The General Anti-Abuse Rule of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive : Interpretation and Effects

The past few years have seen a surge of new political initiatives with the aim of combating tax evasion and tax avoidance. As a part of these initiatives on the level of the European Union, the Council enacted in January 2015 a new general anti-abuse provision to the Parent-Subsidiary Directive. The Parent-Subsidiary Directive regulates tax benefits to cross-border distributions in the EU with the purpose of eliminating obstacles to formation of corporate groups across the Member State borders. The Directive contained previously a provision that authorized the Member States to apply their national anti-abuse provisions within the scope of the Directive although the application of these provisions was voluntary, and the content and scope of the national provisions was not regulated by the Directive. In the words of the Commission, the purpose of the change was to prevent misuse of the Directive and to create consistency, and these aims were to be achieved by introduction of a common anti-abuse rule in all the Member States. The new general anti-abuse rule in the Parent-Subsidiary Directive represents an approach without precedents in the field of European direct tax law since it creates a detailed anti-abuse provision with the objective of harmonizing the national anti-abuse rules applicable to the benefits of the Directive. Most of all, the Member States are, from now on, obliged to combat abuse within the scope of the Directive since the new provision has to be implemented and applied nationally. The provision raises, however, several questions regarding its application and its effects as a part of European tax legislation. The wording of the provision, which contains several conditions with the aim of defining abuse in the context of the Directive, reflects the varying formulations the ECJ has used in its case law on anti-abuse measures. It may appear prima facie that the provision marks a departure from the consistent case law and creates a new concept of abuse in the field of European tax law. The purpose of the research is to discuss the possible interpretations and the impact of the new provision. The different conditions of the provision are evaluated in the light of the ECJ case law in order to clarify their scope and meaning. The effects of the provision are discussed with respect to the immediate effects of its application, the effects on the Member States and their national anti-abuse rules, and the possible conflicts with the primary law of the EU. The ECJ direct tax case law contains a line of case law where the Court has examined abuse of tax law and the possibility to enact measures in order to combat abusive transactions. The concept of abuse within the field of European direct tax law has been developed especially in relation to such Member State anti-abuse measures which have had restrictive effects on the fundamental freedoms. In this case law, the ECJ has required that these anti-abuse provisions must combat only "wholly artificial arrangements", and the Court has developed specific tests which the national rules must respect when establishing the abusive nature of a transaction. This case law is discussed extensively in order to establish the possible interpretations for the new provision. Regarding the interpretation of the new anti-abuse provision, most questions arise in relation to the relevance of tax purposes and the genuine-nature of the arrangement. Given the variance in the ECJ case law, several ways to interpret the provision are compared in order to establish the most reasonable interpretation. In addition, the discussion reveals different points of uncertainty with regard to the way how the benefits of the Directive are meant to be denied and how the implementation of the provision affects national anti-abuse clauses and the freedom of movement. The research establishes that the new anti-abuse provision can be interpreted in accordance with the established ECJ case law although the wide latitudes of the provision mean that it can be subjected to various interpretations. The most important effects of the provision reside in its compulsory application and the impact on national legislation. The provision can, effectively, prevent the national legislators from adopting different solutions in its scope of application. The actual consequences for the companies that fall within the ambit of the provision contain several questions that cannot be given an unequivocal answer based on the wording of the provision alone. Most of all, the provision is set to cause uncertainty before its scope has been definitely scrutinized by the ECJ

Psychiatric disorders are a common prognostic marker for worse outcome in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension

Objective Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is aetiologically unknown disorder that associates with endocrinological disturbances, including dysfunction of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis. Neuroendocrinological dysfunctions have also been characterized in psychiatric disorders, and therefore we investigated the presence of psychiatric disorders of patients with IIH in a well-defined cohort. Patients and Methods A total of 51 patients with IIH were included. Patient demographics, symptoms, imaging data, ophthalmological and clinical findings were collected. Results At the time of diagnosis the mean age was 32.5years (SD 10.7), the body mass index was 37.1 kg/m2 (SD 7.4), and the opening pressure 29.1 mmHg (SD 6.2). A total of 88.2% of patients were female and 45.1% were diagnosed with a psychiatric co-morbidity prior to IIH diagnosis. The mean follow-up time was 4.4 years (SD 5.4). The overall treatment outcome was significantly poorer on a group of patients with psychiatric diagnosis when compared to individuals without such history (p = 0.001), but there were no differences in the resolution of papilledema (p = 0.405). Patients with IIH and psychiatric disorders had more often empty sella on their imaging at diagnosis when compared to patients without psychiatric co-morbidity (p = 0.044). Conclusion Psychiatric disorders are highly prevalent in patients with IIH and associate with worse subjective outcomes. These findings advocate for monitoring the mental health of patients with IIH and warrant further multidisciplinary research to understand the potentially underlying psychosocial and neuroendocrinological mechanisms.Peer reviewe

Buried in water, burdened by nature-Resilience carried the Iron Age people through Fimbulvinter

Levanluhta is a unique archaeological site with the remains of nearly a hundred Iron Age individuals found from a water burial in Ostrobothnia, Finland. The strongest climatic downturn of the Common Era, resembling the great Fimbulvinter in Norse mythology, hit these people during the 6th century AD. This study establishes chronological, dietary, and livelihood synthesis on this population based on stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic and radiocarbon analyses on human remains, supported by multidisciplinary evidence. Extraordinarily broad stable isotopic distribution is observed, indicating three subgroups with distinct dietary habits spanning four centuries. This emphasizes the versatile livelihoods practiced at this boundary of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. While the impact of the prolonged cold darkness of the 6th century was devastating for European communities relying on cultivation, the broad range of livelihoods provided resilience for the Levanluhta people to overcome the abrupt climatic decline.Peer reviewe

Cerebrospinal fluid dynamics in idiopathic intracranial hypertension : a literature review and validation of contemporary findings

Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).Background: Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a rare disease of unknown aetiology related possibly to disturbed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics and characterised by elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) causing optic nerve atrophy if not timely treated. We studied CSF dynamics of the IIH patients based on the available literature and our well-defined cohort. Method: A literature review was performed from PubMed between 1980 and 2020 in compliance with the PRISMA guideline. Our study includes 59 patients with clinical, demographical, neuro-ophthalmological, radiological, outcome data, and lumbar CSF pressure measurements for suspicion of IIH; 39 patients had verified IIH while 20 patients did not according to Friedman’s criteria, hence referred to as symptomatic controls. Results: The literature review yielded 19 suitable studies; 452 IIH patients and 264 controls had undergone intraventricular or lumbar CSF pressure measurements. In our study, the mean CSF pressure, pulse amplitudes, power of respiratory waves (RESP), and the pressure constant (P0) were higher in IIH than symptomatic controls (p < 0.01). The mean CSF pressure was higher in IIH patients with psychiatric comorbidity than without (p < 0.05). In IIH patients without acetazolamide treatment, the RAP index and power of slow waves were also higher (p < 0.05). IIH patients with excess CSF around the optic nerves had lower relative pulse pressure coefficient (RPPC) and RESP than those without (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our literature review revealed increased CSF pressure, resistance to CSF outflow and sagittal sinus pressure (SSP) as key findings in IIH. Our study confirmed significantly higher lumbar CSF pressure and increased CSF pressure waves and RAP index in IIH when excluding patients with acetazolamide treatment. In overall, the findings reflect decreased craniospinal compliance and potentially depleted cerebral autoregulation resulting from the increased CSF pressure in IIH. The increased slow waves in patients without acetazolamide may indicate issues in autoregulation, while increased P0 could reflect the increased SSP.Peer reviewe

Buried in water, burdened by nature – Resilience carried the Iron Age people through Fimbulvinter

Levänluhta is a unique archaeological site with the remains of nearly a hundred Iron Age individuals found from a water burial in Ostrobothnia, Finland. The strongest climatic downturn of the Common Era, resembling the great Fimbulvinter in Norse mythology, hit these people during the 6th century AD. This study establishes chronological, dietary, and livelihood synthesis on this population based on stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic and radiocarbon analyses on human remains, supported by multidisciplinary evidence. Extraordinarily broad stable isotopic distribution is observed, indicating three subgroups with distinct dietary habits spanning four centuries. This emphasizes the versatile livelihoods practiced at this boundary of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. While the impact of the prolonged cold darkness of the 6th century was devastating for European communities relying on cultivation, the broad range of livelihoods provided resilience for the Levänluhta people to overcome the abrupt climatic decline

Cerebrospinal fluid dynamics in idiopathic intracranial hypertension: a literature review and validation of contemporary findings

Background Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a rare disease of unknown aetiology related possibly to disturbed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics and characterised by elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) causing optic nerve atrophy if not timely treated. We studied CSF dynamics of the IIH patients based on the available literature and our well-defined cohort. Method A literature review was performed from PubMed between 1980 and 2020 in compliance with the PRISMA guideline. Our study includes 59 patients with clinical, demographical, neuro-ophthalmological, radiological, outcome data, and lumbar CSF pressure measurements for suspicion of IIH; 39 patients had verified IIH while 20 patients did not according to Friedman's criteria, hence referred to as symptomatic controls. Results The literature review yielded 19 suitable studies; 452 IIH patients and 264 controls had undergone intraventricular or lumbar CSF pressure measurements. In our study, the mean CSF pressure, pulse amplitudes, power of respiratory waves (RESP), and the pressure constant (P0) were higher in IIH than symptomatic controls (p p p p Conclusions Our literature review revealed increased CSF pressure, resistance to CSF outflow and sagittal sinus pressure (SSP) as key findings in IIH. Our study confirmed significantly higher lumbar CSF pressure and increased CSF pressure waves and RAP index in IIH when excluding patients with acetazolamide treatment. In overall, the findings reflect decreased craniospinal compliance and potentially depleted cerebral autoregulation resulting from the increased CSF pressure in IIH. The increased slow waves in patients without acetazolamide may indicate issues in autoregulation, while increased P0 could reflect the increased SSP.</p

Molecular understanding of sulphuric acid-amine particle nucleation in the atmosphere

4 pages 359-363 in the print version, additional 7 pages online.Peer reviewe

Perehdytyspolku : motivaatiota myyntityöhön

Tämän opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli tutkia erityisesti perehdytystä sekä perehdyttäjän että uuden työntekijän roolista. Tavoite oli saada mahdollisimman monipuolista aineistoa ja taustatietoa aiheesta sekä perehdytyksen mahdollisista epäkohdista. Usein työntekijöiden perehdytys on vajavaista, mistä voi seurata esimerkiksi tuottavuuteen ja motivaatioon liittyviä ongelmia. Tutkimukset teetettiin eri myyntiorganisaatioissa toimiville myyjille, esihenkilöille sekä rekrytoinnin ja perehdytyksen ammattilaisille kyselyiden sekä haastatteluiden avulla. Tämä tapa sen vuoksi, että saadaan kokemuksia perehdytyksestä ja motivoinnista myös muista kuin toimeksiantajan organisaatiosta, koska myynti on organisaatioista riippumatta melko samanlaista ja sen vuoksi tutkimustulokset ovat myös helposti kopiotavissa muillekin yrityksille. Tarkoitus oli tutkimuksen ja omakohtaisen pitkän myyntialalta sekä perehdytyksestä kertyneen kokemukseni kautta luoda myyntialalla toimivalle yritykselle X uusi motivoiva perehdytyspolku, jonka avulla keskitytään vahvistamaan uuden työntekijän sekä kouluttajan motivaatiota rekrytoinnista koeajan (6kk) loppuun saakka. Yritys X saa työstä lopputuotoksena työnimikkeellä Perehdytyspolku tehdyn PowerPoint -aineiston, jota on tarkoitus käyttää uusien myyjien koulutuksessa. Tuloksena saatiin hyvää taustatietoa rekrytoinnista ja perehdytyksestä, mikä osoittaa että näihin asioihin on varmasti useissa paikoissa syytä kiinnittää huomiota entistä enemmän. Tulokset auttoivat luomaan perehdytyspolkua yritykselle X ja ohjasivat kiinnittämään huomiota oikeisiin asioihin. Ehdotuksena on, että erityisesti myyntiorganisaatiot kiinnittävät tarkemmin huomiota ja arvioivat omaa rekrytointi- ja perehdytysprosessiansa kriittisemmin ja päivittävät toimintamallejansa, jotta työntekijöiden motivaatiota saadaan ruokittua ja ohjattua heitä kriittisimmin rekrytoinnista koeajan loppuun, mutta myöskin työsuhteen myöhemmissä vaiheissa