Economic analysis of advance tax rulings

This paper aims to analyze the impact of applying for an advance tax ruling and of examining complex tax issues with the help of an external consultant, on the investor's decision to invest when the environment is uncertain. Using decision theory, we first determine the maximum fee an investor is willing to pay for such a ruling or consultation in order to firm up the investment decision. We expand our analysis by assisting the potential investor in deciding on the maximum fee he is willing to pay for such a service when the fee for an advance tax ruling is set by law. --Advance Tax Rulings,Decision Theory

Inheritance Tax and Valuation

It has long been known in the literature how to include income taxes in the valuation of companies. These taxes can be neutral and therefore do not influence the company value, provided certain conditions are met; essentially, a firm’s cash flows have to be taxed the same way as those of a financial investment, which requires the use of economic depreciation. In this paper, we clarify how to value a company when its owner becomes liable for inheritance tax. Here, too, this type of tax is irrelevant when all assets are equally taxed. However, if some assets, e.g. business assets, are treated preferentially, which is the case in most European jurisdictions, the company value rises. We show that a considerable increase can be observed within realistic parameters for European countries

Boon or Bane? Advance Tax Rulings as a Measure to Mitigate Tax Uncertainty and Foster Investment

Politicians and tax practitioners often claim that tax uncertainty negatively affects investment. In many countries, firms can request fee-based Advance Tax Rulings (ATRs) to mitigate tax uncertainty. We analyze theoretically the circumstances under which investors request ATRs, how tax authorities should price them and how they can affect investment. We assume that tax authorities integrate investors' reasoning into their decisions. We find that it is often optimal for tax authorities to charge prohibitively high fees to discourage firms from requesting an ATR. However, we find that revenue-maximizing tax authorities offer ATRs if the ruling enables them either to significantly reduce their tax audit costs or to increase the probability of detecting ambiguous tax issues. Under certain circumstances, ATRs may effectively foster investment and potentially benefit both the tax authorities and taxpayers. Our results provide new explanations for why taxpayers that face high levels of tax uncertainty often do not request ATRs, even when the fee is rather low. Our results also hold when the tax authority maximizes social wealth instead of its revenues. Regulatory changes in ATR requirements might serve as a natural quasi-experiment for an empirical study of our predictions regarding investment decisions. (authors' abstract)Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Serie

Regionalisierung und Regionsbildung im Norden

Die raumplanerische Debatte um regionale Handlungsebenen war in Deutschland in den letzten Jahren stark auf die Metropolregionen konzentriert. Dieser Band nimmt den Diskurs um Regionsbildungsprozesse auf mittlerer Ebene, der bereits in den 1990er Jahren intensiv geführt worden ist, wieder auf. Es geht darum, zum einen nachzuzeichnen, welche Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede sich in den Regionalisierungsansätzen der beiden Bundesländer Niedersachsen und Schleswig-Holstein zeigten, und zum anderen die Stände der Regionsbildungsprozesse in insgesamt vier Regionen gegenüberzustellen. Im Ergebnis werden vor allem die unterschiedlichen Entwicklungsstände der Regionen innerhalb eines Lebenszyklus regionaler Kooperation deutlich. Während die Region Nord sich noch in der Mobilisierungs- und Zielfindungsphase befindet, ist die K.E.R.N.-Region bereits am Ende des Lebenszyklus angelangt, d.h. in einer Auflösungsphase. Die Region "Emsland-plus" durchläuft die Arbeits- und Entwicklungsphase, während die Region Göttingen um den Übergang zur weiteren Stabilisierung und regionalen Integration ringt. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchungen lassen auch Rückschlüsse auf die Regionsbildungspolitiken der beiden nordwestdeutschen Flächenländer zu.Over recent years the debate within spatial planning in Germany on regional levels of action has been concentrated particularly on metropolitan regions. This collection of papers revives the discourse on processes of region building at the intermediate level, which was already a matter of intensive debate in the 1990s. The underlying intention is, firstly, to identify and trace any commonalities and differences in the approaches to regionalisation adopted in the federal states of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, and, secondly, to compare and contrast the current state of region-building processes in a total of four regions. What becomes particularly evident is the differing stages of development which have been reached within a life cycle of regional co-operation in the various regions. Whilst "Region Nord" still finds itself at the stage of mobilisation and goal-setting, the "K.E.R.N. Region" has already reached the end of the life cycle, i.e. the dissolution phase. The "Emsland-plus" region is currently at the work and development stage, whereas the Göttingen region is struggling to make the transition to greater stability and regional integration. The findings of the studies reported also allow various conclusions to be drawn regarding the region-building policies in place in these two federal states of northwestern Germany

Whole-Day Schools - Management and Education

Ganztagsschulen haben durch ihr Mehr an Zeit einen größeren Spielraum, die Schulgestaltung an den Bedürfnissen der Beteiligten zu orientieren. In einer Auseinandersetzung mit anderen Perspektiven kann es gelingen, die Ausrichtung der eigenen Schule zu diskutieren, zu festigen und zu schärfen. Pädagogische Fortbildungsveranstaltungen bieten dazu eine Möglichkeit. Der zweite bayerische Ganztagsschulkongress Ganztagsschule gestalten – ganztags Unterricht organisieren am 3. und 4. März 2010 in Forchheim bot den Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmern anhand vielfältiger Vorträge und Workshops ein Forum zur Diskussion mit Perspektiven aus Wissenschaft, Schulpraxis und Bildungspolitik. Die Dokumentation der Veranstaltung liegt hiermit vor.All-day schools stand out against other types of schools due to the extended availability of time and therewith a wider range of possibilities to adjust the orientation of the school to the needs of the persons involved. Schools can evolve and strengthen their orientation by a discursive examination and discussion of different approaches. A good opportunity for advancing this discussion are events in pedagogical further education. During the second Bavarian all-day school congress "Modelling All-Day School - Organizing All-Day Tuition", held on the 3rd and 4th of March 2010 in Forchheim/Germany, participants had the opportunity to attend numerous workshops and presentations as well as a panel discussion featuring experts from the fields of educational science, educational policy and teaching. The documentation of the congress is now available

Tax-Optimal Step-Up and Imperfect Loss Offset

In the field of mergers and acquisitions, German and international tax law allow for several opportunities to step up a firm's assets, i.e., to revaluate the assets at fair market values. When a step-up is performed the taxpayer recognizes a taxable gain, but also obtains tax benefits in the form of higher future depreciation allowances associated with stepping up the tax base of the assets. This tax-planning problem is well known in taxation literature and can also be applied to firm valuation in the presence of taxation. However, the known models usually assume a perfect loss offset. If this assumption is abandoned, the depreciation allowances may lose value as they become tax effective at a later point in time, or even never if there are not enough cash flows to be offset against. This aspect is especiallyrelevant if future cash flows are assumed to be uncertain. This paper shows that a step-up may be disadvantageous or a firm overvalued if these aspects are not integrated into the basic calculus. Compared to the standard approach, assets should be stepped up only in a few cases and - under specific conditions - at a later point in time. Firm values may be considerably lower under imperfect loss offset

Pricing : Prinzipien und Prozesse der betrieblichen Preispolitik

Mit dem Siegeszug von E-Commerce und Digitalem Marketing ist die zentrale Rolle des Pricings in nahezu allen Wirtschaftsbereichen für den Markt- und Unternehmenserfolg noch weiter gewachsen. Die Pricing-Instrumente und die Spielregeln sowie die Einsatzbedingungen dieser Instrumente sind dabei im Vergleich zur herkömmlichen Preispolitik neu und erfordern planvolle Vorbereitung und Entscheidung. Dieses Standardwerk behandelt die Pricing-Prozesse und -Instrumente aus einer managementbezogenen Perspektive. Es stellt sowohl die neuesten theoretischen und methodischen Grundlagen als auch praktisch anwendbare Pricing-Tools dar. Der Aufbau und Einsatz von Pricing-Know-how, der effektive und effiziente Einsatz der Pricing-Instrumente einschließlich des Behavioral Pricing werden ebenso behandelt wie das Preis-Controlling und der Aufbau einer wirksamen Pricing-Infrastruktur

Time-Resolved Spectroscopy and Electronic Structure of Mono-and Dinuclear Pyridyl-Triazole/DPEPhos-Based Cu(I) Complexes

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Chemistry - A European Journal published by Wiley-VCH GmbHChemical and spectroscopic characterization of the mononuclear photosensitizers [(DPEPhos)Cu(I)(MPyrT)](0/+) (CuL, CuLH) and their dinuclear analogues (Cu2L', Cu2L'H-2), backed by (TD)DFT and high-level GW-Bethe-Salpeter equation calculations, exemplifies the complex influence of charge, nuclearity and structural flexibility on UV-induced photophysical pathways. Ultrafast transient absorption and step-scan FTIR spectroscopy reveal flattening distortion in the triplet state of CuLH as controlled by charge, which also appears to have a large impact on the symmetry of the long-lived triplet states in Cu2L' and Cu2L'H-2. Time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy (solid state), supported by transient photodissociation spectroscopy (gas phase), confirm a lifetime of some tens of mu s for the respective triplet states, as well as the energetics of thermally activated delayed luminescence, both being essential parameters for application of these materials based on earth-abundant copper in photocatalysis and luminescent devices.Peer reviewe