This paper aims to measure the degree of fiscal decentralization in Jordan by estimating the indicators used by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. These are the share of local units in public revenues, the share of public spending, and the share of compensation for workers in local units from the total compensation of workers in the public sector. The study uses set of data about public revenues and expenditures of the central government, independent government units, as well as the municipalities’ budgets figures. These data are for the period 2016-2018 and published electronically by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Local Administration in Jordan. The study revealed progress in the field of political and administrative decentralization represented in the establishment of elected councils at the national, regional, and municipal levels and the transfer of a number of powers from central authorities to regional or local bodies. The issuance of a new decentralization law and the amendment of the Municipalities Law in 2015. The results showed that the degree of fiscal decentralization is very low in Jordan, especially when compared to other countries that had implemented decentralization reforms.
La irrupción de bitcoin en los medios de comunicación en 2017 tuvo un gran impacto entre los profanos de las nuevas tecnologías, muchos de los cuales desconocían hasta entonces la existencia de las criptomonedas. Superado aquel momento, se ha analizado el fenómeno de las criptomonedas desde múltiples vertientes y, lógicamente, también desde la fiscalidad. Que las criptomonedas no estén reguladas por ningún Estado o autoridad bancaria puede inducir al error de que se encuentran fuera de la legalidad y que no están obligadas a tributar. La realidad es bien distinta, aunque en España no existe una legislación específica, las actividades relacionadas con las criptomonedas están perfectamente reguladas y sujetas a tributación. Además, la Agencia Tributaria española está en alerta ante este supuesto nuevo medio de pago que fácilmente puede ser usado para cometer fraude fiscal. Con este trabajo se pretenden aclarar los principales aspectos fiscales de bitcoin y, por extensión, del resto de criptomonedas.
Since their emergence, blockchain technologies have shown potential for financial inclusion and the formalization of remittances. Recently, regulators and practitioners have studied the capabilities of blockchain technologies to streamline and, potentially, replace the infrastructure underpinning cross-border payments and remittances, i.e., correspondent banking. Correspondent Banking Relationships, also called “Nostro-Vostro accounts,” are continuous bilateral arrangements that enable banks to provide services in countries where they do not directly operate. After the Global Financial Crisis, this infrastructure has undergone “de-risking,” i.e., a reduction of correspondent accounts and their concentration in fewer financial institutions, with especially detrimental effects on costs and speed of retail cross-border remittances. The existing literature has mostly focused on the point of sale of remittances, often overlooking correspondent banking. This paper, in contrast, connects remittances, blockchain technologies, and correspondent banking with the growing interest of critical social science in the significance of payment infrastructures for the constitution and configuration of money, finance, and markets. By unpacking the critical case of Ripple, this paper shows that blockchain applications to remittances focus on profits, risks, costs, interoperability, “trapped liquidity,” and “idle capital” in correspondent banking accounts, rather than on financial inclusion per se. In so doing, this paper contributes to critical social studies literature on the formalization of remittances, understood as the transformation of remittances into a market frontier. Blockchain applications are shown to foster, rather than resist, remittances formalization, and they are presently being incorporated into existing infrastructures, business models, and regulatory structures. Rather than representing radically alternative monetary systems, blockchain technologies are the latest iteration of technologies heralding frictionless capitalism. Lastly, this paper shows the tensions and ambiguities inherent to interoperability and formalization. Blockchain technologies are dynamic in a way that problematizes dichotomies such formal-informal and mainstream-alternative. Hence, rather than providing a quantitative assessment of the impact of blockchain technologies, this paper investigates the ambiguities and tensions in the political economy and imaginaries inscribed in the materiality and design of blockchain-enabled payment systems.
This Article argues that, contrary to the common belief that Bitcoin enables tax evasion, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) can increasingly police transactions in Bitcoin. First, commercial and technical intermediaries have emerged as part of Bitcoin’s ecosystem. This diverse set of intermediaries can facilitate tax enforcement, as the litigation over the IRS’s summons on Coinbase—the largest domestic digital asset exchange—and subsequent IRS efforts show. These intermediaries could report transactions to the IRS or even, one day, withhold and remit tax payments. Second, the publicly visible, trustworthy nature of Bitcoin’s blockchain—its unique role as a shared truth—allows tax authorities to observe transaction flows. This renders Bitcoin unusually regulable for tax purposes, as recent efforts by the IRS to rely on Bitcoin’s blockchain to police tax evasion demonstrate. The Article offers a proposal by which the IRS might make better use of Bitcoin’s blockchain: the IRS can tailor an existing program to reward technically savvy whistleblowers who scour Bitcoin’s blockchain and determine identities that correspond to public Bitcoin addresses at issue.
Using Bitcoin trading data in Venezuelan bolivars from the LocalBitcoins peer-to-peer market place and using the theory of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), Bitcoin, as a single universal asset, is substituted for the ‘basket of goods’ normally used in the PPP, allowing the estimation of the relationship between the Venezuelan bolivar and the United States dollar. In this analysis Bitcoin is used as a tool to enable the calculation of the bolivars to dollars unofficial exchange rate and consequently the implied inflation rate. Using Bitcoin’s publicly available prices in this way enables a government’s economic mismanagement to be identified more quickly than the typical approach of measuring changes in the Consumer Price Index. Venezuela is currently in crisis, which this approach identifies as a problem as far back as 2014, as official and unofficial exchange rates diverge and inflation rates increase yearly reaching an unbelievable 70,000% in 2018 alone.
Since their creation in 2009, crypto-assets have evolved from niche products into assets held and used much more widely. These assets pose challenges for policymakers and tax administrations, because, as pointed out by the OECD, they can be transferred and held without the participation of traditional financial intermediaries and without central administrators being aware of the transactions carried out or the location of crypto-assets holdings.
 On the indirect taxation side, the VAT Committee discussed the issues relating to the VAT treatment of crypto-assets and, in particular, of cryptocurrencies, on several occasions. The discussion on the most recent of the working papers on this subject, No. 1037 on the VAT treatment of crypto-assets, resulted in the adoption of the Guidelines which aim at harmonising tax administrations’ practice regarding the VAT implications of the different transactions linked to crypto-assets.
 The article highlights the main challenges posed by cryptocurrencies in terms of VAT while focusing on the main supplies with the use of cryptocurrencies and their qualification for the VAT purposes. Those transactions range from the creation, verification, validation, and supply of cryptocurrencies through their modification, storage, transfer, to exchange. The article explains in this context the position of the VAT Committee reflected in the Guidelines.
Darcy W E Allen, Chris Berg, Sinclair Davidson, Mikayla Novak · 5 authors
Abstract From the adoption of the shipping container to coordinated trade liberalization, reductions in trade costs have propelled modern globalization. In this paper, we analyse the application of blockchain to reduce the trade costs of producing and coordinating trusted information along supply chains. Consumers, producers, and governments increasingly demand information about the quality, characteristics, and provenance of traded goods. Partially due to the risks of error and fraud, this information is costly to produce and to maintain between dispersed parties. Recent efforts have sought to overcome these costs—such as paperless trade agendas—through the application of new technologies. Our focus is on how blockchain technology can form a new decentralized economic infrastructure for supply chains by governing decentralized dynamic ledgers of information about goods as they move. We outline the potential economic consequences of blockchain supply chains before examining policy. Effective adoption faces a range of policy challenges including regulatory recognition and interoperability across jurisdictions. We propose a high‐level policy forum in the Asia‐Pacific region to coordinate issues such as open standards and regulatory compatibility.
Luis Ayala Cañón, Ana Herrero Alcalde, Jorge Martínez-Vázquez
This paper analyzes the determinants of welfare benefit levels within a highly fiscally decentralized context. More specifically, we analyze the role of mimicking as a driver of the institutional design of subnational government policies in the absence of federal co-ordination and financing. Empirically we focus on the welfare benefit programs of Spanish regional governments during the period 1996-2015. Our results strongly support the significant role played by mimicking: regional public agents observe what their peers are doing and act accordingly, and this takes place even in a context of low mobility of households. Moreover, we find evidence of vertical externalities: even in a completely decentralized framework, regions consider the benefits set by the central government as a benchmark when determining their own welfare benefit levels
Blockchain is best known as the technology behind the popular cryptocurrency bitcoin, but the application of blockchain is much broader. In this article the author outlines opportunities and challenges for application of blockchain in VAT. She also analyses in detail what aspects of the VAT legislation and its implementation may be affected by blockchain in the future.
ABSTRACT The amendment of Government Regulation No. 24 of 2005 to Government Regulation No. 71 of 2010 based on accruals, made the government, especially the local government must apply and implement it no later than 5 years, namely in 2015. However, until now there are still many who do not fully understand the accounting-based accruals. There are various factors that influence government's preparedness and readiness in implementing accrual basis financial reporting. This study aims to analyze and examine the effects of environmental uncertainty, decentralization and assignment to accrual basis financial reporting. Population and sample in this research are Financial Administration Official of Regional Finance Organization (PPK-OPD) and Regional Finance Administration (PPKD) in Sidoarjo Regency. The study was conducted on 13 Local Government Organizations. The research method is quantitative and analytical technique using Multiple Linear Regression with SPSS data statistic application. The results of this study indicate that environmental uncertainty, decentralization and assignment have an effect on the accrual based financial reporting.Keywords : Environmental uncertainty, decentralization, task loading, Accrual based financial reportingCorrespondence to : momoepanda@gmail.com ABSTRAK Perubahan Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 24 Tahun 2005 menjadi Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 71 Tahun 2010 berbasis akrual, membuat pemerintahan khususnya pemerintah daerah wajib mengaplikasikan dan menerapkannya selambat-lambatnya 5 tahun, yaitu tahun 2015. Namun hingga saat ini masih banyak yang belum paham sepenuhnya dengan akuntansi berbasis akrual. Ada berbagai faktor yang mempengaruhi pemahaman dan kesiapan pemerintah dalam menerapakan pelaporan keuangan berbasis akrual. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui dan menguji pengaruh ketidakpastian lingkungan, desentralisasi dan pembeban tugas terhadap pelaporan keuangan berbasis akrual. Populasi dan sampel dalam penelitian ini adalah Pejabat Penatausahaan Keuangan Organisasi Pemerintahan Daerah (PPK-OPD) dan Pejabat Penatausahaan Keuangan Daerah (PPKD) di Kabupaten Sidoarjo. Penelitian dilakukan pada 13 Organisasi Pemerintahan Daerah. Metode penelitian yaitu kuantitatif dan teknik analisis menggunakan Regresi Linier Berganda dengan aplikasi statistik data SPSS. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa ketidakpastian lingkungan, desentralisasi dan pembebanan tugas berpengaruh terhadap pelaporan keuangan berbasis akrual.Kata kunci : Ketidakpastian lingkungan, desentralisasi, pemuatan tugas, pelaporan keuangan berbasis akrualKorespondensi : momoepanda@gmail.com
The tax treatment of cryptocurrency forks presents four unique challenges: parent/child designation, taxpayer access to the new token, assessment of fair market value, and assessment of comparable contemporaneous fair market values. We provide empirical evidence that each of these issues is a hurdle in determining whether income has been realized, or in apportioning the basis. We consider three existing approaches for assets acquired without a purchase. We conclude that the least problematic approach (adopted by Japan) is giving zero tax basis to the new coin and taxing the proceeds upon a sale, while treating the new coin as realized income (as recently ruled in the US) is the most problematic.
The aim of this paper is to highlight the main problems deriving from cryptocurrencies in the field of taxation.First, the paper will give a glimpse at the key features of cryptocurrencies and Blockchain.Secondly, the paper will deal with the definition of this phenomenon and it will focus on the difficulties faced by different Institutions and entities, at European and International level, to provide a convincing and homogeneous definition of cryptocurrencies.The paper will provide a comparative overview of some different definitions to give an idea of how difficult it is to identify what cryptocurrencies are.Finding out the correct definition is not important as such, but it represents the first step to understand how to tax revenue deriving from cryptocurrencies.In fact, various economically relevant activities are involved in the world of cryptocurrencies, such as mining or exchanging, and such activities need to be taxed.In this scenario, the current legislative framework is not up to date and obsolete and requires robust amendments.How should revenue deriving from cryptocurrencies be taxed?An answer has been given by the Italian Tax Administration, which has issued two responses, following the judgment of the ECJ which, however, do not seem to be conclusive.In fact, the Italian Tax Code does not set forth any provisions regarding cryptocurrencies and the Tax Administration had to interpret the existing provisions.In addition, the paper will explore the approach of a Notice issued by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS Notice 2014-21, March 25, 2014) and the one adopted by the Virtual Currency Tax Reform Act, which is supposed to give a definitive solution to the problem of taxation in the US.In conclusion, the paper will pose some questions regarding the ability of the tax systems to deal with issues related to cryptocurrencies.
This paper examines the use of blockchain, or distributed ledger, technology for the potential supplantation of the antiquated process of international trade financing. Using the technology for this purpose has the potential to narrow the enormous gap in unmet demand for trade finance experienced by small-and medium-sized enterprises in the developing world. The current process of trade finance is still paper-based and relies heavily on manual labor. After the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, banks became restrictive in their lending, especially to small-and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries, leading to the aforementioned trade finance gap. Blockchain technology could narrow this gap by digitizing and automating key steps in the trade finance process, which will lead to efficiency gains along the trade finance process. By allowing users to establish a verifiable identity, blockchain also increases compliance with ‘know your customer’ and anti-money laundering requirements. Currently, permissioned blockchains are better suited for trade finance as evidenced through recent initiatives, whereas permissionless blockchains have more to offer to individuals at the “bottom of the financial pyramid” who are typically excluded from the formal financial sector. Financial inclusion refers to the delivery of basic financial services in a non-discriminatory way. Blockchain can help lift the large unbanked and financially underserved populations in the developing world out of poverty and into the global economy, contributing to sustainable economic growth.
Under conditions of decentralization, especially taking into account the creation and establishment of united territorial communities (UTC), there is a need to transfer financial resources to a different than earlier, primary, level of financing of socio-economic programs. Changing the direction of budgetary funds flows requires studying a number of aspects of the transformation of the budgetary and tax systems. In particular, there is a need to study tax and non-tax flows in the functioning of the united territorial communities. The article justifies the introduction of the concept of tax and non-tax (financial) flows, in particular, in the context of the united territorial communities. It is determined that the use of the category “flows” for tax and non-tax payments or budget revenues at various levels is a first step necessary for further research with the use of economic and mathematical methods. The concept “flow” is more tight-laced in terms of both physical representations and mathematical methods of data processing. The paper suggests introducing the categories of “tax flow” and “non-tax flow” into financial terminology. Tax and non-tax flows (revenues) of the local budgets of Ukraine and the budgets of the united territorial communities are analyzed. The analysis of these revenues in the local budgets of regions of Ukraine showed that all items of revenues increased during the study period, the largest increases being observed for the personal income tax, single tax, corporate income tax and basic subsidy. The data on the dynamic pattern of creating united territorial communities in Lviv region are given. An analysis of the structure of actual revenues and costs of general and special-purpose funds of UTCs of Lviv region is carried out, corresponding calculations are made.
In a recent article appearing in the Virginia Tax Review, I analyzed the income tax issues that arose from hard forks of cryptocurrencies That article focused on the August 1, 2017 hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain that resulted in the creation of Bitcoin Cash, a new cryptocurrency. The hard fork resulted in a windfall to owners of Bitcoin, who came to own one unit of Bitcoin Cash for each unit of Bitcoin owned at the time. After considering the difficulties of taxing the new units as income immediately, I argued that the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) should tax new units of Bitcoin Cash as “open transactions,” deferring income tax consequences until the owner sells or exchanges the units. As that article went to press, the IRS released Revenue Ruling 2019-24 (the “Ruling”), which describes the taxation of cryptocurrency hard forks. The Ruling seems to embrace an “immediate taxation” approach that my article considered but rejected. This essay evaluates the Ruling in light of my recent article. This essay will review some of the arguments against immediate taxation and in favor of open transaction. Perhaps more importantly, this essay will identify inconsistencies and oddities that appear in the Ruling. In particular, the Ruling, by its terms, does not seem to apply to Bitcoin Cash. Even if the IRS wants to apply immediate taxation, it should nevertheless release new guidance that applies more clearly to Bitcoin Cash.
A great challenge for democracy is to account for the conflict between the ideal of self-governance and the capacity of the average person to participate in democratic decision-making. This challenge has led some observers to question the defensibility of democracy and consider other systems of social organization. I argue instead that the problem can be solved with a technologically enhanced version of Thomas Christiano’s choice of aims model of democracy. I begin by setting up the voter competency problem: I describe the ideals of democracy and the role that is ascribed to citizens under traditional accounts of democracy, then proceed to a discussion of the empirical evidence that shows how unlikely it is that voters could ever adequately perform such a role. While I consider a number of alternative democratic models which attempt to reconstruct the role of citizens in a way that is consistent with their capacities and with the democratic ideal of self-governance, I find that the choice of aims model strikes this balance in a way that is most tenable. Despite this, I argue that changes to the way information is distributed in modern democracies, to do with the rise of the internet, pose a serious threat to the viability of even this model, as it is becoming increasingly difficult for voters to ascertain reliable information. The second half of the thesis offers support to Christiano’s model in the form of technologically enhanced institutions. Chapter 3 provides a basic understanding of an emerging technology called distributed ledger technology, which offers a new paradigm for how information is stored, controlled, and distributed around society. The final chapter demonstrates how this technology can be used to strengthen democratic institutions so that citizens are able to truly be said to self-govern in a way that is consistent with their capacities.
The fiscal decentralization policy has made local governments have the authority to generate income and manage regional finance independently for public services and public welfare. This study aims to: 1) Analyze the degree of fiscal decentralization in Jambi Province; 2) Analyzing community welfare proxied from the human development index in Jambi Province; 3) Analyzing the impact of fiscal decentralization on the welfare of the community in Jambi Province. This study using panel data, a combination of time series data in 2010-2016 and cross section 11 districts/cities in Jambi Province. The method of data analysis is descriptive analysis and panel data regression analysis approach, namely the fixed effect model (FEM). Hypothesis testing uses the F test statistic and the statistical t test. The results showed that: 1) The degree of fiscal decentralization, namely the ratio of district own source revenue (PAD) to total regional income (TPD) in each district/city in Jambi Province was relatively relatively low, whereas for Jambi Province it was in good category; 2) Community welfare as illustrated by the human development index in each district/city including Jambi Province is still in the moderate category, except Jambi City (76.14) and Sungai Penuh City (73.35) are categorized as high; 3) Fiscal decentralization has a positive and significant impact on improving community welfare. it means that the better the implementation of fiscal decentralization, the higher the level of community welfare.
Este trabajo ha obtenido el 1.er Premio «Estudios Financieros» 2018 en la modalidad de Tributación. La tecnología de los mayores distribuidos está apenas en su infancia, pero como evidencia la inclusión de los criptoactivos en el último comunicado del G20, estamos entrando en la era Blockchain, una tecnología para el intercambio de valor en red sin mediación de intermediarios que es lo más disruptivo desde de la aparición de internet. Blockchain, que forma parte ya del sistema de pagos, tiene un alto potencial para transformar los servicios privados y públicos. A medida que las monedas virtuales ganan terreno, se acrecienta la conveniencia de que los hechos imponibles a que da lugar su acuñación, intermediación o utilización como resguardo de valor o medio de pago gocen de regulación específica o, cuando menos, de criterios interpretativos claros. Estos, a su vez, precisan de una especificación por parte del regulador internacional de la naturaleza contable de las criptomonedas, algo improbable a corto plazo. En su ausencia, el tratamiento fiscal que emerge en derecho comparado es el de activos en impuestos directos y el de dinero en IVA, calificación que es, como mínimo, inconsistente. Más allá de las preocupaciones por la seguridad jurídica y la integridad del sistema financiero y tributario, debido a la pseudopacidad que garantizan, la aplicación de la nueva tecnología a los servicios públicos es un vasto campo que roturar, con prometedoras experiencias comparadas en lugares como Estonia, Dinamarca o Australia.
The IRS recently dealt a blow to Bitcoin enthusiasts by ruling that Bitcoin and other similar currencies should be treated as property–and not foreign currency–for income tax purposes. As a result, those who use bitcoins to purchase goods or services must report gain or loss on each transactionn if the bitcoins have changed value between the time they were acquired and spent. Treating Bitcoin as a foreign currency would have permitted individuals to take advantage of the $200 personal-use exemption and required taxpayers to adopt a formulaic system for tracking the basis of commingled bitcoins.The IRS's decision seems correct as a matter of positive law, but laws can always be changed. In this Article I consid4r whether Bitcoin should be treated as a foreign currency for income tax purposes. I conclude that tax authorities should adopt a foreign currency definition that excludes bitcoin and similar currencies because (1) a broad definition ciould create significant administrative and line-drawing problems, and (2) the government has little interest in promoting alternate currencies . Nor should authorities extend the personal-use exemption to virtual currencies. In contrast, authorities should extend the basis rules applicable to foreign currency to virtual currencies to prevent taxpayers from using the basis rules to improperly reduce their tax obligations.
The study aims to determine the opinions of school principals on decentralization in education. Phenomenological research design was used in the study. The purposive sampling methods of convenience and criterion samplings were used together. The study group was composed of six volunteer principals. The data were collected through individual face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured form. Descriptive analysis and inductive content analysis were used. In conclusion, from a holistic perspective, most of the participants found the concept of decentralization to be close to full autonomy which is usually perceived as dangerous in terms of the unitary state structure. Therefore, they have more centralized attitudes towards educational processes other than financing and infrastructure support regarding decentralization in education. This is indeed an indication that concerns regarding decentralization in education are high. The participants think that decentralization will not harm our national identity and the national education structure is beneficial.
PETER MWIATHI SILAS, Nelson Wawire, Perez Ayieko Onono-Okelo
The Kenya government has instituted fiscal decentralization over the years to promote social economic development, reduce poverty and income inequality and ensure balanced regional development. Despite these efforts, poverty levels have remained high in Kenya. The literature on the relationship between fiscal decentralization and poverty has been rather inconclusive about the effects of fiscal decentralization on poverty. The main objective of this paper was to analyse the effects of fiscal decentralization on poverty in Kenya. Using cross-county panel data from 2002 – 2014 and published data from government agencies, UNDP reports and World Bank reports, the paper estimated various empirical models to analyse the effects intergovernmental transfers, sub-national own-source revenue and county expenditure on poverty in Kenya. The study established that the effect of fiscal decentralization on poverty depends on the nature of decentralization and the extent of fiscal decentralization as well as the county specifics. The paper therefore, recommends the need for for county governments to have adequate own-source revenue to finance their expenditure as opposed to relying on intergovernmental transfers from national government.