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This research considers a new dimension of the effects of the underground sector by examining the spillovers on cryptocurrency holdings. Cryptocurrencies offer a relatively greater ability to dodge taxes and ensure the anonymity of holders, providing attractive avenues for underground operators to stash their informal-sector earnings. Our results, based on data from more than 50 nations, show that a greater prevalence of the underground economy in a nation is indeed associated with greater cryptocurrency holdings. This result holds across an alternative measure of the shadow economy, and when the bi-directional causality between the shadow economy and cryptocurrency holdings is considered. In other noteworthy findings, greater FDI crowded out cryptocurrency holdings, while greater financial globalization and greater economic uncertainty, ceteris paribus, increased them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural killer (NK) cell immunotherapy has gained attention as a promising strategy for treatment of various malignancies. In this study, we used a genome-wide CRISPR screen to identify genes that provide protection or susceptibility to NK cell cytotoxicity. The screen confirmed the role of several genes in NK cell regulation, such as genes involved in interferon-γ signaling and antigen presentation, as well as genes encoding the NK cell receptor ligands B7-H6 and CD58. Notably, the gene TMEM30A, encoding CDC50A-beta-subunit of the flippase shuttling phospholipids in the plasma membrane, emerged as crucial for NK cell killing. Accordingly, a broad range of TMEM30A knock-out (KO) leukemia and lymphoma cells displayed increased surface levels of phosphatidylserine (PtdSer). TMEM30A KO cells triggered less NK cell degranulation, cytokine production and displayed lower susceptibility to NK cell cytotoxicity. Blockade of PtdSer or the inhibitory receptor TIM-3, restored the NK cell ability to eliminate TMEM30A-mutated cells. The key role of the TIM-3 - PtdSer interaction for NK cell regulation was further substantiated by disruption of the receptor gene in primary NK cells, which significantly reduced the impact of elevated PtdSer in TMEM30A KO leukemic cells. Our study underscores the potential significance of agents targeting the interaction between PtdSer and TIM-3 in the realm of cancer immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") philosophy is the zeitgeist of our time. The rise of ESG investments came against the perceived failure of the government to adequately promote socially important goals. And so, corporations are now being praised and credited for stepping up where the government has fallen short. In this Essay, we contend that the standard narrative of ESG suffers from a major flaw. The reason for this discrepancy is taxes. The companies that are widely perceived as saviors of the ESG era are in fact the cause of some of the main deficiencies ESG seeks to redress. Astoundingly, public corporations--many of which have the highest ESG scores and are the largest recipients of ESG fund investments--are also the biggest tax avoiders. As this Essay shows, through the exploitation of legal loopholes and other grey areas, these companies increasingly deprive governments of the funding needed for the provision of public goods and the promotion of important societal policies, exacerbating administrative inefficiencies and deepening societal inequality--outcomes that are starkly at odds with ESG principles. To address this paradox, this Essay advocates incorporating tax-avoidance behavior into ESG ratings. It also argues that tax considerations should be accorded considerable weight not only by ESG rating agencies but also by institutional investors who shoulder part of the fault for the existing state of affairs. Implementation of this proposal would not only rectify incongruities within ESG investment but also provide the public with a more robust and accurate representation of a company's genuine ESG standing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malignant glioma exhibits immune evasion characterized by highly expressing the immune checkpoint CD47. RNA 5-methylcytosine(m5C) modification plays a pivotal role in tumor pathogenesis. However, the mechanism underlying m5C-modified RNA metabolism remains unclear, as does the contribution of m5C-modified RNA to the glioma immune microenvironment. In this study, we demonstrate that the canonical 28SrRNA methyltransferase NSUN5 down-regulates β-catenin by promoting the degradation of its mRNA, leading to enhanced phagocytosis of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). Specifically, the NSUN5-induced suppression of β-catenin relies on its methyltransferase activity mediated by cysteine 359 (C359) and is not influenced by its localization in the nucleolus. Intriguingly, NSUN5 directly interacts with and deposits m5C on CTNNB1 caRNA (chromatin-associated RNA). NSUN5-induced recruitment of TET2 to chromatin is independent of its methyltransferase activity. The m5C modification on caRNA is subsequently oxidized into 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) by TET2, which is dependent on its binding affinity for Fe2+ and α-KG. Furthermore, NSUN5 enhances the chromatin recruitment of RBFOX2 which acts as a 5hmC-specific reader to recognize and facilitate the degradation of 5hmC caRNA. Notably, hmeRIP-seq analysis reveals numerous mRNA substrates of NSUN5 that potentially undergo this mode of metabolism. In addition, NSUN5 is epigenetically suppressed by DNA methylation and is negatively correlated with IDH1-R132H mutation in glioma patients. Importantly, pharmacological blockage of DNA methylation or IDH1-R132H mutant and CD47/SIRPα signaling synergistically enhances TAM-based phagocytosis and glioma elimination in vivo. Our findings unveil a general mechanism by which NSUN5/TET2/RBFOX2 signaling regulates RNA metabolism and highlight NSUN5 targeting as a potential strategy for glioma immune therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does the dissemination of salient information about tax dishonesty, such as high profile tax evasion or avoidance, facilitate the propagation of unethical behaviours, and in what way? We investigate this question in a large scale survey experiment on more than 4000 Italians. We find that how information about greater tax evasion affects dishonesty and perceived tax compliance norms depends on the income of the evaders: Evasion at the bottom of the income distribution weakens the norm among low-income earners, while evasion at the top increases dishonesty among high-income earners. We also uncover negative effects on social trust and on attitudes towards wealth and wealth accumulation, showcasing the detrimental effect of unethical tax practices on social and economic relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate effects of tax reporting institutions on evasion and incidence using an experimental double auction market. We find that 28% of the sellers are truthful when only sellers report, but that 88% and 64% of them are truthful under costless and costly third-party reporting by buyers, respectively. Reporting behavior therefore responds to the intensity of deterrence. However, we find that prices do not fully reflect the lower taxes of the evaders. Thus, when sellers can unilaterally evade taxes, tax incidence deviates from the prediction of the standard model, and there is deadweight loss even if tax revenue is low. Pricing, incidence, and reporting patterns in all treatments are consistent with a model with heterogeneous lying costs, or a combination of lying costs and image concerns that give rise to a motivation to appear honest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era of increasing economic concentration, ultrawealthy Americans overwhelmingly pay taxes at a lower rate than their fellow taxpayers. Using tax avoidance mechanisms, the ultrawealthy cling tightly to their wealth, worsening economic inequality. A particular culprit is the ultrawealthy's avoidance of generational wealth transfer taxes through mechanisms like the grantor retained annuity trust, or GRAT. Since 2000, GRATs have exploded in use, and estimates of the tax avoided through this mechanism range from hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars. By exacerbating economic inequality, GRATs and other transfer tax avoidance mechanisms accelerate the socioeconomic and cultural fracturing that has been called America's unwinding. This Note proposes the elimination of GRATs as a matter of basic fairness, as a method of reducing wealth inequality, and as a step toward weaving American society back together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global backlash against tax havens has pushed secrecy-seeking capital to explore alternative opportunities in non-tax-haven countries and new financial technologies (FinTech). We identify two major corporate practices—organizational ring-fencing and swarming—that have enabled secrecy-seeking capital to adapt to new regulatory realities and illustrate these practices empirically with the extreme case of Estonia. In the 2010s, several Nordic banks turned their Estonian offices into hotbeds of high-risk transactions, ring-fencing their Baltic affiliates from their group-level systems and generating several money laundering scandals with global repercussions. More recently, secrecy-seeking capital 'swarmed' into Estonia's large cryptocurrency sector and thereby thwarted effective supervision of the activities of the firms involved. Neither swarming nor organizational ring-fencing have been sufficiently explained by existing approaches in International Political Economy (IPE) as new core practices of secrecy-seeking capital. We study both practices in a mixed-methods research design and provide novel empirical insights to illuminate this phenomenon. In filling this gap, our study paves the way for a second generation of global tax governance scholarship amidst the cryptocurrency and FinTech boom, and calls for a research agenda that addresses these new practices that take advantage of the lack of administrative capabilities in non-tax-haven jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union is the only international organisation that has a parliament where taxation is debated and legislated on. Along with foreign affairs and defense, however, taxation is also one of the few policy areas that is subject to unanimity voting among member-states. This creates a responsiveness-responsibility dilemma that the European Commission has tried to navigate by constructing responsiveness to public demands for tax justice as a political imperative. In this article, I apply the concept of 'political work' to analyse EU tax policy between 2014 and 2019 and show the ways in which the politics of responsiveness partly eroded the institutional constraints of responsibility vis-à-vis member states. As I document, the Commission's political work was initially successful but then lost momentum, as a handful of governments managed to veto efforts in the Council and push the issue to the OECD, where it was stalled by the United States until the election of Joe Biden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is nowadays widely understood that undeclared work cannot be efficiently combated without a holistic view on the mechanisms underlying its existence. However, the question remains whether we possess all the pieces of the holistic puzzle. To fill the gap, in this paper, we test if the features so far known to affect the behaviour of taxpayers are sufficient to detect noncompliance with outstanding precision. This is done by training seven supervised machine learning models on the compilation of data from the 2019 Special Eurobarometer on undeclared work and relevant figures from other sources. The conducted analysis not only does attest to the completeness of our knowledge concerning the drivers of undeclared work but also paves the way for wide usage of artificial intelligence in monitoring and confronting this detrimental practice. The study, however, exposes the necessity of having at disposal considerably larger datasets compared to those currently available if successful real-world applications of machine learning are to be achieved in this field. Alongside the apparent theoretical contribution, this paper is thus also expected to be of particular importance for policymakers, whose efforts to tackle tax evasion will have to be expedited in the period after the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The administrative cooperation operating at the European level between national tax authorities since 2013 seems to enter a new stage with the adoption of DAC 7 and its implementation in the national legislations of the European Union member states. This trend was initiated at the OECD level with the aim of combating increasingly sophisticated new practices of tax evasion. In this context, the Romanian legislator proceeded to amend the Tax Procedure Code regarding the exchange of information between national tax authorities, as well as joint administrative investigations and financial controls, in order to facilitate the most accurate determination of tax liabilities for all categories of taxpayers. Without offering a solution for all legal issues that may arise during the application of these legal provisions, the work highlights the legislative novelties and the difficulties they will generate, especially regarding aspects such as the territorial competence of national tax authorities conducting tax procedures in the territory of other member states, as well as the opposability of acts issued by them in such circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Ciencias Sociales (13159518) is the property of Revista de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad del Zulia Venezuela and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article aims to present the results of an up-to-date independent study of the hidden economy in Bulgaria. It was carried out between November 2023 and February 2024, as a survey among business representatives in the country through a representative sample of 335 enterprises. The main results show that the estimated share of the hidden economy in the total sales volume is between 26% and 50%, the highest in the construction sector, catering, and tourism. Most often, these practices are associated with manipulation of the financial statements and the employed workforce for which they are favorable conditions mainly due to corruption, crime, and impunity followed by unfair competition and a lack of incentives for private business development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Accounting & Financial Studies Journal is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Nations attempt to attract major enterprises to their territories by implementing lower tax rates while simultaneously enhancing tax collection efficiency within their jurisdictional boundaries. In this study, we scrutinize the correlation between the Baltic countries' tax systems and the levels of the shadow economy inherent to their respective economic landscapes. Our analysis indicates that tax reform can substantially influence diminishing the corporate shadow economy within a society. More specifically, our research delves into how economic growth can mitigate the corporate shadow economy, primarily driven by shifts in tax collections within Lithuania. Utilizing quarterly data from 2002 to 2022, we use panel regression and causality analyses as the overall analytical approach. The analyses uncover a complex relationship between various effective taxes and the extent of the shadow economy. Notably, we find that while an increase in the effective income tax rate is associated with a growing shadow economy, an uptick in the effective corporate income tax rate has the opposite effect, reducing its scale. Additionally, a rise in the effective VAT rate is linked to an expanded shadow economy. However, the influence of these effective taxes on imports has limited significance in regulating the scope of the shadow economy, likely due to increased tax evasion incentives. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of how tax reform can impact the shadow economy and underscores the need for more comprehensive strategies to address this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, due to significant tax revenue losses, transfer pricing has become an issue of concern for tax authorities, policymakers, and academics. In this study, the authors aim to analyze transfer pricing and its impact on fiscal revenue in the case of Mongolia, a developing country with a miningdominated economy. In our research, we used the arm's length principle to determine transfer pricing and estimate the loss of corporate income tax due to transferring pricing; moreover, we compared the operating profit margin of Mongolia's mining companies with the Far East and Central Asia Oceania countries. We found that Mongolia has lost about 44.4 billion MNT in corporate income tax revenue from the mining sector over the past seven years, estimated by adjusting the total operating revenue by an average of 10.5% for coal companies and 16.4% for copper companies. This result shows that mining companies are avoiding taxes by mispricing, which negatively affects the budget revenue in Mongolia. This research will contribute to the implementation of the common principles of transfer pricing and reduce tax evasion in Mongolia and similar countries with a mining-dominated economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tax avoidance and tax evasion remain critical challenges for central or local governments and municipalities. This non-compliance also represents an ethical issue since individuals who benefit from publicly provided services do not contribute to their financing as they are legally required. The study aimed to test whether the use of behavioural interventions would reduce the number of non-payers of the garbage collection fee in the city of Hlohovec, Slovakia. The experiment was carried out by distributing leaflets to households with permanent residence in Hlohovec. The subjects of the experiment were randomly divided into three groups. Households in the control group (number of households is 1,718) did not receive any leaflets, households in the first intervention group (number of households is 1,721) received a leaflet containing a social norm, and households in the second intervention group (number of households is 1,625) received a leaflet containing a deterrent message. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions were used to analyse the data. The results showed that using a social norm did not significantly increase the number of garbage collection fee payers. At the same time, leaflets with deterrent messages led to an increase in outstanding debt. These results suggest that people reacted unfavorably to the perceived threat (deterrent message), and the opposite effect occurred, i.e. this type of intervention led to an increase in the number of non-payers of garbage collection fee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Brasileira de Políticas Públicas is the property of Revista Brasileira de Politicas Publicas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study examines factors influencing Uzbekistan's shadow economy rate, with a focus on GDP, corruption index, tax rate (TR), and the unemployment rate. Using a quantitative approach, we analyse secondary data to test our research hypotheses. The results indicate positive correlations between GDP and corruption index with the shadow economy rate, while tax and unemployment rates exhibit negative correlations. An expansionary fiscal policy contributes to the positive GDP-shadow economy correlation, while corruption motivates participation in the informal sector. Conversely, changes in tax law discourage formal sector involvement, leading to a negative correlation. Similarly, the unemployment rate negatively correlates due to partial income reporting for tax evasion. Our study provides original insights into the drivers of Uzbekistan's shadow economy, which can inform policymakers when addressing this issue. Paper emphasises the impact of fiscal policy, corruption, taxation, and unemployment on shadow economy growth, aiding informed policy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2023 John Bates Clark Medal of the American Economic Association was awarded to Gabriel Zucman, associate professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley for his fundamental contributions to the study of inequality and taxation. Through meticulous empirical work and creative methodological approaches, he has revealed key trends about the concentration of global wealth, the size and distribution of tax evasion, and the tax-saving strategies of multinational companies. These findings have had a profound impact on the academic literature and on global policy debates. He has shifted the way economic research is done by showing that measurement can have a large impact in our field and on the world, inspiring many younger scholars to follow in his footsteps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Law & International Relations / Relações Internacionais no Mundo is the property of Relacoes Internacionais no Mundo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Técnica Tributaria is the property of Asociacion Espanola de Asesores Fiscales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Umsatzsteuer-Rundschau is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Umsatzsteuer-Rundschau is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction Considering the current process of destruction of natural resources in the country and the problems faced by the present and future generations, the measures taken in the field of conservation and restoration and development of natural resources do not seem to be enough. Although, to solve these problems, the role of the government as a planner and supporter of natural resources projects is clear and important (Arayesh & Farajilah Hosseini, 2010). However, the projects designed to conserve natural resources are implemented based on people's participation. In general, people's participation in projects in the field of natural resources protection can take place in various fields. The most important of these issues have been considered in the behavioral examples of the Helpers of Nature project which can be including planting seedlings, people's participation in times of crisis such as fire, protection of forests, contributing to environmental protection associations, joining environmental associations, waste management in terms of separation and volume, joining the natural resources projects through the organization's systems, introducing people to the natural resources organization in the form of nature's helper, paying the green tax and etc (Natural resources & watershed management organization-I.R of IRAN, 2023). However it is the question as how to attract people's participation in the mentioned issues requires tools that can influence human behavior. Behavioral economics, as a new scientific field of economic sciences, can measure and analyze the impact of intentions, beliefs, and motivations on human behavior and decisions, and based on this, it can also provide policy tools (Asgari et al., 2021). For this reason, it can influence people's behavior to participate in the conservation of natural resources using behavioral economics approach. Therefore, to realize the goal of attracting people's participation, the current study considers to examine nudges and the effectiveness of nudges on people's behavior using behavioral economics approach Materials and Methods The sampling method of the research is convenience sampling. The number of samples is 213 people using the online questionnaire in two separate groups. This study is a quasi-experimental design and its type is a comparison between two groups. The number of the control group includes 108 people and the number of the treatment group includes 105 people. The control and treatment groups were independent. Each of the groups had completely common questions and response criteria. In this study, the control and treatment groups did not receive any training, but only the treatment group was given additional information about cognitive errors along with related questions. First, the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test is used to check and compare the ratings regarding supplementary information as well as the answers of people in the two groups. The ordered probit regression is used to analyze the relationship between ordinal or ranked dependent variables related to natural resource protection behavior and independent treatment (nudge) variables and other variables. For the relative dependent variables (the time of registration of cooperation request and the number of people introduced as a nature helper), the ordinary least square regression is used to analyze the effect of the treatment binary variable on the people's behavior in the field of natural resources conservation Results and Discussion This study results showed that out of 19 nudges, 14 nudges includes; Normative default, time limit, anchor and exemplify, carrot and stick, personalization, decoy effect, authority confirmation bias, bandwagon effect, present bias, automatic recommendation, halo effect and ownership effect (1) and (2) and (3) had a significant impact on these people's behavior, respectively, the number of seedlings, the time of registering a request for cooperation, participation in firefighting, waste production, the number of members introduced as a nature's helper, choosing tasks, membership in associations, membership in a special association, recycling, people's action preferences for forest protection, the percentage of perceived success for projects, willingness to spend taxes to beautify one's neighborhood, willingness to spend taxes to protect forests in one's area, and applying zoning to protect forests. The direction of influence in all nudges (except for the normative default and time limit) on people's behavior has been positive and significant. The marginal effects also showed that all nudges had the positive effect (with ordinal or ranked dependent variable) on the selection of the target option(s) in the treatment group compared to the control group. The carrot and stick policy had no significant effect on the ordinal variable of waste production, but the effect of this nudge on dummy variable of waste production was significant, This means that this nudge has had a positive and significant effect on maintaining the existing situation (garbage collection every day of the week) and reducing the amount of garbage (choosing 20 kg of garbage and less per week). The normative default and the time limit had a negative and significant effect (respectively) on the number of seedlings and the registration time of cooperation requests for planting seedlings. These negative effects have also confirmed the positive effect of nudging on people's behavior. Although the normative default resulted in fewer seedlings being planted by individuals, this occurred because the default was set at a minimal level and individuals were significantly more inclined to follow the default. The nudge of the time limit also led to a reduction in the time to register cooperation requests by individuals, so that people tended to register their request faster. Conclusion According to the results of this research, to attract the people's participation in the conservation of natural resources, these following should be considered: defaults, low-cost anchors, clear examples, incentives and punishments, highlight individual performance through personalization, using existing privileges for more cooperation, confirming people's sovereignty, presenting reports during performance, immediate rewards, making SMS and telephone systems available to compensate for people's lack of action, considering time limits for registering people in programs and projects, providing success reports to join people in an action, applying people's ownership of the green tax to further encourage them to pay taxes, allocating each zone to an environmental association for forests protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research is aimed to explain the tax avoidance measurement model in private companies, the effective factors and the relationships between them based on interpretive structural modeling. In terms of the purpose, the current research is in the category of fundamental research, and in terms of nature and method, it is descriptive and a case study in private companies. The statistical population of this research is experts familiar with the subject matter of the research, which includes professors and experts related to the field of taxation. A sample of 20 experts answered the questions through purposeful judgmental sampling. In order to present the model, interpretive structural modeling has been used. The results of interpretive structural modeling showed that internal organizational factors in the process of tax avoidance include financial leverage, company size, quality of internal information, ownership structure and corporate governance. Also, external organizational factors include financial constraints, customer focus, product market competition, corporate social responsibility, and social trust. Finally, based on the mentioned factors, the research model was presented. Also, the results of the Meek Meek matrix analysis showed that the ten factors related to the explanation of the pattern of influence on the tax avoidance process in private companies are divided into three categories of permeating, dependent and linked factors from the dimension of permeability and dependence. The factors of customer focus and social trust have low influence and high dependence, so they are dependent factors. The factors of corporate social responsibility, ownership structure, corporate governance and quality of internal information are influential factors or main drivers because they have high influence power and low dependence power. Also, the factors of financial leverage, company size, competition in the product market, and financial limitations are strategic variables of the research and are classified as linked variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Religación: Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades is the property of Religacion: Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

US-based pharmaceutical companies claim that they need high drug prices to provide sufficient profits to fund investments in innovation. This argument is consistent with the corporate-finance principle of retaining profits and reinvesting in productive capabilities that is central to our "theory of innovative enterprise" (TIE). The problem is that, for decades, resource allocation at the largest US-based pharmaceutical companies, known as "Big Pharma," has embraced the agency-theory argument that a company should be run to "maximize shareholder value" (MSV). We use TIE to expose MSV as an ideology of "predatory value extraction" (PVE), which legitimizes price gouging, downsizing the labor force, and tax dodging. In the body of the article, we document that the largest US-based pharmaceutical companies have become highly financialized, using all their profits, and often more, to distribute cash dividends and stock buybacks to shareholders. We then show the extent to which stock-based remuneration incentivizes senior pharmaceutical executives to engage in this financialized behavior. As cases in point, we consider the financialization of the two US-based companies, Pfizer and Moderna, that were centrally involved in the delivery of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We conclude our analysis by placing PVE in the US pharmaceutical industry in the broader context of the US healthcare system and the US economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Ciencias Sociales (13159518) is the property of Revista de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad del Zulia Venezuela and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of FinanzRundschau is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

During their 47th G7 summit in June 2021, the largest economies agreed to combat tax evasion. This paper investigates tax avoidance phenomenon by examining the possible moderation effect of shareholding structure (internal and external shareholdings), as a corporate governance mechanism, on the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and tax avoidance. Using a sample of FTSE350 non-financial listed firms from 2002 to 2016, I find that institutional shareholding dampens the positive relationship between firms' social responsibility and tax citizenship. However, the association between corporate social and tax citizenship is magnified for firms with entrenched managerial shareholding. The empirical findings inform tax policymakers and regulators about the need to consider the corporate shareholding structure that magnifies/dampens the tax avoidance risk. Generally, the findings hold for alternative measures of tax avoidance and CSR commitment, two-stage least squares and Tobit regressions, and additional control variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid spread of freelancing as a form of employment requires the development of an optimal system of taxation of the self-employed population. When dealing with new types of commercial activities and the income received as a result of the implementation of such activities, the legislation often does not have time to adapt to new rapidly developing business areas. Moreover, legislative regulation often hinders the development of such areas and creates a lot of inconvenience for the subjects of their activities. This paper examines the level of satisfaction of freelancers with the new system of taxation and the tax rate for the self-employed workers in the Russian Federation. The issue is considered against the background of corresponding foreign practices. The research shows that most of the freelancers surveyed believe that the current tax rate is too high. Latter was introduced in 2021, under the special tax regime for the self-employed people. In order to avoid potential tax evasion, it is recommended to review the current approach to taxation and possibly reduce professional income tax. Also, one of the recommendations is to conduct regular tax audits, since the new taxation system for freelancers significantly reduces income tax, and unscrupulous entrepreneurs can take advantage of this by entering into a civil law contract with employees and losing the status of an employer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tax evasion is a major issue for authorities worldwide. Understanding the factors that influence individuals' intrinsic motivation to pay taxes, known as their tax morale, is important for improving tax compliance. This study investigated gender differences in judging tax evasion in the context of cryptocurrency trading. Specifically, a survey study explored whether different moral foundations, financial literacies, and political orientations among females vs. males might explain potential gender differences in judging tax evasion. In an online survey, 243 U.S. adults read a vignette about a friend evading taxes in a cryptocurrency trading context. In a correlational analysis, we found that females judged tax evasion harsher, as being more morally wrong than males. Of the psychographic factors, only individualizing moral foundation values (i.e., fairness and harm avoidance) explained the harsher moral judgment by females. That is, individualizing moral foundation values were at a higher level among females, which further predicted females' harsher judgment of tax evasion. While females also had, on average, lower financial literacy and knowledge of cryptocurrencies than males, these did not predict their harsher judgment of tax evasion. The findings contribute to research on gender differences in moral judgments and highlight that a given transgression, or a specific crime, may violate different moral values in men and women. The results demonstrate to policy makers that it is important to take into account gender differences, in campaigns promoting tax morale and compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an international system that lacks centralized authority, the burden of enforcing the law generally falls on individual states. In many areas of transnational enforcement such as financial fraud, cybercrime, and tax evasion, the United States has historically assumed a prominent leadership role. In recent years, other states have also expanded their enforcement capabilities and activities. This Article proposes a theoretical framework to understand transnational enforcement leadership, drawing on theories of global public goods (GPGs) and leadership from economics and political science. Because transnational enforcement often has the attributes of a GPG, it tends to be systematically underprovided. States that possess greater resources and can capture more of the benefits tend to become leaders, thus closing part of the gap. Leaders can also derive significant private benefits by extracting penalties from their targets and entrenching their own laws as global standards. In addition, they benefit from cost advantages derived from existing enforcement capabilities, control over transnational hubs, and economies of scale. This self-reinforcing dynamic generates the “World Police Paradox:” leadership enhances global welfare, but it often takes the form of unilateral action and bestows upon leaders a privileged role in the international system. The Article acknowledges these concerns but argues that, given obstacles to effective international cooperation, leadership may often be the attainable second-best outcome. In addition, there is no sharp dichotomy between leadership and cooperation. Leadership can sometimes unlock the possibility of cooperation, as illustrated by the examples of bribery and tax evasion. A leader also cannot act despotically: its need for assistance by other states, and their ability to respond to perceived excesses, constrain its actions. Finally, the Article argues that many features of transnational enforcement leadership also apply to state-to-state enforcement and can illuminate the role of powerful states in sustaining international legal regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firms may misreport income or fail to comply with environmental regulations. This study contributes to the growing literature that analyzes dynamic history-dependent compliance monitoring, under which penalties or monitoring frequency are selected on the basis of recent compliance history. The current study develops methods for evaluating and comparing explicit solutions under given monitoring costs and income distributions, using a commonplace utility-penalty scenario under which firms never comply fully with regulations if statically monitored (regardless of their income distribution), but find it to their benefit, if dynamically monitored, to comply fully when their income is sufficiently high. In most examples tried, dynamic monitoring is superior even when constrained to monitor all firms at rates below the optimal static rate. The model is applied to actual IRS 2010 tax-report monitoring and compliance data partitioned by income bracket. This allows, in particular, to deduce degrees of risk aversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between individuals' attitudes towards fairness and their views about tax compliance in developing countries. It argues that individuals' attitudes regarding fairness shape their views about paying taxes and their ethical stances regarding tax evasion. Using survey data for 18 major cities in Latin America, we find that individuals who are highly sensitive to fairness are less likely to consider paying taxes as a civic duty and more likely to justify tax evasion. These attitudes toward tax compliance are not inelastic. We also find evidence that individualst argues about reciprocity and merit mediate the effect of fairness on personal views about tax compliance. Finally, this paper shows that the heuristics people use to explain their position in the income distribution make them sensitive to inequality, and it affects their tax morale. These findings help us better understand the concept of reciprocity and provide valuable lessons on the urgent task of expanding fiscal capacity to promote economic growth and inequality in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the Analysis of the Effect of Leverage, Profitability, Firm Size, Sales Growth and Institutional Ownership on Tax Avoidance. The object of this research is a manufacturing company in the consumer goods industry sector (goods consumer industry). The sample used in this study was 115 samples consisting of 23 companies for 5 years. With purposive sampling technique, the method used is multiple regression analysis, classical assumption test and descriptive statistics. The results showed that Leverage had no effect on tax avoidance, Profitability had a positive effect on tax avoidance, Firm size had no effect on tax avoidance, Sales Growth had a negative effect on tax avoidance, and Institutional ownership had no effect on tax avoidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border alcohol shopping threatens health outcomes and tax revenue, yet offers potential jobs and investment for the Baltic border regions. Exploiting the COVID-19-induced border closures in 2020 with an event study, and several large tax changes using differences-in-differences, this paper measures beer purchases in border regions of the Baltic States. Using monthly data from the Carlsberg group, beer sales in lower tax border regions dropped sharply during the COVID-19 closures, while sales increased modestly in higher tax border areas. Evidence from tax changes in Lithuania and Estonia also suggests dramatic effects on sales in lower tax Latvian border districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tax aggressiveness presents nontax risks to firms' cash flow. Evaluating these risks requires information beyond the accounting function's expertise, resulting in high processing costs to acquire and integrate risk information relevant to tax strategies. Managers can rationally adapt by making assumptions about risk information, potentially resulting in decision biases when evaluating the risk-reward tradeoff of tax aggressiveness. Using a novel regulatory setting in the U.S. insurance industry, I examine whether the adoption of mandated enterprise risk assessments updates managers' prior beliefs about the nontax risks of tax aggressiveness. I find that as regulation requires managers to accept processing costs to acquire and integrate risk information, managers learn about previously underestimated nontax risks and significantly reduce tax aggressiveness. Results suggest that absent firm-wide internal risk information, managers can use aggressive tax positions without fully considering nontax risks. Data Availability: Data used in this study are available from public sources identified in the paper. JEL Classifications: G22; G32; H25; M41. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reporting of suspicious transactions, emphasized in Recommendation 20 of the FATF, is considered the cornerstone of the fight against money laundering, and the success of all anti- money laundering measures depends on it. Therefore, the present study employs a descriptive-analytical approach with the aim of familiarizing the reader with the requirements for reporting suspicious transactions related to money laundering and examines the legal, jurisprudential, and executive obstacles that impede the reporting of suspicious transactions. In conclusion, the study investigates the position of Iran in comparison with global standards and highlights the most significant legal, jurisprudential, and executive challenges facing the reporting of suspicious transactions. The findings indicate that in the anti- money laundering regulations of Iran, especially in the amended law on combating money laundering ratified in 2018 and its executive directive of Article 14 ratified in 2019, necessary measures have been taken in line with international standards to report suspicious transactions, and the necessary structures have been established. However, professional secrecy rules, the principle of validity, Presumption of possession, policies related to capital attraction in banks, and high compliance costs with anti-money laundering standards may overshadow this important principle in the fight against money laundering and may cause disruption in the desirable path of reporting suspicious transactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is dedicated to comparative and legal analysis of the provisions on mutual agreement procedure in Art. 25 of the Convention between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of Azerbaijan Republic on Avoidance of Double taxation and Prevention of Tax Evasion regarding Taxes on Income and Capital dated 30 July 1999 in the context of recommendations included in Art. 25 of the OECD Model Tax Convention. The latter one is widely recognized source of interpretation of norms of bilateral double taxation treaties in many countries including Ukraine. This analysis, on the one hand, is aimed at finding ways of improvement of normative basis of mutual agreement procedure taking into consideration the risk of high number of tax disputes (for example, the replacement of the term ‘person’ with the term ‘resident’ in the first sentence of Art. 25(1) of the abovementioned Convention creates the risk of ambiguity in the context of personal scope of mutual agreement procedure in case of non-compliance of contracting state with the duties on non-discrimination regime) and, on the other hand, is assisting in the determination of compliance of Art. 25 of the abovementioned Convention with other international commitments of both contracting states (e.g., both contracting states have accepted commitments to introduce three-year minimum term for initiation of mutual agreement procedure by taxpayers according to the framework of the global campaign on counteracting base erosion and profit shifting but Art. 25(1) of the mentioned Convention does not mention such limitation in contrast to the provisions of Art. 25(1) of the OECD Model Tax Convention). Moreover, the author also admits that Art. 25(2) of the bilateral Convention does not include reference to the duty on implementation of mutual agreements concluded between competent authorities under the mutual agreement procedure without the link to the domestic time limits that is also not in accordance of the multilateral commitments. On the basis of this analysis, the author determines the need of amendments of Art. 25(1) and Art. 25(2) of the mentioned Convention that could improve efficiency and effectiveness of mutual agreement procedure as a mechanism of dispute resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex tax systems can result in tax evasion, which further impacts the revenues necessary to achieve sustainable development goals. Enhancing taxpayer education, tax knowledge, and tax fairness perception is essential for boosting revenues to support societal sustainability. The aim of this study was to assess the levels of tax knowledge and tax fairness perception within the Slovene taxpayer population, with a specific focus on the differences related to gender and settlement size. Further, the connections between tax knowledge and various aspects of tax fairness were explored. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to assess the statistical significance of gender and settlement size differences and the Kendall's coefficient of rank to determine the association between the tax knowledge and fairness perception dimensions. The results provide evidence that highlights disparities in tax knowledge between male and female taxpayers (p-value = 0.0116). Additionally, this study demonstrates that settlement size does not significantly impact tax knowledge perception among Slovene taxpayers (p-value = 0.2067). However, tax fairness encompasses various dimensions, and our research reveals no disparities based on gender (p-value = 0.7263) or settlement size (p-value = 0.2786). When assessing the correlation between tax knowledge and tax fairness perception, the results indicate statistically significant but weak correlations in both directions, depending on the specific fairness dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The study aim to highlight the current context of the phenomenon of tax evasion, the concept and modalities, the efforts of the authorities with attributions in the financial - fiscal field and that of law enforcement bodies to preventively and combat this phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of banks in shaping income inequality. We extend the current literature on the banking–inequality nexus by examining a sample of 103 Italian provinces for the period 2000–2018. We find that a higher banking development decreases income inequality. From a methodological viewpoint, we aim to contribute to the current literature by both adjusting the index of income inequality for the presence of tax evasion in income data and applying different estimation approaches to control for endogeneity. Some policy implications emerge from the findings of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa's tax collecting body, the South African Revenue Services (SARS), is known for its impeccable record in comparison with other state institutions. However, SARS has failed to stop tax corruption due to socio-economic and political factors, as evidenced by the unending yearly revenue shortfalls. The purpose and objective of this article is to trace the elements of good governance in tax collection and the gaps as identified in tax corruption. The scourge of corruption is widely known and the fight against the phenomenon should not rest solely on government; the private sector leadership, and the citizens working closely with tax authorities. The fight must be against all forms and categories of corruption, whether it is political, administrative, management, grand or petty. This article forms part of a longitudinal comparative study of tax institutions in the BRICS countries since 2017/2018 and is based on the analysis of primary and secondary sources, support of this article is confined to: (a) types of corruption in tax administration; (b) its impact from a good governance perspective; (c) the main reasons thereof; and; (d) lessons learnt. The primary findings and conclusions of the study are that while SARS has remained the most efficient state institution, there are still structural gaps that have allowed the persistence of tax corruption. The coalescence of corrupt SARS officials and citizens wanting to evade tax has for many years now led to an enduring tax gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the distinction between positive and normative economics in the context of tax economics. It explores how the study of behavioral economics and increased attention to tax evasion and enforcement complicate these distinctions. The article discusses various aspects of tax policy and government behavior, including the impact of tax cuts on corporate income, the role of behavioral biases in tax policy, and the use of notches and kinks in tax schedules. It also addresses the issue of taxpayer education and the trade-off between taxpayer privacy and tax enforcement. The author suggests that while behavioral anomalies may require some policy adjustments, the fundamental models of optimal taxation still hold. The article also explores the value of tax privacy and the potential impact of public tax disclosure on tax compliance. It discusses the effectiveness of different enforcement policies in reducing tax evasion and emphasizes the importance of tax economists behaving as scholars and prioritizing truth and accuracy in their research. The author highlights the potential bias in tax research due to data access granted by tax authorities and the need for transparency in policy recommendations. The article concludes by discussing the correlation between researchers' political views and their empirical investigations, emphasizing the importance of unbiased analysis in economics. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses a legal case regarding the taxation of In-App purchases made through an app store and raises questions about the applicability of European Union VAT directives. It states that the case involves a German taxpayer who developed and distributed mobile game apps through an Irish-operated app store. It mentions that the German Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) referred several questions to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for preliminary rulings on the interpretation of EU VAT law.