Διεθνείς συμβάσεις για την αυτόματη ανταλλαγή φορολογικών πληροφοριών

Θέμα της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι οι διεθνείς συμβάσεις, οι οποίες συγκροτούν το νομικό πλαίσιο για την αυτόματη ανταλλαγή πληροφοριών. To διεθνές ενδιαφέρον για την αυτόματη ανταλλαγή φορολογικών πληροφοριών πυροδότησε η χρηματοπιστωτική κρίση του 2008 και οι πρωτοβουλίες κυβερνήσεων και διεθνών οργανισμών (όπως του Οργανισμού Οικονομικής Συνεργασίας και Ανάπτυξης – ΟΟΣΑ και της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης), οι οποίες ακολούθησαν, και στόχευαν στην ενίσχυση της διεθνούς φορολογικής συνεργασίας και συμμόρφωσης μέσω της κατάρτισης διεθνών συμβάσεων για την αυτόματη ανταλλαγή πληροφοριών. Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο της παρούσας εργασίας παρουσιάζονται οι κυριότεροι σταθμοί της ιστορικής πορείας της αυτόματης ανταλλαγής πληροφοριών μέχρι την καθιέρωση της ως πρότυπο διεθνούς φορολογικής συνεργασίας μεταξύ των κρατών. Εν συνεχεία, παρουσιάζονται οι κυριότερες νομικές βάσεις, οι οποίες επιτρέπουν τόσο σε διμερές όσο και σε πολυμερές επίπεδο την αυτόματη ανταλλαγή χρηματοοικονομικών πληροφοριών μεταξύ των κρατών, σκιαγραφούνται οι βασικές ρυθμίσεις της καθεμίας, ενώ ιδιαίτερη έμφαση δίνεται στον τρόπο ενσωμάτωσης των σχετικών διεθνών ρυθμίσεων και προτύπων στην ελληνική έννομη τάξη. Σε ειδικό κεφάλαιο γίνεται προσπάθεια συγκριτικής αξιολόγησης του Αμερικανικού Μοντέλου της FATCA με το Μοντέλο του ΟΟΣΑ για την αυτόματη ανταλλαγή πληροφοριών και επισημαίνονται οι βασικές ομοιότητες και διαφορές των δύο κανονιστικών πλαισίων. Τέλος, η παρούσα εργασία ολοκληρώνεται με την παράθεση ορισμένων συμπερασμάτων, αλλά και κάποιων προτάσεων σχετικά με το μέλλον της διεθνούς φορολογικής συνεργασίας, όπου η διακρατική ανταλλαγή πληροφοριών σε αυτοματοποιημένη βάση φαίνεται να αποτελεί μια αναπόφευκτη πραγματικότητα, αλλά και ένα αναμφισβήτητα πολύ ισχυρό όπλο στα χέρια των φορολογικών διοικήσεων των κρατών στον αγώνα τους κατά της διεθνούς φοροδιαφυγής και φοροαποφυγής.Subject of the thesis at hand is the international treaties that constitute the legal framework of the automatic exchange of tax information. The global interest about the automatic tax information exchange has been raised recently due to the financial crisis of 2008 and the related initiatives of the governments and the international organizations (such as the OECD and the EU) promoting global financial cooperation and compliance through drafting of international treaties on automatic tax information exchange. The first chapter of the thesis summarizes the recent history and describes the major milestones of the automatic tax information exchange until its breakthrough as an international standard of tax cooperation. The main legal bases that allow, both bilateral and multilateral, the automatic tax information exchange between different states, are further discussed, and the certain key provisions each of them are outlined. The implementation of the international provisions and standards into the Greek legal system was given particular emphasis. This thesis includes also a special section, comparing the two major Models of automatic tax information exchange (American Model based on FATCA and the Global Standard of OECD/CRS) and clarifying the similarities and differences between them. The thesis closes with specific conclusions and proposals about the future of the international tax cooperation, where the cross-border tax information exchange on an automatic basis will be an inevitable reality and an undoubtedly very “sharp weapon” in the hands of the tax administrations of the States to help them effectively combat international - offshore tax evasion and tax avoidance

Effectiveness of an Immersive Virtual Environment (CAVE) for Teaching Pedestrian Crossing to Children with PDD-NOS

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) exhibit a range of developmental disabilities, with mild to severe effects in social interaction and communication. Children with PDD-NOS, Autism and co-existing conditions are facing enormous challenges in their lives, dealing with their difficulties in sensory perception, repetitive behaviors and interests. These challenges result in them being less independent or not independent at all. Part of becoming independent involves being able to function in real world settings, settings that are not controlled. Pedestrian crossings fall under this category: as children (and later as adults) they have to learn to cross roads safely. In this paper, we report on a study we carried out with 6 children with PDD-NOS over a period of four (4) days using a VR CAVE virtual environment to teach them how to safely cross at a pedestrian crossing. Results indicated that most children were able to achieve the desired goal of learning the task, which was verified in the end of the 4-day period by having them cross a real pedestrian crossing (albeit with their parent/educator discretely next to them for safety reasons)

Hog millet (Panicum miliaceum L.)-supplemented diet ameliorates hyperlipidemia and hepatic lipid accumulation in C57BL/6J-ob/ob mice

Dietary intake of whole grains reduces the incidence of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. In an earlier study, we showed that Panicum miliaceum L. extract (PME) exhibited the highest anti-lipogenic activity in 3T3-L1 cells among extracts of nine different cereal grains tested. In this study, we hypothesized that PME in the diet would lead to weight loss and augmentation of hyperlipidemia by regulating fatty acid metabolism. PME was fed to ob/ob mice at 0%, 0.5%, or 1% (w/w) for 4 weeks. After the experimental period, body weight changes, blood serum and lipid profiles, hepatic fatty acid metabolism-related gene expression, and white adipose tissue (WAT) fatty acid composition were determined. We found that the 1% PME diet, but not the 0.5%, effectively decreased body weight, liver weight, and blood triglyceride and total cholesterol levels (P < 0.05) compared to obese ob/ob mice on a normal diet. Hepatic lipogenic-related gene (PPARα, L-FABP, FAS, and SCD1) expression decreased, whereas lipolysis-related gene (CPT1) expression increased in animals fed the 1% PME diet (P < 0.05). Long chain fatty acid content and the ratio of C18:1/C18:0 fatty acids decreased significantly in adipose tissue of animals fed the 1% PME diet (P < 0.05). Serum inflammatory mediators also decreased significantly in animals fed the 1% PME diet compared to those of the ob/ob control group (P < 0.05). These results suggest that PME is useful in the chemoprevention or treatment of obesity and obesity-related disorders

The anti-obesity effect of Lethariella cladonioides in 3T3-L1 cells and obese mice

The aim of this study was to investigate whether a water extract of L. cladonioides (LC) has an anti-obesity effect in 3T3-L1 cells and obese mice. Treatment of differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes with LC caused a significant increase in glycerol release and reduced the protein expression of the adipogenic transcription factors, PPARγ and C/EBPα. In an animal model, obese mice were artificially induced by a high fat diet for 10 weeks. Experimental groups were treated with LC (100 mg/kg/day) by gavage for the next 10 weeks. At the end of experiment, the body weight of the LC group mice was reduced by 14.2% compared to the high fat diet (HFD) group. The treatment also decreased liver (31.0%), epididymal (18.0%) and retroperitoneal (19.3%) adipose tissue, and kidney (6.7%) weights, respectively, compared with those of the HFD group. LC prevented diet-induced increases in the serum level of TC (22.6%), TG (11.6%), and glucose (35.0%), respectively, compared with the HFD group. However, the HDL-C level was higher in the LC group (26.1%) than the HFD group. The results of this study thus suggest that LC suppressed lipid accumulation and expression of adipogenic transcription factors, and increased the amount of glycerol release. LC also indicated an anti-obese and anti-hyperlipidemic effect