Foreign non-resident business entities may have business activities in a variety of ways. In its simplest form this can take the form of individual transactions in the nature of exports or import of goods, lending or borrowing of money, sale of technical know how to an Indian enterprise, a foreign air-liner touching an Indian airport and booking cargo or passengers, etc. various tax issues arise on accounts of such activities. The government wants to encourage foreign enterprises to engage in certain types of business activities in India, which in its opinion its desirable for achieving a balanced economic growth. This takes us to the last aspect of activities which enjoy tax incentives in India. The related issues about the taxation of the Multinational Corporations (MNCs) are as follows: 1. Taxation of Transactions and Operations of MNCs in India Taxation of transactions and operations of MNCs fully depends on the definition Continue reading
Taxation Policies
Reasons for the preference of VAT over Sales Tax
While theoretically the amount of revenue collected through VAT is equivalent to sales tax collections at a similar rate, in practice VAT is likely to generate more revenue for government than sales tax since it is administered on various stages on the production — distribution chain. With sales tax, if final sales are not covered by the tax system e.g. due to difficulty of covering all the retailers, particular commodities may not yield any tax. However, with VAT some revenue would have been collected through taxation of earlier transactions, even if final retailers evade the tax net. There is also in-built pressure for compliance and auditing under VAT since it will be in the interest of all who pay taxes to ensure that their eligibility for tax credits can be demonstrated. VAT is also a fairer tax than sales tax as it minimizes or eliminates the problem of tax Continue reading
Tax Accounting of Different Business Structures
Taxation is a source of government revenue collected through levying or imposing charges on corporate organizations and citizens of the country. The government may use taxation to encourage or discourage the country’s economic decisions. Taxation has several principles that guide the government when formulating its tax regime. The first principle is the principle of broad-basing, which requires that taxes are spread across every sector of the country’s economy and among all citizens. The principle of adequacy requires that taxes collected should be enough to cater for the provision of public goods and services. The principle of equity states that taxes should be distributed equitably to individuals and corporate companies, which have the same economic state. Last but not the least is the principle of neutrality, which states that no sector of the economy or individuals should be given an undue advantage over another. Taxation and Accounting of Partnership Companies Partnership Continue reading
Basic Principles of International Taxation
Rapid economic development happens to be one of the primary objectives of all developing economies and India is not an exception. This is possible mainly through the accumulation and proper use of capital. The developing economies lack adequate basic infrastructural facilities. In order to develop these, the government takes upon itself the responsibility for building up capital formation, through sound taxation policies. There are two basic principles followed by different countries in International taxation 1) Residence Based Taxation The principle of residence-based taxation asserts that natural persons or individuals are taxable in the country or tax jurisdiction in which they establish their residence or domicile, regardless of the source of income. In the case of non-natural persons such as companies or firms, the place of incorporation or the place where control or management is exercised is deemed to be the place of residence. In the context of income tax, the Continue reading
Disadvantages of Value Added Tax (VAT)
1) VAT is regressive: It is claimed that the tax is regressive, i.e its burden falls disproportionately on the poor since the poor are likely to spend more of their income than the relatively rich person. There is merit in this argument, particularly if it attempts to replace direct or indirect taxes with steep, progressive rates. However, observation from around the world and even Guyana has shown that steep tax rates lead to evasion, and in the case of income tax act as a disincentive to effort. Further, there is now a tendency in most countries to reduce this progressivity of taxes as has been done in Guyana where a flat rate of income tax has been introduced. In any case VAT recognises and makes room for progressivity by applying no or low rates of tax on essential items such as food, clothes and medicine. In addition it allows for 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