The book describes the difficulties of the current international corporate income tax system. It starts by describing its origins and how changes, such as the development of multinational enterprises and digitalization have created fundamental problems, not foreseen at its inception. These include tax competition—as governments try to attract tax bases through low tax rates or incentives, and profit shifting, as companies avoid tax by reporting profits in jurisdictions with lower tax rates. The book then discusses solutions, including both evolutionary changes to the current system and fundamental reform options. It covers both reform efforts already under way, for example under the Inclusive Framework at the OECD, and potential radical reform ideas developed by academics.

Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitèat Mèunchen, 2007.

Presents the recent trends in the taxation of corporate income in OECD countries, discusses the main drivers of corporate income tax reform and evaluates the gains of fundamental corporate tax reform.

Why are tax systems so complex? What are the causes of tax law complexity? What are the consequences? Why is tax simplification so difficult to achieve? These, and related questions, lie at the core of this volume on tax simplification featuring chapters by leading tax experts around the world. The quest for simplicity è^' or at least some move towards simplification è^' has been a fixation of governments and others for many years, but little appears to have been achieved. Tax simplification is the most widely quoted but the least widely observed of the usually stated goals of policy (equity and efficiency being the others). It has been used (and abused) as a primary justification for tax reform over the last century, and typically it is seen as è^-a good thingè^-- è^' to say that one is in favour of tax simplification is tantamount to stating that one is in favour of good as opposed to evil.

This paper reviews capital taxation issues in Italy based on a comprehensive definition encompassing taxes on income, transactions, and ownership. It discusses options to enhance the neutrality of the capital income tax system, followed by a detailed analysis of the property tax, the inheritance tax, and various transaction taxes. The paper also examines the case for replacing the set of existing taxes on financial and real assets with a single net wealth tax.

Building on previous FAD work in the tax administration field, this paper defines broad criteria for diagnosing the problems in a country’s tax administration and formulating an appropriate reform strategy. To be effective, this strategy should be based on the size of the tax gap and the country’s particular circumstances. This paper discusses some guiding principles which have provided the basis for successful reforms, including: reducing the tax system’s complexity, encouraging taxpayers’ voluntary compliance, differentiating the treatment of taxpayers by their revenue potential, and ensuring the reform’s effective management. Also discussed are specific bottlenecks that hinder the effectiveness of the tax administration’s operations.

Fundamentals of Business Enterprise Taxation is available as an alternative to the authors' widely used separate texts on corporate and partnership tax. It covers all the basics and offers more condensed coverage of a few advanced topics for a consolidated J.D.-level course on taxation of business enterprises. The Third Edition is faithful to the authors' problem-oriented "fundamentals" approach and incorporates all relevant changes made by the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. Important new highlights include: Fully integrated discussion of the impact of the reduced tax rates on qualified dividends and capital gains on transactions between business entities and their owners Policy-based explanations of new statutory rules preventing transfers and duplication of losses in the partnership and C corporation settings. Discussion of the impact of recent tax legislation on choice of business entity, including analysis of I.R.S. statistical data on contemporary trends. Updated chapters on corporate reorganizations and S corporations, reflecting the Service's evolving liberal approach to continuity of interest, multi-step acquisitions and corporate divisions, and the more permissive S corporation eligibility requirements. New published rulings on partnership mergers and terminations and corporate divisions, and discussion of all new relevant proposed and final regulations.