1.0 Introduction and Purpose of the Research
Over the years, the government has tried to combat tax avoidance and tax evasion schemes through various approaches such as improvements to existing legislations, strict enforcements and collaborations with international counterparts. This is done in effort of protecting the government’s main source of revenue and the integrity of the tax system. However, clear and distinctive boundaries between tax evasion, avoidance and planning were never established in the legislation, hence, it has caused many uncertainties. In Australia, the Court provides the judicial interpretation as to the application of the tax law.
Aim of this research is to discuss how the court interprets the application the law
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2.0 Concepts and Impacts of Tax Evasion, Tax Avoidance and Tax Planning
2.1 Tax evasion, tax avoidance and tax planning
Distinctions between tax evasion, tax avoidance and tax planning are sometimes difficult to be drawn in clear and precise manners. In general, however, tax evasion typically relates to illegal practices done intentionally to avoid tax payment, whereas tax avoidance refers to legal exploitations on the shortcomings of the tax legislations (Barkoczy 2015, p. 721; Leow, Murphy & Hooper 2010, p. 1026).
Generally, tax evasion involves concealment of tax liabilities, such as failure to disclose all taxable income earned, and improper claims, such as deductions for expenses not incurred (Barkoczy 2015, p. 721; ATO 2015a). Due to its legal implications, tax evasion is considered as criminal offence and attracts pecuniary penalties and jail terms for the offenders (Barkoczy 2015, p. 722). Conversely, tax avoidance, although uncommendable, is not illegal. Tax avoidance typically involves taking advantage of concessional tax rates, shifting funds through several entities to minimize tax payable (ATO 2015b), and exploiting tax breaks (ACTU 2011). Some examples of tax evasion and avoidance practices can be seen from the following figure.
Figure 1 Source: GIZ 2010, p. 19
Unlike tax avoidance which tends to bypass the “spirit of tax law” (Barkoczy 2015, p. 721), tax planning is a legitimate way of minimizing tax liabilities, if done in
Tax avoidance has become a massive topic of discussion over the past few years, given the current global economic conditions and the cuts to the public sector by the government as a result. This led to increased anger from the public who perceive avoidance by many of the country’s wealthiest people in a time of austerity as greed. Perhaps the most notable demonstration of this anger can be seen in the actions of the group UK Uncut, who for the past year have been organising protests at shops owned by retail tycoon Philip Green who, as the poster boy for tax avoidance, paid a £1.2 billion dividend to his Monaco-resident wife.
In R v. Potisk (1973) The Police charged Potisk with larceny after he was given $2895.17 instead of $1233.23 by a bank teller when exchanging the USD currency and was found not guilty by the supreme court after the judge ruled that it is was not larceny and he was given the money although he was being dishonest. The law is effective in determining justice in this case because he didn't take the money without consent, he was being dishonest and was found not guilty because the judge and evidence proved he committed no econmoic offence. When it comes to white-collar crimes tax evasion is the most common of the three offences (Insider trading, tax evasion and computer crimes). These three offences have different sentences depending on the severeity of the crime but have a minimum of 8 years
Arranging your affairs to keep your tax liability as low as possible under the tax law
This scenario demonstrates the motive to purchase personal expenses and hide small revenues and this ultimately results in a higher expense value, gaining a favourable tax return. Examples within the scenario were buying a sports car, or paying for a trip to Hawaii which are clear violations of the Business Entity Concept. This principles states that a business must be considered a separate entity from the person, and all of its financial matters should be recorded separately from one’s own. This act is seen as an unacceptable behaviour since the business is cheating the government, and keeping the money that could have been used to better the community in addition to violating common accounting standards.
This paper will cover topics such as; what a court is and what the purpose of the court is. This paper will define the dual court system. In addition this paper will describe the role that early legal codes, the common law and the precedent played in the development of courts. And lastly this paper will identify the role of the courts in the criminal justice system today.
3. Avoiding paying for costs and expenses while acquiring assets and revenues fraudulently – this takes place in the form of avoiding paying taxes on all of the company’s earning’s and where the company liquidates an employee’s pension account and distributes the proceeds among the board members and upper management in the form of performance bonuses.
To add a new level of complexity to the equation that allow tax lawyers to work their magic for large corporations and hyper wealthy individuals is the countless loopholes to choose from. Individuals have the ability within the tax code to reduce or defer the capital gains tax through many ways. List theses Taxpayers may defer capital gains taxes by simply deferring the sale of the asset. In addition, depending on the specifics of national tax law, taxpayers may be able to defer, reduce, or avoid capital gains taxes using the following strategies. A nation may tax at a lower rate the gains on investments in favored industries or sectors, such as small business. There may be accounts with tax-favored status. The most advantageous let gains accumulate in the account without taxes; taxes are paid only when the taxpayer withdraws funds from the account. Selling an asset at a loss may create a "tax loss" that can be applied to offset gains realized in the future, and avoid or reduce taxes on those gains. Tax losses are a business asset, but the
Virtually all citizens and politicians alike, agree that the current tax code is entirely too complex, yet nearly every year the system gets more complicated, not less. The reason is that simplicity almost always clashes with the other goals within the tax policy. Most people believe income taxes should be enforceable, fair, and beneficial to economic wealth, all while maintaining simplicity. But even those who agree on the necessity of these goals often disagree about the hierarchical importance of each. As a result, the tax policies usually represent a portion of each competing goal, leaving no room for simplicity. For example, most countries tailor tax liabilities to the characteristics of the individual taxpayer. That can make taxes more fair, but also more complex. Income must first be traced from a business to the
A sustainable budget with crackdowns on tax avoidance and loopholes, address the issue of tax avoidance that are cause by legal
In order for the reader to fully comprehend what the tax evasion argument is and how alternative possibility are not required for responsibility, it is
The United States economy is heading for one of the biggest crashes since 2008. With increased globalization, businesses in America have adapted and grown considerably, but not necessarily for the better. In particular, there are two areas in which certain businesses operate that are risking an unsustainable U.S. economy. That is to say through devious tax avoidance schemes businesses have amassed large offshore stockpiles, which are exempt from U.S. tax deductions. Furthermore, Wall Street has grown exponentially, while increasing volatility in the economy. These two problems beg the question if either are sustainable, and if not, what type of solutions could possibly be implemented, to secure a prosperous United States economy.
Reforming the US tax code into a document a fraction of its current size would help elevate this type of abuse and make it more difficult for people to misuse its content for their own personal agenda. Rogue agents are not the only ones who abuse this monstrosity, the more tax savvy a filer is, the better they are at tax avoidance with so many area to benefit. Whereas a less proficient tax filer or one who cannot afford a professional to prepare their taxes are likely to lose out on deductions or credits they may have otherwise been able to claim had they known about them. Also, with so many parts to the tax code coupled with the number of tax filers, it is impossible to audit are tax returns filed by the shrinking size of the Internal Revenue Service employees. This allows for more criminals to commit fraud in their filings.
Fourth, use of the vague phrase “tax advice”, coupled with the lack of any statutory definition of such phrase leads to disputes between parties as to what constitutes “tax advice.” Case law is replete with examples of parties claiming communications contained “tax advice” merely because tax issues were discussed. If courts have interpreted “tax advice” to be a narrow definition, the statute should be amended to avoid further
Statutory interpretation is process of interpreting statutes by the judges. The definition of statutes have had very specific words but indeed the judges would still need the statutory interpretation to help them. The reason of this, even how, the words in the statutes are specific but sometimes the words contains ambiguity and vagueness in words. On top of that, each word could give us different meaning. For example, we can find in the Oxford Dictionary where a word would contain at least one meaning. Hence, without the statutory interpretation, a lot of judges would have trouble in deciding their judgments in deciding a case. This essay will analyse the four rules, intrinsic aids and extrinsic aids and presumptions in the interpretation
The actions of multinational corporations (MNCs), which derive from their morally dubious goals, may be completely legitimate within a capitalist society. One of these actions that will be examined in this essay is the use of tax havens, as a way of avoiding higher tax liability. This paper will utilise the case study of Apple’s tax avoidance, in examining the legitimation of a company’s goal of profit maximisation, a goal that is against the moral/social consensus