Reconceptualising Australia’s transfer pricing rules: An approach based on adopting economic presence as a basis for taxation

Against the background of a global focus on base erosion and profit shifting and well-publicised cases of high profile multinationals minimising their taxable burden in high tax jurisdictions, including the use of transfer pricing as a major tax minimisation strategy, this paper argues for a reconceptualisation of Australia’s Transfer Pricing rules by adopting an approach based on using economic presence as a basis for source based taxation.The approach of the paper is to first discuss and evaluate the evolution of Australia’s transfer pricing legislation. In this part, it will be argued that the most current reforms to Australia’s transfer pricing regime present several fundamental deficiencies. In response to these deficiencies, the second part of the paper advocates a policy response focused on a reconceptualised version of current source rules applying economic presence as a foundation for taxation

A ‘new normal’ for the social sciences: improving pandemic preparedness and response

COVID-19 has led to an upheaval in almost all aspects of life, including the role of the social sciences in public health and pandemic responses. Whereas in the past, the social sciences have often played the role of cultural brokers, this upheaval offers an opportunity to explore a ‘new normal’, characterised by social scientists taking an engaged role in understanding, planning and responding to pandemic events. Dr. Myles Leslie, Dr. Raad Fadaak and Ms. Nicole Pinto discuss their role as ‘alongsiders’ in the response to the pandemic in Alberta, Canada and how the effectiveness of their response has lessons for the role of the social sciences going forward

Tropical cloud-radiative changes contribute to robust climate change-induced jet exit strengthening over Europe during boreal winter

The North Atlantic jet stream is projected to extend eastward towards Europe in boreal winter in response to climate change. We show that this response is robust across a hierarchy of climate models and climate change scenarios. We further show that cloud-radiative changes contribute robustly to the eastward extension of the jet stream in three atmosphere models, but lead to model uncertainties in the jet stream response over the North Atlantic. The magnitude of the cloud contribution depends on the model, consistent with differences in the magnitude of changes in upper-tropospheric cloud-radiative heating. We further study the role of regional cloud changes in one of the three atmosphere models, i.e. the ICON model. Tropical cloud-radiative changes dominate the cloud impact on the eastward extension of the jet stream in ICON. Cloud-radiative changes over the Indian Ocean, western tropical Pacific, and eastern tropical Pacific contribute to this response, while tropical Atlantic cloud changes have a minor impact. Our results highlight the importance of upper-tropospheric tropical clouds for the regional circulation response to climate change over the North Atlantic-European region and uncertainty therein

Cloud‐Radiative Impact on the Regional Responses of the Midlatitude Jet Streams and Storm Tracks to Global Warming

Previous work demonstrated the strong radiative coupling between clouds and the mid‐latitude circulation. Here, we investigate the impact of cloud‐radiative changes on the global warming response of the mid‐latitude jet streams and storm tracks in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Southern Hemisphere. To this end, we use the ICON global atmosphere model in present‐day setup and with the cloud‐locking method. Sea surface temperatures (SST) are prescribed to isolate the circulation response to atmospheric cloud‐radiative heating. In the annual mean, cloud‐radiative changes contribute one‐ to two‐thirds to the poleward jet shift in all three ocean basins, and support the jet strengthening in the North Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere. Cloud‐radiative changes also impact the storm track, but the impact is more diverse across the three ocean basins. The cloud‐radiative impact on the North Atlantic and North Pacific jets varies little from season to season in absolute terms, whereas its relative importance changes over the course of the year. In the Southern Hemisphere, cloud‐radiative changes strengthen the jet in all seasons, whereas their impact on the jet shift is limited to austral summer and fall. The cloud‐radiative impact is largely zonally‐symmetric and independent of whether global warming is mimicked by a uniform 4 K or spatially‐varying SST increase. Our results emphasize the importance of cloud‐radiative changes for the response of the mid‐latitude circulation to global warming, indicating that clouds can contribute to uncertainty in model projections of future circulations

The primacy of client privilege: designing a statutory tax advice privilege for accredited non lawyer tax advisors

There are several types of professional groups that provide tax advice in Australia: lawyers, accountants, and financial advisors, many of whom are registered tax agents. In many cases, the type of advice provided is the same; however, currently whilst lawyers can extend to their clients a blanket legal professional privilege (“LPP”) over confidential tax advice, clients of non-lawyer tax advisors (“NLTAs”) are presently only granted an administrative concession by the Australian Taxation Office (“ATO”) and then only over a limited range of documents. This article argues in favour of the enactment of a separate statutory tax advice privilege in Australia for accredited NLTAs and suggests a framework for determining which taxation professionals should be able to offer a tax advice privilege to their clients

Cloud‐Radiative Impact on the Regional Responses of the Midlatitude Jet Streams and Storm Tracks to Global Warming

Previous work demonstrated the strong radiative coupling between clouds and the mid‐latitude circulation. Here, we investigate the impact of cloud‐radiative changes on the global warming response of the mid‐latitude jet streams and storm tracks in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Southern Hemisphere. To this end, we use the ICON global atmosphere model in present‐day setup and with the cloud‐locking method. Sea surface temperatures (SST) are prescribed to isolate the circulation response to atmospheric cloud‐radiative heating. In the annual mean, cloud‐radiative changes contribute one‐ to two‐thirds to the poleward jet shift in all three ocean basins, and support the jet strengthening in the North Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere. Cloud‐radiative changes also impact the storm track, but the impact is more diverse across the three ocean basins. The cloud‐radiative impact on the North Atlantic and North Pacific jets varies little from season to season in absolute terms, whereas its relative importance changes over the course of the year. In the Southern Hemisphere, cloud‐radiative changes strengthen the jet in all seasons, whereas their impact on the jet shift is limited to austral summer and fall. The cloud‐radiative impact is largely zonally‐symmetric and independent of whether global warming is mimicked by a uniform 4 K or spatially‐varying SST increase. Our results emphasize the importance of cloud‐radiative changes for the response of the mid‐latitude circulation to global warming, indicating that clouds can contribute to uncertainty in model projections of future circulations

Jaguar-Women: Mythology, Gender and Cannibalism on Marico Complex

The mythological narratives of the people originating from the tributaries of the right bank of the middle Guaporé River reveal an intimate connection between gender relations and human / animal / spirit difference. The myths emphasize, on the one hand, the conditions for the possibility of a society composed of cross-sex relations, and on the other hand, the cannibalism practiced by women. From the articulation with the daily ethnography, in particular regarding the production and consumption of fermented drink, the article suggests that female’s cannibalism, ie, the virtual identification between women and jaguars, is the condition for the (current) difference that separates human from nonhuman and human among themselves.As narrativas mitológicas dos povos originários dos afluentes da margem direita do médio rio Guaporé revelam uma íntima conexão entre relações de gênero e a diferença humano/animal/espírito.  Enfatizam, por um lado, as condições de possibilidade de uma sociedade composta por relações de sexo oposto, e por outro lado, a “antropofagia” praticada pelas mulheres. A partir da articulação com a etnografia cotidiana, em particular referente à produção e consumo de bebida fermentada, o artigo sugere que a antropofagia feminina, i.e., a identificação virtual das mulheres com as onças, é a condição para a diferença (atual) que separa os humanos dos não-humanos e os humanos entre si

“Como possuir uma taboquinha?”: sobre a composição corporal dos pajés djeoromitxi

O artigo aborda um evento de cura xamânica e dele pretende extrair uma descrição sobre a composição (e decomposição) corporal dos especialistas xamânicos entre os Djeoromitxi (língua Macro-Jê), habitantes do sudoeste amazônico. Discuto etnograficamente o que permanece obscuro e o que é tornado visível neste processo, aliado à qualidade metamórfica dos sujeitos e objetos em questão. Ao final, proponho um diálogo entre a teoria melanésia da troca (de partes de pessoas por pessoas inteiras) e a teoria do perspectivismo ameríndio

Terminologia de parentesco e casamento djeoromitxi: um caso ngawbe na Amazônia?

Este artigo apresenta um modelo do sistema de parentesco djeoromitxi, povo de língua Macro-Gê habitante do sudoeste amazônico (Terra Indígena Rio Guaporé/Rondônia). Sua descrição incluirá a terminologia, que será relacionada a um tipo de cruzamento e aliança, na medida em que essa terminologia codifica os cônjuges que são preferenciais (aos quais se aplica o termo wirá), mas não correspondem aos primos cruzados. Veremos, assim, que tipo de cruzamento é concernente ao modelo djeoromitxi de parentesco, e quais são as características de seu sistema de aliança

A participação social na transformação digital dos serviços públicos: potenciais e limites para a cidadania

As iniciativas de cidades inteligentes têm crescido nas cidades brasileiras nos últimos quatro anos e uma dessas iniciativas é a digitalização de serviços públicos, ou seja, transformar serviços presenciais em serviços digitais desde o pedido, passando pela análise até a entrega. Dentre os atores-chave que contribuíram para o aumento dessa iniciativa, destaca-se o Poder Executivo Federal, que tem buscado promover a transformação digital do governo, incluindo a dos serviços públicos, com o argumento de que isso é importante para aumentar a eficiência pública, participação social e satisfação do cidadão. Se o governo busca ser centrado no cidadão, é essencial a participação dos cidadãos nas políticas públicas. Por isso, o objetivo deste trabalho é compreender como se qualifica a participação social na construção das políticas de transformação digital dos serviços no âmbito do Poder Executivo Federal e Municipal, destacando o município de Niterói, cidade da Região Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro, que começou a digitalizar os serviços prestados ao cidadão neste ano a partir da criação do Portal de Serviços. São objetivos específicos: 1. Definir a conceituação de cidadania no contexto de cidades inteligentes; 2. Mapear os principais atores e características da pauta da digitalização de serviços no âmbito do Poder Executivo Federal e do Município de Niterói; e 3. Analisar a interpretação de cidadania promulgada nas iniciativas estabelecidas pelo Poder Executivo Federal e Municipal, no caso de Niterói. A metodologia utilizada foi uma pesquisa bibliográfica e documental, através das informações disponibilizadas pelos entes governamentais analisados. Pode-se dizer que o Governo Federal e Niterói estariam em um terceiro grau de democracia digital segundo as características de Gomes (2005a) e Silva (2005), pois não há uma transferência de tomada de decisão à esfera civil. Além disso, foi identificada uma grande participação do mercado em temas urbanos, ligados a cidades inteligentes, o que leva a discussão de que esta tomada de decisão esteja sendo realizada pelos agentes privados ao invés daqueles que seriam capazes de promover uma reforma com uma redução nas desigualdades, o que é contrário ao discurso das iniciativas serem “focadas no cidadão”