A tax is a financial charge or levy imposed by a state or its functional equivalent upon a taxpayer and the failure to pay such a levy is punishable by law Taxes are imposed by a number of administrative divisions. Taxes are direct or indirect in nature and are required to be reimbursed in money or its labor equivalent. Finances obtained through the imposition of taxation have been used by countries and their functional equivalents conventionally to carry out a number of functions. Some of these include protection of property, expenditures on war, economic infrastructure, the enforcement of law and public order, public works, subsidies, social engineering, and the very operation of the government itself. Governments utilize taxes for the funding of welfare and public services. These services include education systems, pensions for the elderly, health care systems, unemployment rehabilitation and benefits, and public transportation. Energy, water and waste management Continue reading
Taxation Concepts
Benefits of Goods and Services Tax (GST)
GST (Goods and Services Tax) is consumption tax that charged the buyers to pay for a wide range of domestic and international products as well as goods and services. GST is a multi-stage tax on domestic consumption levied on taxable supplies of goods and services. GST is imposed on every level of a product from raw materials all the way to finished goods. However, consumers still need to pay income tax as GST and income tax is totally different. It is a consumption tax charged on imports items and also value added to goods and services provided by a business to the end user. Goods And Services Tax will be borne by the end-user or consumer and is not intended to add burden to businesses. Benefits of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Following are are the benefits of Goods and Services Tax. 1. Revenue Source GST system is a comprehensive Continue reading
Objectives of International Taxation
The main objectives of International Taxation are the Neutrality and Equity. Tax Neutrality A neutral tax is one that would not influence any aspect of the investment decision such as the location of the investment or the nationality or the investor. The basis justification for tax neutrality is economy efficiency. World welfare will be increase if capital is free to move from countries were the rate of return is low to those where it is high. Therefore, if the tax system distorts the after-tax profitability between two investments or between two investor leading to a different set of investments being undertaken, then gross world product will be reduced. Tax neutrality can be separated into domestic and foreign neutrality. Domestic neutrality is an compasses the equal treatment of any citizen investing at home and citizen investing abroad. The key issues to consider here are whether the marginal tax burden is equalized Continue reading
Double Taxation Relief
One of the major risk in the International Business is the payment of taxes in both the countries i.e. the country in which the business is actually effected and in the country where the MNC is having its head office. This type of double taxation will definitely impede the growth and development of the MNCs in multiple ways. So the provisions are made to avoid the double taxation (Double Taxation Relief) between the two countries through two types of relief namely Bilateral Relief and Unilateral Relief. Bilateral Relief Under this scheme, relief against the burden of double taxation is worked out on the basis of mutual agreement between two countries. There are two types of agreements. In one type, the two concerned countries agree that certain incomes which are likely to be taxed in both countries shall be taxed only in of them or that each of the two countries Continue reading
Direct and Indirect Taxes
Taxes are classified as direct tax and indirect tax. But the meaning of these two types of taxes is not clear. For a long time economists interpreted these two types in different ways. For instance, one group of economists considered taxes on production as direct taxes and those on consumption as indirect taxes. J.S. Mill distinguished these two types of taxes in terms of the ability to shift the tax. Any person on whom the tax is imposed, if he himself pays the tax, it is called direct tax and if he is able to shift the tax to somebody who ultimately pays it then it is called indirect tax. For example, income tax is paid by a person as it is levied on the income earned by him, so it is a direct tax. On the other hand the sales tax imposed on the seller is shifted to the Continue reading
Principles of a Sound Tax System
According to Mrs. Hicks, a sound tax system should have the following characteristics: It should facilitate financing of public services. Tax, should be levied according to the ability of the people, the index of ability being income and family circumstances and Similarly placed persons should pay similar taxes to avoid any discrimination. From the discussion above, we may lay down the following four broad characteristics as the principles of a sound tax system. Equality in Tax Burdens: This principle suggests that when the taxes are levied they ensure equality in tax burdens. In other words, through taxes the government can ensure that the tax burden is spread in such a way that persons who are placed in similar positions are made to bear the same burden of taxes. This implies that people who are better-off should bear more tax burden than those who are worse-off. Though this principle is universal, Continue reading