Coordinating VATs Between EU Member States

The paper surveys the characteristics of the common European VAT system, proposed by the EU-Commission to overcome the weaknesses of the transitional European VAT system, which was enacted in 1993 and is still in force. We argue that a harmonized VAT rate will generate substantial costs for EU member states to meet national budget requirements and that the revenue sharing mechanisms will generate adverse incentives to national efforts in VAT collection and control. A comparison of the Commission proposal with four alternative VAT regimes favours a modified VIVAT system as an attractive compromise.value-added taxation, tax coordination.

Is tax harmonization useful?

It is a widely acknowledged result of the literature on capital tax competition that underprovision of public goods can only be avoided if tax coordination between governments is intensive and residence-based capital taxation can be enforced. In this paper we use a model where commodity and factor taxes are available and we show that governments competing for tax bases will choose a globally efficient tax structure. In contrast to previous conclusions, we also show that the availability of a destination-based commodity tax or a labor tax is necessary to mitigate the problem of inefficient Nash equilibria and thus reduces the necessity of supranational tax harmonization or coordination.

Corporate income taxation in the European Union: current state perspectives

The paper reviews the state and recent changes in corporate income taxation in the European Union (EU) and major Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. It also reviews coordination measures proposed and adopted in the EU so far. This empirical evidence is related to theoretical results on international tax competition. On this basis I conclude that tax competition has contributed to move the system of international capital taxation in an economically desirable direction. Although EU and OECD efforts to promote non-discrimination (‘Code of Conduct’) and curb international tax engineering strategies in multinational enterprises are desirable, a further harmonisation of corporate tax systems does not seem to be warranted

When Due Process Concerns Become Dangerous: The Security Council\u27s 1267 Regime and the Need for Reform

The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1267 in 1999 in response to rising apprehension of a surge of terrorist activity within Afghan territory. Notably, the Sanctions Committee charged with enforcing the Resolution provisions did not impose asset freezes, arms prohibitions, or travel bans on entire nations suspected of supporting the Taliban. The 1267 regime instead subjected individuals and entities to these sanctions. Based on information provided by U.N. member states, such targets found themselves on the Security Council’s terrorist “blacklist,” known as the Consolidated List. The targets were neither warned of this listing nor afforded a method by which they could effectively appeal their inclusion. This Article discusses the due process concerns inherent to the 1267 regime, which have been increasingly emphasized at both the regional and national court levels, leading to invalidation of some regulations implementing the regime. It then evaluates alternative solutions to the procedural status quo against a proposed set of criteria, ultimately advocating for an independent tribunal capable of hearing complaints from targets and issuing binding delisting decisions

Are EU Trade Sanctions on Burma Compatible with WTO Law?

This Article will explore the European Union\u27s approach to Burma. The European Union, until recently, has implemented quite limited trade sanctions against the Burmese junta. According to the most recent figures, E.U. countries still import €306 million ($454 million) of commodities and products, ninety-five percent of which are textiles, timber, gems, and precious metals. However, the Common Position of November 19, 2007, strengthens considerably E.U. measures against the Burmese regime and contains a ban on the importation of these goods from Burma. Further, the Common Position requires E.U. countries to prohibit intentional and knowing participation in activities that directly or indirectly have the object or effect of circumventing this ban; this could include the transshipment of banned materials from countries other than Burma, which may have been processed or altered in some way so that they do not qualify as imports of Burmese origin under the rules of origin that apply to imports into the European Community as a general matter

Optimization Applied to Transportation Systems

This volume summarizes the results of the first Workshop initiated by the Working Group on Transportation, which was established by the Systems Engineering Committee (SECOM) of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC). Three levels of transportation systems analysis are utilized as a framework: -- Transportation systems planning from a socio-economic point of view; -- Operational planning, mainly focusing on routing and scheduling problems; and, -- Control and guidance of transportation systems. Formal presentations dealing with the state-of-the-art of transportation systems and selected specific topics are included in the proceedings, as well as summaries of panel discussions which followed the individual sessions