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Drafting Tax Laws. Prof. Dr. Geerten M.M. Michielse Technical Assistance Advisor, IMF Georgetown University Law Center Washington, DC. IMF (Organigram). IMF-Organization. Area Departments Functional Departments Service Departments. IMF (Area Departments). African Asia and Pacific
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Drafting Tax Laws Prof. Dr. Geerten M.M. Michielse Technical Assistance Advisor, IMF Georgetown University Law Center Washington, DC
IMF-Organization • Area Departments • Functional Departments • Service Departments
IMF (Area Departments) • African • Asia and Pacific • European I (Central and Western) • European II (Eastern + former SU) • Middle Eastern • Western Hemisphere
IMF (Functional Departments) • Fiscal Affairs • IMF Institute • International Capital Markets • Legal • Monetary and Exchange Affairs • Policy Development and Review • Research
Fiscal Affairs Department • Immediate Office • Expenditure Policy • Fiscal Operations (I + II) • Fiscal Policy and Surveillance • Public Expenditure Management (I + II) • Revenue Administration (I + II) • Tax Policy
Legal • Front Office • Anti-Money Laundering • Law Reform / Technical Assistance • Country (A + B) • Banking • Administrative Law
How Do We Get TA-Requests? • PRGF (poverty reduction and growth facility) by Area Department • Government Initiative (sometimes after “Tax Policy” advise) by Fiscal Affairs Department • Surveillance
What Types of Missions Do We Do? • Legal Drafting (80%) • Tax Policy (15%) • Tax Administration (4%) • Budget Law (1%)
What Experts Do We Use? • IMF staff (USA) • Headquarter-based Expert (NLD) • External Experts (mostly Universities) • Australians • USA, Canadian • Europeans (BEL, DUI, FRA, POR, SWE)
What Tax Laws Do We Draft? • Value Added Tax • Sales Tax • Income Tax • Profit Tax / Corporate Income Tax • Tax Administration • Stamp Duty • Customs
What Countries Do We Work With? • Industrial or Advanced Economies • OECD countries • Emerging Market Economies • South-East Asian ‘Tigers’, South America, EU “wanna be’s” • Transition Economies • Former Soviet Republics • Developing Economies • Africa, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos
What Legal Systems Do We Encounter? • Common Law Systems • British and American • Civil Law Systems • European and South American • Islamic Systems • Middle Eastern, Indonesia, Malaysia • Former Soviet Union Systems
Are There Any Model Tax Laws Available? • Basic World Tax Code (US-based) • Taxastan Income Tax Code (former SU countries) • Commonwealth of Symmetrical (common law-based) • République Francophone (civil law-based) • Fantasia VAT • Utopia (implementation Merger Directive)
Some Drafting Examples • Implementation of EU-Directives • Drafting VAT + Regulations • Drafting Tax Administration Code
Typical Issues in Drafting Implementation Provisions for EU-Directives Parent-Subsidiary Directive • CZE/LTU: credit for w/h against CIT • EST: distribution tax ‘in lieu of’ CIT Merger Directive • Valuation issues due to FTC systems • HUN/LVA: accounting rules
Typical Issues in Drafting VAT in Developing Countries • Cash Refunds as result of Imputation Credit • 6-months carry forward requirement • Only cash refunds for export • Threshold • Equalization Tax for small businesses
Typical Issues in Drafting a Tax Administration Code • Self-assessment of tax liability • Payment procedures • (absence of banking system) • Collection & Enforcement • Penalty system • usually too high for minor violations and too low for serious violations) • Appeal procedures