Tax Complexity and Small Business: A Comparison of the Perceptions of Tax Agents in the United States and Australia

There is ongoing pressure in both the United States and Australia to simplify their respective tax systems, particularly in regard to small business taxpayers. In the case of both regimes, if substantial progress is to be made towards simplification, the areas of greatest need and the necessary reforms will require careful evaluation. The views of tax agents (practitioners) are highly relevant to the implementation of successful reform in that both regimes rely on self-assessment. It was considered that by undertaking a cross-jurisdictional comparison a greater understanding of complexity, from the perspective of tax agents, could be gained and that, the consideration of alternate treatments could better inform tax policymakers. That is, what can we learn from each other? The article; compares and contrasts the perceptions of practitioners on small business tax complexity based on a questionnaire instrument conducted in the US and an electronic survey and case study conducted in Australia. Tax practitioners in the US consistently rated the areas of partnerships, estate, and gift valuations, tax deferred exchanges, frequency of law changes and retirement plans as the most complex and progressive tax rates, estimated taxes, social security/self-employment taxes, corporate capital gain provisions and cash v accrual method as the least complex. In comparison, Australian practitioners found the frequency of change, the volume of legislative material and the effect of change on other aspects of taxation (including reporting) to be the major causes of complexity. Capital gains tax provisions were regarded as complex as were self-managed superannuation funds and trusts, but similar to US tax practitioners, Australian tax agents did not find the use of tax rates or accounting methods to be complex. The policy implications of these findings are discussed for both regimes, including the implications of having small business-specific rules. Reprinted by permission of the publisher

The potential for wildflower interventions to enhance natural enemies and pollinators in commercial apple orchards is limited by other management practices

Modern fruit production has successfully increased yields and fruit quality to meet market demands mainly through intensification and the use of Plant Protection Products (PPPs). Due to the associated environmental impacts and consumers increasingly demanding food produced more sustainably, the tree fruit sector is seeking to reduce its reliance on PPPs. Despite intensification, apple production is still highly dependent on ecosystem services, including pest regulation and pollination. The aim of this study was to investigate the response of natural enemies and pollinators in commercial apple orchards to the provision of a wildflower habitat. It was hypothesised that the abundance and diversity of beneficial invertebrate species would be enhanced leading to an increased control of apple pests and enhanced pollination of apple blossom. We also investigated the effect of orchard pesticide toxicity on natural enemies and pest regulation services and how responses varied between apple cultivars (Jazz and Braeburn). The study was carried out in five orchards of each apple variety across Kent (UK), using a split-plot experimental design. At each site, a one-hectare orchard plot was established with wildflower strips in alleyways between rows of trees and compared with a one-hectare control plot where alleyways were managed conventionally with regular cutting. Responses of natural enemies and pollinators were recorded over a period of three and four years, respectively. The presence of wildflower strips did not contribute significantly towards the delivery of natural pest regulation or pollination services. However, hoverfly diversity and species richness were greater in orchards with wildflower strips, and whilst this was not associated with increased rates of pest regulation, such a response could potentially provide more resilient pest regulation and pollination services. Braeburn orchards had higher bee abundance, and pest predation rates, which were associated with a greater abundance of earwigs, compared to Jazz orchards. Of key significance for growers is that high values of cumulative pesticide toxicity negatively affected natural enemy populations, especially earwigs. If growers want to support natural enemies and wild pollinators in modern apple orchards following the principles of ecological intensification, they need to consider both the types and frequency of pesticide sprays used, in conjunction with interventions aimed at promoting beneficial invertebrates

Apple pollination: demand depends on variety and supply depends on pollinator identity

Insect pollination underpins apple production but the extent to which different pollinator guilds supply this service, particularly across different apple varieties, is unknown. Such information is essential if appropriate orchard management practices are to be targeted and proportional to the potential benefits pollinator species may provide. Here we use a novel combination of pollinator effectiveness assays (floral visit effectiveness), orchard field surveys (flower visitation rate) and pollinator dependence manipulations (pollinator exclusion experiments) to quantify the supply of pollination services provided by four different pollinator guilds to the production of four commercial varieties of apple. We show that not all pollinators are equally effective at pollinating apples, with hoverflies being less effective than solitary bees and bumblebees, and the relative abundance of different pollinator guilds visiting apple flowers of different varieties varies significantly. Based on this, the taxa specific economic benefits to UK apple production have been established. The contribution of insect pollinators to the economic output in all varieties was estimated to be £92.1M across the UK, with contributions varying widely across taxa: solitary bees (£51.4M), honeybees (£21.4M), bumblebees (£18.6M) and hoverflies (£0.7M). This research highlights the differences in the economic benefits of four insect pollinator guilds to four major apple varieties in the UK. This information is essential to underpin appropriate investment in pollination services management and provides a model that can be used in other entomolophilous crops to improve our understanding of crop pollination ecology

Taxing the Informal Economy: The Current State of Knowledge and Agendas for Future Research

This paper reviews the literature on taxation of the informal economy, taking stock of key debates and drawing attention to recent innovations. Conventionally, the debate on whether to tax has frequently focused on the limited revenue potential, high cost of collection, and potentially adverse impact on small firms. Recent arguments have increasingly emphasised the more indirect benefits of informal taxation in relation to economic growth, broader tax compliance, and governance. More research is needed, we argue, into the relevant costs and benefits for all, including quasi-voluntary compliance, political and administrative incentives for reform, and citizen-state bargaining over taxation

Evaluating competing perspectives towards undeclared work: some lessons from Bulgaria

When explaining and tackling the undeclared economy in Central and Eastern Europe, participants have been conventionally viewed as rational economic actors. They engage in undeclared work when the benefits outweigh the costs. Participation is thus deterred by increasing the sanctions and/or probability of being caught. Recently, however, an alternative social actor approach has emerged which views participants as engaging in undeclared work when their norms, values and beliefs (i.e., citizen morale) do not align with the laws and regulations (i.e., state morale). Here, therefore, initiatives to develop greater symmetry between civic and state morale are pursued. To evaluate the validity and effectiveness of these competing explanations and policy approaches, 2,004 face-to-face interviews conducted in Bulgaria in late 2015 are reported. Logit marginal effects regression analysis reveals no association between participation in undeclared work and the perceived level of penalties and risk of detection, but a strong significant association with the level of asymmetry between citizen and state morale; the greater the asymmetry, the higher is the likelihood of participation in undeclared work. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for explaining and tackling undeclared work

Genetic Variation and Population Substructure in Outbred CD-1 Mice: Implications for Genome-Wide Association Studies

Outbred laboratory mouse populations are widely used in biomedical research. Since little is known about the degree of genetic variation present in these populations, they are not widely used for genetic studies. Commercially available outbred CD-1 mice are drawn from an extremely large breeding population that has accumulated many recombination events, which is desirable for genome-wide association studies. We therefore examined the degree of genome-wide variation within CD-1 mice to investigate their suitability for genetic studies. The CD-1 mouse genome displays patterns of linkage disequilibrium and heterogeneity similar to wild-caught mice. Population substructure and phenotypic differences were observed among CD-1 mice obtained from different breeding facilities. Differences in genetic variation among CD-1 mice from distinct facilities were similar to genetic differences detected between closely related human populations, consistent with a founder effect. This first large-scale genetic analysis of the outbred CD-1 mouse strain provides important considerations for the design and analysis of genetic studies in CD-1 mice

Reasons for facebook usage: data from 46 countries

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Addressing pollination deficits in orchard crops through habitat management for wild pollinators

There is increasing evidence that farmers in many areas are achieving below maximum yields due to insufficient pollination. Practical and effective approaches are needed to maintain wild pollinator populations within agroecosystems so they can deliver critical pollination services that underpin crop production. We established nesting and wildflower habitat interventions in 24 UK apple orchards and measured effects on flower-visiting insects and the pollination they provide, exploring how this was affected by landscape context. We quantified the extent of pollination deficits and assessed whether the management of wild pollinators can reduce deficits and deliver improved outcomes for growers over 3 years. Wildflower interventions increased solitary bee numbers visiting apple flowers by over 20%, but there was no effect of nesting interventions. Other pollinator groups were influenced by both local and landscape-scale factors, with bumblebees and hoverflies responding to the relative proportion of semi-natural habitat at larger spatial scales (1000 m), while honeybees and other flies responded at 500 m or less. By improving fruit number and quality, pollinators contributed more than £16 k per hectare. However, deficits (where maximum potential was not being reached due to a lack of pollination) were recorded and the extent of these varied across orchards, and from year to year, with a 22% deficit in output in the worst (equivalent to ~£14 k/ha) compared to less than 3% (equivalent to ~£2 k/ha) in the best year. Although no direct effect of our habitat interventions on deficits in gross output was observed, initial fruit set and seed set deficits were reduced by abundant bumblebees, and orchards with a greater abundance of solitary bees saw lower deficits in fruit size. The abundance of pollinators in apple orchards is influenced by different local and landscape factors that interact and vary between years. Consequently, pollination, and the extent of economic output deficits, also vary between orchards and years. We highlight how approaches, including establishing wildflower areas and optimizing the ratio of cropped and non-cropped habitats can increase the abundance of key apple pollinators and improve outcomes for growers

The effectiveness of flower strips and hedgerows on pest control, pollination services and crop yield: a quantitative synthesis

Floral plantings are promoted to foster ecological intensification of agriculture through provisioning of ecosystem services. However, a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of different floral plantings, their characteristics and consequences for crop yield is lacking. Here we quantified the impacts of flower strips and hedgerows on pest control (18 studies) and pollination services (17 studies) in adjacent crops in North America, Europe and New Zealand. Flower strips, but not hedgerows, enhanced pest control services in adjacent fields by 16% on average. However, effects on crop pollination and yield were more variable. Our synthesis identifies several important drivers of variability in effectiveness of plantings: pollination services declined exponentially with distance from plantings, and perennial and older flower strips with higher flowering plant diversity enhanced pollination more effectively. These findings provide promising pathways to optimise floral plantings to more effectively contribute to ecosystem service delivery and ecological intensification of agriculture in the future