Revenue-productive income tax structures and tax reforms in emerging market economies - evidence from Bulgaria

Using a household budget survey for 1992, The author shows the poor revenue performance and distributional impact of Bulgaria's personal income tax system. He explores the implications for revenue and income distribution of two alternative tax systems - a flat tax and a progressive but simpler three-brackets tax system. He demonstrates that simpler tax structures with lower tax rates could achieve at least equal revenue and distributional objectives and are superior in terms of efficiency and equity. (The findings are robust when Bulgaria's significant tax evasion is included). But tax changes since 1992 have, if anything, moved Bulgaria even further from a simple income tax system: the number of rates and brackets increased from 7 to 10, and the levels of exemption remain unchanged. (Complex, higher rates complicate administration and enforcement and provide incentives for tax evasions. And in the alternative systems the author explores, the poor are protected with higher exemptions.) Fortunately, the country's personal income tax structure began to move toward less nominal progressivity after Bulgaria's 1997 tax reform program. The tax rate in thetop income bracket was reduced from 52 percent to 40 percent, the number of tax brackets was halved, and the exemption level was increased 20 percent (reducing tax burdens on the poor).Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Regional Governance,Tax Policy and Administration,Economic Theory&Research,Governance Indicators,Economic Theory&Research,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Tax Policy and Administration

Nongrey radiation effects on the boundary layer of an absorbing gas over a flat plate

Nongrey radiation effects on boundary layer of absorbing gas over flat plat

Leakage current and surface discharge phenomena : effect on tracking and morphological properties of LLDPE-natural rubber compounds

Polymeric insulators are widely used for high voltage outdoor insulating application due to their substantial advantages compared to the porcelain and glass insulators. Although polymer materials have been proven good, research on development of new polymerbased materials is still on going since the benefits of using polymeric materials are not yet utilised to their full potential. In this work, a new formulated thermoplastic elastomer materials that are composed of linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) and natural rubber (NR) filled with different loadings of alumina trihydrate (ATH) fillers is presented. A surface tracking and erosion test is conducted to investigate the characteristics of leakage current on the material surface under the influence of wet contaminated conditions. A computer-based leakage current monitoring system is developed to monitor the leakage current waveform pattern as well as its frequency spectrum. The scanning electron microscope is used to investigate the morphological properties of the materials before and after the tracking test

Distribution of income and the income tax burden in Bulgaria

Using the 1992 Bulgarian household budget survey, the authors analyze the distribution of income and of the income tax burden by income and expenditure class and by rural-urban sector. They find: 1) Low income inequality (although that is changing rapidly). 2) A progressive income tax system. The poor (the lowest two-income decile) pay only 1.4 percent of their per capita income in income tax; the rich (the top decile) pay nearly 6 percent. In-kind income and expenditures are excluded from taxation. 3) The urban sector pays proportionately more in taxes than the rural sector. For example, urban households pay 5.3 percent of their per capita income in income tax, whereas the rural sector pays 2.4 percent. 3) Income tax contributes significantly to reducing income inequality at both the national and sectoral (rural-urban) level, as the poor pay a smaller share of taxes than their share of national income. These results hold whether income or expenditure is used as an indicator of economic well-being. The authors caution that as in-kind income becomes monetized and the economy becomes more market-oriented, the system will become less progressive and urban-rural differences will diminish. They contend that the bias toward higher urban taxes is justified to some extent by the fact that urban households benefit more from government services than rural households do.Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Economic Theory&Research,Income,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Income,Inequality,Governance Indicators

Joint Loss (General Average), a Study of Emirati Law, York-Antwerp Rules and English Law

The rules concerning general average are amongst the oldest in the maritime field. They have their basis in the fact that, during a voyage, the ship, cargo and freight form part of a common venture. The principle underlying the rules is simple. If the common venture comes under threat during a voyage - for instance, because the ship springs a leak and is in danger of sinking - then extraordinary sacrifices and expenditure necessary to prevent the loss of the venture must be apportioned according to the value of each respective interest. The rules on general average have developed over time and the main legal source of the rules today is the so called York- Antwerp Rules. Emirate has adopted the York-Antwerp Rules into its Maritime Code. It is proposed to discuss in this article the principle of general average; and to show how far it has been established, and what rules based on it have been laid down by judicial authority

Containerized and Palletized Cargo

Containerization and Palletization revolutionized the non-bulk and non­liquid carriage of goods trades at sea and changed the simple concept of ‘package’ as the term was probably understood in 1936. Industry began to ship goods, either banded together on pallets or packed in trailer-like containers to be loaded, stowed and unloaded as a ‘unit’. Often the goods being banded or packed were themselves ‘packages’ in the traditional sense of the word. Modern containers are able to hold hundreds of packages . The very concept of a cargo-hold was transformed when vessels were retrofitted to hold containers, which functionally became part of the ship itself. This technological advancement, however, has created a challenge to courts and has posed the question of whether containers and palettes can be considered “packages” under article 4, rule 5 of the Hague Rules and limit the carrier\u27s liability accordingl

MARITIME PRIVILEGES A STUDY OF OMANI AND ENGLISH LAW

This article compares and analyses maritime liens in Omani and English law. The maritime lien is a unique security existing only on the ship and the freight. It entitles the claimant to a privileged right in a ship. The most important characteristic about the maritime lien is that it comes into existence automatically, without any cause if an action being taken by the claimant such as registration, and, in principle, follows the ship wherever she sails in the world. Maritime liens secure claims for salvage, seamen\u27s wages, master\u27s wages and disbursements and damage done by ships in both Omani and English law. In Omani law, but not in English law, maritime liens secure also claims in respect of pilotage, pollution, personal injury, towage and cargo. In neither system is personal liability an invariable prerequisite for such liens. As a general rule, maritime liens cannot be transferred in either system. While in English law maritime liens are accorded a high priority by precedent, maritime liens are ranked according to statute in Omani law. Maritime liens may variously be extinguished in both systems. A maritime lien is a concept of international familiarity and is recognized in most jurisdictions. There exist nonetheless frequent differences between individual countries as for example to the range of claims recognized as maritime liens or to their ranking. It is this international disparity in the recognition of maritime liens which was one of the issues which the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Maritime Mortgages and Liens 1926 attempted to resolv

The Conserv Atory Arrest of Ships – A Study of Emirati Maritime Code

Since a ship is movable and at the same time a very high-priced asset, a ship owner in debt may be very tempted to move it outside a creditor\u27s reach. Fortunately, for the creditor there exist a legal mechanism that hinders this, it is referred to as “arrest of ship”. The purpose of this paper is to outline the current legal position in UAE regarding conservative ships arrest and to discuss the specific problems faced within this topic

Stability of Triangular Libration Points in the Sun - Jupiter System under Szebehely’s Criterion

In the present study, the classical fourth-order Runge-Kutta method with seventh-order automatic step-size control has been carried out to examine the stability of triangular libration points in the Sun-Jupiter system. The Sun is a highly luminous body and Jupiter is a highly spinning body, so radiation pressure of the Sun and oblateness of the Jupiter cannot be neglected. These factors must have some effects on the motion of the infinitesimal mass (spacecraft) and consequent effects on the stability of the triangular libration points. It is to be noted that in our problem, infinitesimal mass exerts no influence of attraction on the primaries (Sun and Jupiter) but its motion is influenced by the primaries. Therefore, the equations of motion of the infinitesimal mass moving in the gravitational field of the radiating Sun and oblate Jupiter have been established for numerical integration. To check the stability of the libration points, the infinitesimal mass is allowed to librate for trajectory generation in the vicinity of one of the triangular libration points. Using double-precision computation, the Jacobian constant was calculated in order to observe the validity of the trajectory generation throughout the numerical integration. This constant of integration was checked to make sure that it remained constant at least to eight decimal places, so that other data may be accurate. Following all the above computational techniques, the maximum displacement and maximum velocity envelopes were constructed in the light of previous authors. The reason behind the assumption of the maximum displacement and maximum velocity envelopes is that the spacecraft (infinitesimal mass) will librate for a long time within the region of the envelopes without crossing the x-axis. If the area of the envelope is not maximum within the given time limit and the infinitesimal mass crosses the x-axis, then by changing the initial conditions; we attempt to construct the envelopes of maximum area following previous authors. If the area of the envelope is maximum it means spacecraft (infinitesimal mass) will librate in wider area for a long time without crossing the x-axis and longtime libration will give the higher range of stability. From our observation, it is found that due to the oblateness of Jupiter, the range of stability is reduced but photogravitation of the Sun has no significant effect on the triangular libration points

SHIP MORTGAGE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ENGLISH AND EMIRATI LAW

Maritime exploitation requires large sums of money. It is the means or methods resorted to by ship companies to obtain the necessary funds for maritime exploitation is mortgage of the ship. The UAE Maritime Law addressed the maritime mortgage in Articles 97 to 114. This research aims to shed the light on the maritime mortgage system under UAE law by comparing it with the English law which is considered the most advanced law in this area