358,037 research outputs found
International Taxation in an Era of Digital Disruption: Analyzing the Current Debate
The âtaxation of the digital economyâ is currently at the top of the global international tax policymaking agenda. A core claim some European governments are advancing is that user data or user participation in the digital economy justifies a gross tax on digital receipts, new profit attribution criteria, or a special formulary apportionment factor in a future formulary regime targeted specifically at the âdigital economy.â Just a couple years ago the OECD undertook an evaluation of whether the digital economy can (or should) be âring-fencedâ as part of the BEPS project, and concluded that it neither can be nor should be.
Importantly, concluding that there should be no special rules for the digital economy does not resolve the broader question of whether the international tax system requires reform. The practical reality appears to be that all the largest economies have come to agree either that a) there is something wrong with the taxation of the âdigital economy,â or b) there is something more fundamentally wrong with the structure of the current international tax system given globalization and technological trends.
This paper is intended as a limited exploration of the second (or third, or fourth) best. It analyzes three policy options that have been discussed in general terms in the current global debate. First, I consider whether âuser participationâ justifies changing profit allocation results in the digital economy alone. I conclude that applying the user participation concept in a manner that is limited to the digital economy is intellectually indefensible; at most it amounts to mercantilist ring-fencing. Moreover, at the technical level user participation faces all the same challenges as more comprehensive and principled proposals for reallocating excess returns among jurisdictions. Second, I consider one such comprehensive international tax reform idea, loosely referred to by the moniker âmarketing intangibles.â This idea represents a compromise between the present transfer pricing system and sales or destination-based reforms to the transfer pricing regime. I conclude that splitting taxing rights over âexcessâ returns between the present transfer pricing system and a destination-based approach is complex, creates new sources of potential conflict, and requires relatively extensive tax harmonization. This conclusion applies equally to user participation and marketing intangibles. If such a mechanism were nevertheless pursued, I suggest that a formulary system for splitting the excess return is the most manageable approach. Third, I consider âminimum effective taxationâ ideas. I conclude that, as compared to the other two policy options discussed herein, minimum effective taxation provides a preferable path for multilateral cooperation
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Jurisdiction and cloud computing: Further challenges to Internet jurisdiction
Copyright © 2013 Kluwer Law InternationalThe importance of this timely research can also be evidenced by the recent European Commission Decision of 18.06.2013 on setting up the Commission Expert Group on Cloud Computing Contracts ((2013/C 174/04)
Names, addresses and identities in ambient networks
Ambient Networks interconnect independent realms that may use different local network technologies and may belong to different administrative or legal entities. At the core of these advanced internetworking concepts is a flexible naming architecture based on dynamic indirections between names, addresses and identities. This paper gives an overview of the connectivity abstractions of Ambient Networks and then describes its naming architecture in detail, comparing and contrasting them to other related next-generation network architectures
Internames: a name-to-name principle for the future Internet
We propose Internames, an architectural framework in which names are used to
identify all entities involved in communication: contents, users, devices,
logical as well as physical points involved in the communication, and services.
By not having a static binding between the name of a communication entity and
its current location, we allow entities to be mobile, enable them to be reached
by any of a number of basic communication primitives, enable communication to
span networks with different technologies and allow for disconnected operation.
Furthermore, with the ability to communicate between names, the communication
path can be dynamically bound to any of a number of end-points, and the
end-points themselves could change as needed. A key benefit of our architecture
is its ability to accommodate gradual migration from the current IP
infrastructure to a future that may be a ubiquitous Information Centric
Network. Basic building blocks of Internames are: i) a name-based Application
Programming Interface; ii) a separation of identifiers (names) and locators;
iii) a powerful Name Resolution Service (NRS) that dynamically maps names to
locators, as a function of time/location/context/service; iv) a built-in
capacity of evolution, allowing a transparent migration from current networks
and the ability to include as particular cases current specific architectures.
To achieve this vision, shared by many other researchers, we exploit and expand
on Information Centric Networking principles, extending ICN functionality
beyond content retrieval, easing send-to-name and push services, and allowing
to use names also to route data in the return path. A key role in this
architecture is played by the NRS, which allows for the co-existence of
multiple network "realms", including current IP and non-IP networks, glued
together by a name-to-name overarching communication primitive.Comment: 6 page
Independent Sector Regulators and their Relationship with Competition Authorities
Independent sector regulators and competition authorities share many objectives and common interests, particularly because they both can play key roles in promoting effective and beneficial competition. In this note, the criteria and rationale for the independence of sector regulators and competition authorities are explained, along with a suggestion that independence may sometimes be especially critical for institutions with broad economic oversight and quasi-judicial responsibilities or, alternately, for institutions most subject to influence of special interests. The note suggests that sector regulators may benefit, in times of high technological change and uncertainty, from principle-based laws that allow regulators the flexibility to adjust their precise rules in light of evolving circumstances. Moreover, the note suggests that in some respects, the sectors subject to independent regulation may usefully include other sectors beyond those most traditionally associated with independent regulation. Ultimately, ensuring consistency and convergence between sector regulator and competition authority objectives and actions is important; ironically, independence can make ensuring such consistency through direct co-operation a challenge. Based on international experience, multiple mechanisms exist for achieving or encouraging such consistency; some combination of these merits consideration by designers of competition policy regimes
Environmental capacity in the East Midlands: an evidence base fit for purpose
This report relates to the initial study into the measurement of Environmental Capacity within the East Midlands Region considering what indicators/measures of Environmental Capacity can be put into place in the near future within the region and what are the aspirations regarding longer term indicators / measures of Environmental Capacity in the region. The study involved in depth interviews with relevant employees from local authorities and other key agencies within the region covering the current data collected/used in monitoring and the possible link to the monitoring of Environmental Capacity as well as the interviewees' awareness of and attitudes towards Environmental Capacity as a monitoring tool
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