Journal of Tax Research
Year:2010 | Volume:NEW SERIES - 17 | Issue:7 (55)|Papers Count:7

One of the newest business activities in recent years is related to the emergence and development of e-commerce. The extension of e-commerce increases the possibility of evading from the taxation of new income resources which have traditionally been taxed in other ways. Having in mind the importance of this matter, the present research is going to investigate e-tax systems throughout the world and to introduce a model for the establishment of an electronic taxation system in Iran. An infrastructure needed for e-commerce is to provide for security which is very important in the e-commerce environment and for which there is a large amount of demand. Lack of security in the virtual world can be a barrier to the development of e-commerce. Our proposed model for the taxation of ecommerce in Iran is based upon making use of a secure electronic exchange database whereby the government presents security to users and exchangers and, at the same time, taxes their e-commerce activities. In this paper, we have used Delphi method and Sign Non-Parametric / Freidman tests to assess our proposed model of e-taxation. The findings obtained are as follows: the best tax category to be applied to e-commerce is VAT but the Iranian VAT laws and regulations should be modified prior to being applied to e-commerce; the creation of an electronic database by the Iranian government is economically justified; real and legal entities in Iran are sufficiently willing to make use of this electronic database; a national TIN code is required for the identification and tracing of companies engaged in the electronic environment; the best way of providing security in an electronic database is to use digital signature and digital certificate; sellers are the best agents for the collection of taxes; moreover, there is a need for concluding agreements with other countries on such topics as the exchange of information and avoiding double taxation.

Estimating tax capacity of a region or of the whole country provides the information needed for responding to financial and executive problems resulted from the implementation of economic policies. The present study aims at estimating tax capacities of the two tax categories, “business and profession income tax” and “corporate income tax” in the Iranian provinces through making use of the data of some effective variables. To this end, we have explored the variables involved in tax revenues of the provinces, and by using data of 28 different provinces within the time span 1379-1385 (2000-2006), we have resorted to SFA method to estimate the efficiency of each tax category in question in any of the Iranian provinces. According to the findings obtained, as for the business and profession income tax, the average tax efficiency of developed provinces (excluding Tehran Province) for the period in question has been 72.3% while it has been 66.5% in less developed provinces. And as for corporate tax income, the average tax efficiency of developed provinces (excluding Tehran Province) has been 47.8% while it has been 72.4% in less developed provinces. The present research has calculated the “tax inefficiency” of each province as the gap between the potential and realized legal capacities. As for tax effort indices, the results show that over time, the average tax effort has decreased for business and profession income tax but it has increased for corporate income tax.

Just like other developing countries, in the recent decade, the importance and significance of taxes in the Iranian economy has attracted the attention of economic researchers and that of policy makers. In the present paper, while I will focus on one of the most important aspects of tax system, i.e. the whole set of incentives; effective tax rates will be calculated and analyzed from a macro-economic standpoint. The most important issues are the efficiency of tax incentive system and the working of effective rates. To do the task, I have simulated the time series in question and, by using Neo-classic Growth Theory and Jorgenson’s Theory on capital cost and defining the investment path, I have explored the impacts of investment cost and its components and the impacts of some other variables. The findings indicate that tax exemptions do not work as incentives and do not have a considerable impact on investment. However, assets depreciation system may be used as an alternative tax incentive to invoke investment.

This paper is aimed at exploring the relationship between taxes and market structure within the framework of the relationships among three variables “industry’s monopolist power” (market concentration degree), “tax” (corporate income effective tax rate), and “company’s start up costs” (represented by “capital inventory”). The period covered is 1995-2005. The estimation has been done through making use of Schumpeter, Galbraith, and Sutton’s ideas. Findings of this paper are consistent with Schumpeter and Sutton’s ideas since they show that with an increase in the tax rates, the market monopolist power increases while an increase in the capital inventory will make it more difficult for the firms to get into the industry and as a result, both the market monopolist power and the market concentration degree will go up.

The existence of widespread inflation in different societies and the complexity of financial analysis methods as well as the variety of the needs of internal/external users of such analyses in combination with sensitivities of decision making authorities all together have necessitated the presentation of realistic information to be used in financial reporting processes. Reassessment of fixed assets, in its turn, is a result of such changes. The present research aims at exploring the impacts of reassessment of assets of companies on the disclosure of their real assets and their actual income taxes. This research makes use of both descriptive (correlation) and survey study methods. In addition to the data gathered from the administration of a researcher-made questionnaire, some information needed (data of 2001-2007) has been extracted from financial statements of companies running under the supervision of Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO) and Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO). Research findings indicate that there is a strong effective relationship between reassessment of assets and the disclosure of companies’ real assets. On the other hand, reassessment of assets has affected the income taxes of the companies in question though in a one-way manner.

Although the Iranian tax system has been trying to make some tax reforms including the introduction of VAT system and despite the fact that there have already been some important tax reforms, many structural problems with the Iranian taxation system still remain. In order to make structural tax reforms aimed at improving the current status of the Iranian tax system, we may apply two different approaches: first, introducing new tax categories, and second, improving the performance of existing tax bases. The present paper is, first of all, aimed at exploring theoretical and applied issues relevant to capital gains, and then involves itself in studying the economic impacts of this tax category followed by investigating other countries’ experiences in relation to CGT. The findings obtained indelicate that in order to establish a CGT system in Iran, we are required to take into consideration such fundamental issues as real/unreal gains, longterm/ short-term gains, adjustments made on the bases of inflation rates and depreciation of the acquired gains, the difference between capital gains and individuals’ ordinary incomes, and the way you may treat capital losses as opposed to capital gains. As for CGT economical impacts, the findings obtained show that the introduction of such a tax category may influence such economical variables as investment, savings, companies’ fiscal policies, the families assets combination, capital costs, the demands for assets, and the number of exchanges of assets. The efficiency of CGT in respect of having desirable impacts on some of the abovementioned variables is ultimately a function of different methods applied to the introduction of this tax category.

Since a few years ago, many countries have realized the unique and exceptional role of taxes as the only global instrument for making economical the investments on housing markets within the capital market through the vehicle of REIT investment and as such, they establish their REIT markets one after another. Through making use of the modern financial institution of REIT (i.e., through the application of modern REIT technology to Iranian markets) with all its fiscal and financial characteristics, it will be possible to organize tax categories for housing markets and to tax the transactions of their securities in the capital markets. It is also possible to improve the working of the existing tax system through the standardization of processes and monitoring in both the capital and housing markets. The critical role of taxes in improving business environments in the housing market through the REIT financial instrument and in decreasing the investment risks both in the capital market and in Tehran Stock Exchange can not be ignored. The present paper is aimed at introducing the REIT financial instrument and at presenting the results of a field-comparative study being done on the topic of “investing on the housing market through the capital market” focusing on “its advantages and opportunities for the Iranian tax system”.