Drafted prior to the adoption of capital gains tax in Australia, this paper sets out the key structural issues to be addressed in the design of a capital gains tax. In each case it considers options and indicates a preferred choice. Topics covered include the type of receipts that should be...

This paper explores the question whether entering into double tax treaties leads to more foreign investment. The topic has been the subject of a number of studies that have generated inconsistent results. The paper reviews previous studies and notes the limitations that may have affected their...

In 2008 the Australian government announced that a major tax review would be undertaken (the Henry Review) to consider the future of the Australian tax system in the light of the challenges of the 21st century. That review is due to be completed by the end of 2009. There have been a large number...

Article 13 of the OECD Model tax treaty allows a source country to retain taxing rights on capital gains realized by non-residents on the sale of real (immovable) property in the source country. Recently, it has been modified to incorporate a further rule that has long been a feature of the UN...

This paper reviews the income tax model included in the Basic World Tax Code (BWTC) in light of the risk of U.S. tax parochialism by designers. It considers the model in light of specific issues in respect of the measures dealing with income, deductions, the tax unit, company and shareholder...

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...

Looking back on the evolution of taxation reform in developed economies over the post-war period, we observe that the early decades were marked by a determined effort to implement reforms based on Haig-Simons principles of a comprehensive income taxation. Under this approach all the various...

No metaphor is dearer to the hearts of Australian tax scholars and practitioners than the fruit and tree depiction of income and capital. An important characterisation in early economic theory, the agricultural allegory was imported into Australian income tax law not long after the adoption of...

‘Simplification' has been the mantra of tax reformers and tax deformers since the late 1950s and has frequently been cited as a rationale for tax changes in the closing years of the twentieth century and the opening years of the twenty-first. The near universal agreement by tax critics that...