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Abstract:
The size of tax evasion and fraud appears to be increasing steadily in the EU. To a certain extent, the completion of Single Market has further encouraged firms' and households' evasive behaviour in paying value added taxes in the EU Member States, whereas such efforts have traditionally been most pronounced in the field of corporate and personal income taxation. This study primarily deals with the quantification of the VAT evasion and fraud in the EU. On the basis of the national accounts data, it suggests a novel way of estimating the annual amount of hypothetical VAT revenues for the individual EU countries. The relation between the calculated hypothetical and the (current) collected revenues in a fiscal year largely determines the extent of VAT evasion and fraud of a country, when the time-lag problem between the creation of tax liability and the VAT collection in cash terms can be adjusted.

Abstract:
This paper investigates the development of local public finance in Germany, Switzerland, Poland and the United Kingdom. In this context important characteristics of municipal expenditures and revenues are examined in these countries. Differences in government structure (i.e. unitary or federal) do not appear to have a crucial role for municipal finance. The ways to protect local fiscal autonomy are discussed in the framework of the vertical fiscal equalisation system. In particular the application of the principle of parallel fiscal development between a state and its municipalities is examined.

municipal finance, fiscal autonomy and decentralisation, intergovernmental

Abstract:
Not only transition countries but also a large number of developing (and developed) countries have established free economic zones (FEZs) with the aim of attracting foreign capital by providing tax incentives, creating employment opportunities and promoting exports as well as regional development. Major theoretical justifications for the establishment of such economic zones generally maintain that there are economies of scale in the development of land and in the provision of common services and utilities as well as external economies of agglomeration by having similar industries grouped together. One of the main characteristics of FEZs is the provision of generous tax investment promotion schemes solely allowed in this enclave. In general such measures include: (a) profit tax exemption, (b) free or accelerated depreciation, (c) investment tax allowance, (d) subsidy for investment costs, etc. The incentive effects of various tax concessions on firms' investment decisions can be compared on the basis of the net present value model. Without taxation, the net present value (NPV) is equal to the present value of future gross return, discounted at an appropriate interest rate less investment cost. An investment project is therefore considered to be profitable when the NPV is positive. After introducing the corporate income tax, the present value of the asset generated from an investment amounts to the sum of the present value of net return (gross return less taxes) and the tax savings, led by, for example, an incentive depreciation provision. In this study the theoretical approach is accompanied by a model simulation based on selected parameters.

tax concessions, free economic zone, investment decision, net present value

Abstract:
In the conventional literature related to investment decisions, less attention has been paid to the length of maturity when investment is debt-financed. In such a case a firm pays the creditor not only the sum of annual interest (initial investment cost multiplied by real interest rate) for the entire borrowing years but also the total amount of initial investment cost at the end of the borrowing period. In this study, the effects of selecting different maturity years on firms' investment decisions are compared on the basis of the simple net present value (NPV) model. Without taxation, the NPV is equal to the present value (PV) of future gross return less the PV of the cost of investment. An investment project is considered to be profitable when the NPV is positive. After the introduction of a corporate income tax, the PV of an asset amounts to the sum of PVs of net return (gross return less taxes) and tax savings led by an incentive depreciation provision. If the investment is debt-financed, the interest payment additionally reduces the corporate tax base. The research findings suggest that (1) ceteris paribus an optimum maturity year appears to exist that maximises the NVP, and (2) the change of optimum debt maturity tends to correlate positively with the corporate tax rate but negatively with the interest rate. In the case of prevailing inflation, there is a mismatch between the nominal interest rate that is a discounting factor for all observed in- and outflows and the real interest rate by which the annual interest payment is determined for the entire maturity period.

debt maturity, investment decision, net present value, corporate taxation, inflation

Abstract:
This study compares incentive effects of various tax depreciation methods which are currently employed in selected OECD countries. Their generosity is determined on the basis of Samuelson's true economic depreciation. For this purpose, the present value model is applied. The central issue is that the so-called historical cost accounting method, which is adopted in practice when calculating the corporate tax base, causes fictitious profits in inflationary phases that should also be taxed. Therefore, in periods with inflation generous tax depreciation provisions do not adequately promote private investment as designed, but partly compensate such losses caused by inflation.

True economic depreciation, Tax depreciation rules, Corporate tax, Investment decision, Net present value model, Inflation, OECD

Abstract:
The East Asian miracle was real. Prior to the 1997 economic and currency crises, Asian NICs --Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan-- achieved remarkable annual GDP growth. In these countries the overall economic performance was significantly determined by the industrial development triggered by changes in domestic demand, increases in FDI, intensive innovation efforts of indigenous firms, and export expansion of manufactured goods. Furthermore, fast economic growth and active state interventions like those adopted in most NICs were accompanied by various structural changes in the industrial sector. This study examines the applicability of the development stage theory for explaining the growth dynamics of industrial production in Asian NICs for the period 1980-95 and compares their specialisation pattern with that of more advanced economies like Japan, West Germany and the US.

Development Stage Theory, Industrial Growth and Specialisation, Asian NICs, Japan, West Germany, The US

Abstract:
This study compares incentive effects of various tax depreciation methods currently adopted in European transition economies. In these countries straight-line, geometric-degressive and accelerated depreciation measures are quite popular in combination with different corporate tax rates. Their generosity is determined on the basis of Samuelson's true economic depreciation. For this purpose, the present value model is applied under the particular consideration of different financial structures. In this context the traditional Modigliani-Miller theorem for capital structure is revisited. Furthermore, the aspect of inflation is integrated into the model. The central issue is that the historical cost accounting method generally applied for the calculation of the corporate tax base causes fictitious profits in inflationary phases that are also taxed. Therefore, in an inflationary period generous tax depreciation provisions do not promote private investment as designed, but partly compensate such additional tax burdens caused by inflation.

True Economic Depreciation, Tax Depreciation Rules, Corporate Tax, Investment Decision, Financial Structure, Net Present Value Model, Inflation, Transition Economies

Abstract:
The recent process of political and economic transformation in eastern European countries has not only contributed to the decentralisation of political structure but also significantly enhanced the fiscal autonomy of municipalities in these countries. In this context many similar types of public activities have recently been assigned to local governments, and some taxes were also declared to be local taxes. To be sure, this type of fiscal decentralisation has caused some additional problems, particularly for safeguarding the quality of publicly provided goods and services and for co-ordinating intergovernmental fiscal transfers between the central and local governments. For instance, some criticise that many small-sized municipalities in the transition economies have suffered from financial bottleneck and have not been able to receive sufficient financial support from the central government. However, such a fiscal devolution trend appears to continue. This study primarily deals with issues surrounding the impact of national fiscal policy and the regulatory framework on local governments' expenditure behaviour and their ability to mobilise necessary revenues under the particular consideration of the institutional and administrative co-operation with the central government and of the less well-developed financial market in Poland, the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

Fiscal Decentralisation, Local Expenditures and Taxes, Shared Taxes, Intergovernmental Transfers, Municipal Borrowings, Poland, The Slovak Republic, The Czech Republic, Hungary

Abstract:
The planned full-scale implementation of the origin principle with the cross-border pre-tax system would lead, ceteris paribus, to changes in VAT revenues in the individual EU countries. For instance, the member countries with trade surpluses and higher VAT rates would be significantly better off. For this reason, a clearing mechanism is necessary to rectify this type of revenue imbalance among the EU nations. The introduction of the Single Market in 1993 appears to have further encouraged firms' and households' evasive behaviour in paying VAT in the EU. In order to estimate its relevance, this study quantifies the annual amount of hypothetical VAT revenues for the individual countries on the basis of the national accounts data. The relation between the calculated hypothetical and the (current) collected revenues in a fiscal year largely determines the extent of VAT evasion in a country when the
time-lag problem between the creation of the tax liability and the VAT collection in cash terms can be adjusted. The macroeconomic clearing is supposed to take place based on the share of hypothetical revenues of the member countries. Consequently, such a system seriously suffers from adverse incentives for the individual nations since countries with a lower evasion ratio than the weighted average of all EU countries would lose VAT revenues, whereas those with a higher evasion ratio would gain.

VAT Evasion, EU Single Market, Origin and Destination Principle, Hypothetical VAT Revenues Macroeconomic Clearing National Accounts

Abstract:
Intergovernmental transfers can be either conditional or unconditional with regard to the autonomy of local governments in spending such financial means. Although fiscal decentralisation has recently been quite pronounced in Eastern European transition countries, the dominance of a purpose- and project-oriented, down-flow transfer system is apparent. In the context of unification, the west German municipal resource allocation system was also implemented in the eastern part of the country, which provides primarily unconditional transfers for local governments. Furthermore, in the case of adopting the principle of parallel development of fiscal capacity between the state and municipalities, as Saxony already has done, the intergovernmental transfer ratio is no longer exogenously but endogenously determined, which better guarantees a just resource allocation between the two jurisdictions. Since the subsidiarity principle backed by sufficient own fiscal resources and unconditional transfers appears to gain significance in providing local utilities, this study shows the recent Saxon experience with the unconditional transfers, which can be considered for the future fiscal devolution process of Eastern European transition countries.

Intergovernmental Transfers, Fiscal Decentralisation, Local Expenditure Needs, Municipal Tax Revenues, Vertical Fiscal Equalisation, Saxony, Germany, European Transition Economies

Abstract:
Corporate tax reforms carried out in EU countries since 1980 entail lower statutory tax rates and reductions in generous tax depreciation provisions. Several countries, including the UK, have reduced tax rates for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study compares incentive effects of such reforms on the SMEs' investment decisions adopting a simple present value model. Ceteris paribus tax rate and depreciation rule vary in the model simulation, while the application of a historical cost accounting method in inflationary phases leads to fictitious increases in nominal net present value. Apart from the construction of international rankings, country-specific patterns of reform effects are also illustrated.

SMEs, corporate tax reform, investment decision, inflation, EU countries

Abstract:
At the end of June 1999 the intra-EU duty free shopping was abolished among the fifteen member nations. The opponents of this resolution argued that such a tax-free sales sector created jobs EU-wide and hardly reduced the value added and excise tax revenue of individual countries. In their opinion, the duty free trade not only contributed to the reduction of the travel fare within the EU but also could be characterised as a supplement to the normal retail trade for some products. Such "old" ideas are increasingly gaining popularity in some Eastern European EU candidates in the context of the preparation process for the introduction of the Single Market and the EU membership in the near future. This study primarily shows that the arguments mentioned above were neither significant enough nor conclusive to maintain the intra-EU duty free shopping. Furthermore, the abolition of such tax free sales was approved in the EU in order to ensure the allocation efficiency of the VAT and excise tax system within a single market. Several arguments against the intra-EU tax free shopping examined in the study provide some helpful policy orientations for EU membership candidates.

Duty Free Shopping, EU Single Market, Value Added and Excise Tax Harmonisation, Eeastern European Candidates

Abstract:
The idea of fiscal decentralisation has become increasingly fashionable world-wide. But every country has unique features of the intergovernmental fiscal system. In general municipal expenditures are rapidly growing in European countries. On the other hand local tax increases are not easily enforceable at present, whereas the local fiscal autonomy is unlikely to be guaranteed as long as municipalities are strongly dependent on down-flow grants. In such a fiscal-stress situation an improvement of local fiscal capacity can be achieved from the increase of fees. Four European countries were chosen to survey the recent development of municipal finance: Britain, Germany, Poland and Switzerland. This paper firstly identifies and highlights the similarities and differences in municipal finance in an international context. Secondly it theoretically examines the possibility of enhancing fiscal autonomy of local governments through determining optimal fee level which leads to an increase of revenues from this revenue item.

fiscal decentralisation, local expenditures and taxes, fees, shared taxes, intergovernmental transfers, municipal borrowings, Poland, Britain, Switzerland, Germany

Abstract:
This study discusses European Commission’s recent proposal to combat VAT fraud by taxing intra-Community supplies at a common rate of 15%, accompanied by the internal correction of input-tax gap between an importer and his own national tax authority, which is caused by the national VAT rate differing from 15%. It attempts to put this proposal into perspective by linking it to the overall aims of value added taxation in Europe and by comparing it to other alternative mechanisms examined in the literature. Especially issues of bilateral VAT revenue clearing between EU countries, which arise from the Commission’s proposal, are highlighted.

value added tax, intra-EU trade, bilateral micro clearing, VAT fraud, European Union

Abstract:
Estonian municipalities should perform a broad range of functions, while their fiscal resources are often limited and large disparities in fiscal capacity prevail among them. Moreover, the power to regulate fiscal affairs is mostly in the hands of the central government. We discuss how a strict application of the connexity principle can protect municipalities from the fiscal bottleneck. We also recommend the introduction of the principle of parallelism and investigate its effects on the unconditional, down-flow grant system in Estonia. In particular the procedure of determining the total sum of block grants appears to be changed.

fiscal equalization, municipal finance, connexity, principles of parallelism, Estonia