-net-worth individuals and multinational taxpayers, leading to a sea change in cross-border tax enforcement. Spurred by leaked data, tax authorities have prosecuted offshore tax cheats,...

This is a conceptual paper, the author discusses some fundamental assumptions regarding taxation. These assumptions need to be re-examined. The author has carried out a survey of fifty professionals in the field of tax administrations and based on discussions with them tried to identify the...