A decisão fiscal planificadora : uma abordagem à sua dimensão teórica e prática

Dissertação de mestrado em Direito Tributário e FiscalO objecto de estudo da presente dissertação é o planeamento fiscal, visto como uma forma de organização da actividade do contribuinte de modo a eliminar, reduzir ou diferir no tempo o pagamento do imposto sem violar a letra ou o espírito da lei. Nestes casos não se colocam entraves à poupança fiscal por ser pretendida e por vezes até mesmo desejada pelo legislador, como é o caso das deduções à colecta, das isenções e dos benefícios fiscais que a lei atribui e que cabe ao sujeito passivo, no exercício normal da sua actividade, aproveitar sem que tal ponha em causa princípios jurídico constitucionais como o da igualdade. Por serem vários os entendimentos doutrinários, vamos partir da distinção/contraposição do planeamento fiscal e procurar relacioná-lo com as figuras afins muitas das vezes com ele confundidas. Assim, temos as condutas que têm o mesmo objectivo que o planeamento fiscal, mas que são ilícitas por violarem frontalmente as disposições legais e que a doutrina costuma designar por fraude fiscal ou evasão fiscal ilícita. Depois temos as situações de fronteira entre o lícito e o ilícito em que o sujeito passivo, sem violar frontalmente a norma, contorna-a para atingir propósitos não desejados pelo legislador e contrários aos valores estruturantes do ordenamento os quais têm a designação de evasão fiscal, evasão lícita, poupança fiscal, evitação fiscal. Ora, se por um lado a autonomia privada legítima o contribuinte a celebrar da forma que lhe mais prouver os seus negócios, por outro, temos questões de justiça social que devem estabelecer um devido equilíbrio entre aquilo que é a liberdade e o que advém de um dever do contribuinte de contribuir para as necessidades financeiras do Estado e da comunidade. E como o fazer? Em Portugal, e na sonda das directivas comunitárias, o legislador tomou um conjunto de medidas conhecidas por cláusulas anti-abuso, entre outras. Concluiremos com a enunciação de alguns casos concretos de planeamento fiscal e em que medida podem ser aproveitados pelos contribuintes sejam estes pessoas colectivas ou singulares.The object and purpose of the present study concerns tax planning/tax mitigation, as a way the taxpayer organizes his activity in order to eliminate, reduce or defer in time the tax payment without disrespecting the law’s letter or spirit. In these cases there are no obstacles in which refers to tax savings due to the fact that is often accepted and even desired by the legislator, like the taxable incomes, tax exemptions and tax benefits, foreseen by the law and which is taxpayer’s choice, in his day-by-day activity, to take advantage according that does not compromise the constitutional legal principles such as the equality. Taking in to account the vast doctrines positions, we start by the distinction/contraposition of tax planning and try to relate it with other figures alike, often confused with it. Considering that, we have the conducts which have the same goal as the tax planning, but are unlawful because it directly infringes legal dispositions commonly designated as illicit tax evasion or tax fraud by the doctrine. Then we have those situations that seems to raise the doubt whether its legal or illegal where the taxpayer, without directly violating the law, circumvents it to achieve undesired purposes by the legislator and against the system fundamental values which are called tax avoidance. So, if on one hand, the private autonomy legitimates taxpayer to deal as it pleases him the most his businesses, on the other hand, there are questions about social justice that should establish a due balance between what liberty is and what comes from a taxpayer duty to contribute to the financial needs of the State and the community. And how to do it? In Portugal, according to European directives, legislator took considerable measures known as anti-abuse clauses, among others. In conclusion, we will propose some specific cases about tax planning and in what way tax payers can make use, whether are natural or legal persons

Search for lepton flavour violation in the emu continuum with the ATLAS detector in s=7\sqrt{s}=7 TeV pppp collisions at the LHC

This paper presents a search for the t-channel exchange of an R-parity violating scalar top quark (\={t}) in the emu continuum using 2.1/fb of data collected by the ATLAS detector in sqrt(s) = 7 TeV pp collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. Data are found to be consistent with the expectation from the Standard Model backgrounds. Limits on R-parity-violating couplings at 95% C.L. are calculated as a function of the scalar top mass (m_{\={t}}). The upper limits on the production cross section for pp->emuX, through the t-channel exchange of a scalar top quark, ranges from 170 fb for m_{\={t}}=95 GeV to 30 fb for m_{\={t}}=1000 GeV.Peer Reviewe

Seasonal dynamics of Amblyomma cajennense (Fabricius, 1787) sensu stricto in a degraded area of the Amazon biome, with notes on Rickettsia amblyommatis infection

Abstract Background The tick Amblyomma cajennense sensu stricto (A. cajennense s.s.) frequently parasitizes animals and humans in the Amazon biome, in addition to being a vector of Rickettsia amblyommatis. In the present study, we evaluated both the population dynamics of A. cajennense s.s. in a degraded area of the Amazon biome and the presence of rickettsial organisms in this tick population. Methods The study was carried out in a rural area of the Santa Inês municipality (altitude: 24 m a.s.l.), Maranhão state, Brazil. Ticks were collected from the environment for 24 consecutive months, from June 2021 to May 2023. The region is characterized by two warm seasons: a rainy season (November–May) and a dry season (June–October). We characterized the temporal activity of A. cajennense s.s. on the vegetation by examining questing activity for each life stage (larvae, nymphs, adults [males and females]) in relation to the dry and rainy season. Ticks collected in this study were randomly selected and individually tested by a TaqMan real-time PCR assay that targeted a 147-bp fragment of the rickettsial gltA gene. Results Overall, 1843 (62.4%) adults (52.6% females, 47.4% males), 1110 (37.6%) nymphs and 398 larval clusters were collected. All adult females and nymphs were morphologically identified as A. cajennense s.s. Larval activity was observed from April to December, with a peak from June to September (dry season); nymph abundance peaked from September to November (transition period between dry and rainy seasons); and adult ticks were abundant from October to May (spring/summer/early autumn). The infection rate by R. amblyommatis in A. cajennense s.s. ticks was at least 7% (7/99). Conclusion Our data suggest a 1-year generation pattern for A. cajennense s.s., with a well-defined seasonality of larvae, nymphs and adults in the Amazon biome. Larvae predominate during the dry season, nymphs are most abundant in the dry-rainy season transition and adults are most abundant in the rainy season. The presence of R. amblyommatis in adult ticks suggests that animals and humans in the study region are at risk of infection by this species belonging to the spotted fever group of Rickettsia. Graphical Abstrac

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)