Business Organizations Law Commons^™

Quebec's Module D'Enregistrement Des Ventes (Mev): Fighting The Zapper, Phantomware And Tax Fraud With Technology, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

On January 28, 2008 the Quebec Minister of Revenue, Jean-Marc Fournier, announced that by late 2009 the MRQ will begin testing a device, the module d'enregistrement des ventes (MEV) that is projected to substantially reduce tax fraud in the restaurant sector. By 2010 or 2011 MEVs will be mandatory in all Quebec restaurants, where they will assure accuracy and retention of business records within electronic cash registers (ECRs).

This paper moves beyond a discussion of the variety of sales suppression programs in use - zappers and phantom-ware. The concern here is on enforcement efforts, particularly the MEV. The intent is …

California Biometrics: A Second Proposal For California's Commission On The 21st Century Economy, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

This proposal takes a long view to revenue reform. It seeks to fundamentally align the sales tax with the digital foundation of the 21st Century economy.

The core policy question is whether California is willing to change the way it defines sales tax exemptions; is it willing to move from product-centric to person-centric exemptions. Certified tax determination systems can be relied upon. A key element in this proposal is the encryption of exemption certificates in IDs (smart cards with biometric identifiers that will allow the poor or handicapped to make certain purchases tax free).

This proposal suggests that (for example) …

California Zappers: A Proposal For The Commission For The 21st Century Economy, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

California has not uncovered a single instance of technology-assisted cash skimming - there are no zappers, and no phantomware in California. Is this because Californians are not skimming cash sales with technology, or is this because the California technology works so well that the fraud cannot be detected?

The record in foreign jurisdictions is reasonable clear. Automated sales suppression technology is widely used to skim cash sales, denying the state revenues from consumption taxes that have been paid by the consumer, reducing taxable business profits, and funding a cash hoard out of which unreported employee wages are paid. Government studies …

Chasing Profits - Disregarding Values: Legal Persona Of Elite Schools And Their Destructive Tax-Exempt Status, 42 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1073 (2009), Oksana Koltko

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Allocating Business Profits For Tax Purposes: A Proposal To Adopt A Formulary Profit Split, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, Kimberly A. Clausing, Michael C. Durst

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

The current system of taxing the income of multinational firms in the United States is flawed across multiple dimensions. The system provides an artificial tax incentive to earn income in low-tax countries, rewards aggressive tax planning, and is not compatible with any common metrics of efficiency. The U.S. system is also notoriously complex; observers are nearly unanimous in lamenting the heavy compliance burdens and the impracticality of coherent enforcement. Further, despite a corporate tax rate one standard deviation above that of other OECD countries, the U.S. corporate tax system raises relatively little revenue, due in part to the shifting of …

Troubled Projects, Workouts And Debt Restructurings, Richard Blumenreich

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Partnership Allocations: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You, Steven M. Friedman

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Electronic Tax Fraud - Are There "Sales Zappers" In Japan?, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Although there is no public acknowledgement - in the press, in a court case, though any announcement by the Japanese National Tax Administration, or in any academic studies or papers - that Zappers and Phantom-ware are a fraud problem in Japan, a number of factors suggest that Japan may be very fertile ground for technology-assisted cash skimming fraud. Those factors include: (1) a high concentration of small to medium sized businesses; (2) the fact that the retail economy is highly cash-based; and (3) the high level of technology acceptance in the Japanese retail sector - electronic cash registers (ECRs) and …

Parity Lost: The Price Of A Corporate Tax In A Progressive Tax World, Richard Winchester

Nevada Law Journal

The United States has always taxed income at progressive rates, so that an individual’s tax burden would increase with his ability to pay. Whenever the United States has had an income tax, it has also imposed an entity level tax on the profits of certain businesses, but not others. Both the structure of the progressive tax rates and the design of the entity level tax on business profits have evolved over time, resulting in a wide range of incentives and outcomes. This Article recounts the early history of the income tax in the United States, focusing on how an entity …

Zappers And Phantomware: Are State Tax Administrators Listening Now?, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

When the Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA) held a national Compliance and Education Workshop in Louisville, Kentucky (February 25-27, 2001) one of the invited speakers was Kevin Pratt, Manager, Underground Economy, Canadian Customs and Revenue Authority (CCRA). He spoke on Zappers.

To the best of anyone's present recollection, this was the first time zappers had been discussed with a large group of state-level US tax compliance professionals. However, most of the information that the CCRA presented to the FTA in 2001 was not its own - it was derivative. Zapper investigations were not an in-house specialty of the CCRA (although …

Mergers, Taxes, And Historical Materialism, Ajay K. Mehrotra

Indiana Law Journal

In the last few years, corporate mergers and acquisitions witnessed explosive growth. Although more recent market conditions have halted the latest merger movement, scholars and commentators have used the earlier rise in merger activity to reevaluate the preferential tax treatment granted to those mergers and acquisitions that fall under the U.S. tax law's definition of a corporate "reorganization. " Under the current Internal Revenue Code, neither shareholders nor corporations recognize gain or loss on the exchange of stock or securities in transactions that qualify as a "corporate reorganization." The significance of this tax rule raises a central question: why does …

Zappers And Phantomware: The Need For Fraud Prevention Technology, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

There is a demand-market for technology that facilitates tax fraud. By all accounts the providers in this market are working in a growth industry.

In the short term this is bad news for those concerned with tax policy and information privacy. In the long term however, the fight against technology-assisted fraud is stimulating the development of a more robust technology base within tax administrations, and this is good news for those who believe that a sophisticated technological infrastructure is needed to resolve difficult questions of tax design.

This paper focuses on two technology-accelerants of SME tax fraud - zappers and …

Mtic (Carousel) Fraud: Twelve Ways Forward; Two Ways "Preferred" - Has The Technology-Based Administrative Solution Been Rejected?, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

In a May 31, 2006 Communication to the Council, the European Parliament, and the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Commission indicated a need to develop a co-ordinated strategy to improve the fight against fiscal fraud [COM(2006) 254 final]. Although the Communication considers fiscal fraud broadly (VAT, excise duties and direct taxes) the most pressing need seems to be for a VAT strategy that will effectively deal with MTIC (Missing Trader Intra-Community) or carousel fraud. To this end the Commission hosted a conference: Fiscal Fraud - Tackling VAT Fraud: Possible Ways Forward. The March 29, 2007 conference was constructed …

Zappers: Tax Fraud, Technology And Terrorist Funding, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

"Zappers," or automated sales suppression devices, have brought unheard of efficiencies and economies of scale to a very simple tax fraud - skimming cash sales at point of sale (POS) terminals (electronic cash registers). Until recently the largest tax fraud case in Connecticut, also the "largest computer driven tax-evasion case in the nation," was a zapper case. Stew Leonard's Dairy in Norwalk Connecticut skimmed $17 million in receipts and hid the cash in St. Martin (a Caribbean island). Talal Chahine and his wife, Elfat El Aouar, owners of the La Shish restaurant chain in Detroit Michigan have the dubious honor …

It-Apas - Vertical Harmonization Of Transfer - Pricing Standards, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

The World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have begun considering the harmonization of transfer pricing norms among income tax, customs and VAT regimes. Two conferences have been organized in May of 2006 and 2007.

These conferences have concluded so far: (a) that more analysis is needed; (b) that harmonization will require adjustments on all sides; and (c) that pilot projects (real world statutory and administrative efforts to harmonize) or case studies in harmonization (hypothetical fact patterns) are needed to facilitate consideration. This paper assesses the three basic paths being pursued at the present …

Baby Ka-Boom! Coming Developments In Erisa Litigation Due To Social, Demographic, And Financial Pressures From The Baby Boom Generation, 41 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1037 (2008), Craig C. Martin, Matthew J. Renaud, Douglas A. Sondgeroth

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Social Security: Principles To Guide Reform, 41 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1061 (2008), Kathryn L. Moore

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Retirement In A Defined Contribution Era: Making The Money Last, 41 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1091 (2008), David Pratt

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Section 965: A Traditional Corporate Tax Policy, Jessica C. Kornberg

Brigham Young University International Law & Management Review

No abstract provided.

Selected Energy Tax Credit Provisions In The Internal Revenue Code

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Client Alert- Irs Issues Safe Harbor Guidance For Partnership Flip Structures In Wind Deals

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Primer On Energy Tax Credits, Laura Ellen Jones

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Tax Planning For The Philanthropically Minded Business Owner, C. Wells Hall Iii

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

It-Apas: Harmonizing Inconsistent Transfer Pricing Rules In Income Tax - Customs - Vat, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

In most jurisdictions there are three separate spheres of transfer pricing analysis - income tax, customs and VAT. Although they share policy objectives, terminology and frequently borrowing methodologies from one another these domestic transfer pricing systems are not in harmony.

Businesses find this lack of harmony costly, problematical, but also a planning opportunity. The door is open for arbitrage.

What if the transfer pricing rules within a jurisdiction were harmonized? The World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are considering this question.

This paper synthesizes the range of transfer pricing regimes currently in use, …

Car Flipping In The U.K.: The Vat Fraud Marketplace And Certified Solutions, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Missing Trader Intra-Community (MTIC) fraud and its offspring carousel fraud and contra trading fraud are siphoning huge amounts of VAT revenue from the UK Treasury. This fraud is not a function of the goods involved. It is a function of the market-place. Recently another type of market-place dependent VAT fraud has taken hold in the UK - car-flipping.

In some instances the market-place where these frauds festers is a pre-existing or natural market-place, one that grows out of legitimate commercial practices. Fraudsters enter this market-place (so the argument goes) and take advantage of legitimate businesses who unwittingly get caught up …

Controlling Executive Compensation Through The Tax Code, Gregg D. Polsky

Scholarly Works

This article analyzes Internal Revenue Code § 162(m), which in general denies public companies a deduction for annual non-performance-based compensation in excess of $1,000,000 paid to senior executive officers. Congress enacted § 162(m) with the intent to reduce the overall level of executive compensation and to influence the composition of executive compensation in favor of components that are more sensitive to firm performance. Notably, § 162(m) represents the most direct Congressional effort to influence executive compensation design. In light of recent events, Congress is being called upon to once again address the perceived problem of overgenerous executive pay packages. Accordingly, …

What's Good For The Goose Is Not Good For The Gander: Sarbanes-Oxley-Style Nonprofit Reforms, Lumen N. Mulligan

Faculty Works

In this article, I contend that these Sarbanes-Oxley-inspired, state, nonprofit reforms, particularly the costly disclosure requirements, will be of little value in the effort to improve ethical nonprofit board governance. The article proceeds as follows. Part II provides a primer on the oversight of nonprofit organizations. Part III reviews the recent Sarbanes-Oxley-like nonprofit reforms introduced in seven states. Part IV contends that the disclosure-focused reforms, which form the bulwark of these acts, will not foster ethical nonprofit board governance. Part V argues that this failure stems from the inappropriate application of a stockholder-based, normative perspective in the nonprofit sector. The …

The Economic Impact Of Backdating Of Executive Stock Options, M. P. Narayanan, Cindi A. Schipani, H. Nejat Seyhun

Michigan Law Review

This Article discusses the economic impact of legal, tax, disclosure, and incentive issues arising from the revelation of dating games with regard to executive option grant dates. It provides an estimate of the value loss incurred by shareholders of firms implicated in backdating and compares it to the potential gain that executives might have obtained through backdating. Using a sample of firms that have already been implicated in backdating, we find that the revelation of backdating results in an average loss to shareholders of about 7%. This translates to about $400 million per firm. By contrast, we estimate that the …

A Tax Lawyer's Perspective On Section 527 Organizations, Gregg D. Polsky

Scholarly Works

Proponents of campaign finance reform generally assume that, by definition, all section 527 organizations are partisan, election-driven organizations. They also believe that by self-identifying to the IRS, these organizations receive substantial tax benefits. Based on these presuppositions, reformers argue that strict regulation of 527organizations is both constitutional and normatively beneficial. In this Essay, I argue that once section 527 is carefully analyzed from a tax perspective, it becomes evident that these assumptions are flawed. Ultimately, I conclude that section 527 should not be used as a mechanism for regulating campaign finance

The Application Of Tax Treaties To Investment Funds, Niccolo Pallesi

ExpressO

Among financial investors, investment funds are the ones that mostly have increased their importance in capital markets where the regulation on investment funds is still incipient. By using investment funds, individual investors can have the possibility to participate in various companies as well as in market places worldwide without the need of specific and elaborated knowledge of the same companies and markets. After an introductory chapter I start analyzing the definition and activity of an investment fund, attention is also paid to the UCITS regulation for European investment funds. In the next chapter I analyze how investment funds are taxed …