Sample Research Proposal VAT Compliance in the UK Free Essays

1.0 Introduction 1.1 Introduction Income tax, National Insurance contributions, and Value Added Tax (VAT) contribute approximately two-thirds to total tax revenue in the Uk (Adam and Browne, 2009). We will write a custom essay sample on Sample Research Proposal: VAT Compliance in the UK or any similar topic only for you Order Now VAT, which is a proportional tax paid on all sales, has become an important source of revenue in Britain, particularly as the government is under great pressures to raise revenue to ‘balance the budget’ (Adams and Webley, 2001). A business has to register for VAT when their taxable supplies in the last twelve month period surpass or are expected to surpass the current registration limit of ?70,000. The VAT is a flat rate scheme with a current rate of 17.5%, up from 15% (a rate which applicable from 01 December 2008 to 31 December 2009 as part of an economic stimulus package) (Adam and Browne, 2009). In addition to this flat tax that applies to the vast majority of goods and services purchased, there are a few items that are zero-rated, such as most foodstuff, exempt, such as health services and private education, and some with a lower rate of VAT (5%), such as baby car seats and domestic fuel and power (Adam and Browne, 2009). While items falling into these classes are not affected, the standard rate of VAT is set to increase to 20% from 4 January 2011. Investigators have found that small businesses people believe that the present rate of 17.5% is too high and promotes negative feelings towards VAT and full compliance (Adams and Webley, 2001). Given the increase in January 2010, what will be the impact on compliance ratesThis is an important issue, since research shows that VAT is more efficiently collected when VAT rates are low (de Mello, 2009). While the level of tax evasion in the UK has been found to be much smaller than in some other countries (Agha and Haughton (1996) reported evasion of 3% in the UK compared to 40% in Italy), even small amounts of evasion represent large losses in revenue. Still, there has been little research on VAT compliance over the last three decades, with research focusing mainly on income tax compliance (de Mello, 2009; Webly, 2004). I think that this is a very interesting and important topic of research because of the impending increase in the rate of VAT in the UK and the current paucity of research in this area. The lack of research on VAT in particular makes it difficult to assess the impact of the increase and so I think this is an area worth investigating more. 1.2Research Aims and Objectives The purpose of this study is to build on previous research into tax evasion in general, and VAT evasion in particular, to present a description of small businesses’ perspectives on VAT and related issues. The specific objectives of this research are: To describe small businesses’ perspectives on paying VAT and related issues, To investigate the degree to which social and psychological factors play an important role in evasion of VAT, and To investigate the possible impact of the increase in VAT on in evasion. This paper has two additional sections. The second section is the preliminary Literature Review, in which the research on VAT compliance and important social psychological factors is discussed. Section three details the Methodology, outlining how the research will be carried out. 2.0Preliminary Literature Review 2.1 Introduction People’s willingness to pay taxes depends on a range of variables. Economists tend to highlight the importance of the relevance of exogenous variables such as tax rate, income, and probability of detection and the level of sanctions, while psychological research demonstrates that endogenous variables are also significant, including taxpayers’ attitudes toward the government and taxation, personal norms, perceived efficiency and equity (Hofmann et al., 2008; Kirchler, 2007). In taking these together, Cullis and Lewis (1997: 320) terms this the ‘economic psychology approach,’ which combines the â€Å"positive approach the empirical world† with â€Å"the softer approach† in which people â€Å"comply with taxes for different reasons and †¦ the tax compliance problem is in part socially constructed.† Adams and Webley’s (2001) have undertaken research specifically investigating VAT compliance and uncovered fifteen main concepts falling into five key themes that they thought to be relevant. Of the five major themes, four were recurrent in previous research on income tax compliance research: equity, attitudes toward taxation and tax authorities, sanctions, and personality/morality. The fifth theme they highlighted was ‘mental accounting,’ which they note is a recognised psychological construct but has not previously been applied in the area of tax compliance. This five-factor model was echoed in Webley et al. (2006), who extended the research undertaken by Adams and Webley (2001) and found that mental accounting and equity were particularly important factors affecting VAT compliance. These five factors are briefly discussed here. 2.2 Sanctions and Punishments In economics, the basic theory of tax evasion is an application of the theory of choice under uncertainty (Clotfelter, 1983). In the standard approach to tax evasion, a risk-averse individual chooses either the amount or the share of income to be concealed so as to maximise her expected utility of income, considering (1) the probability of detection, (2) the penalty tax rate applied when tax evasion is detected, (3) the marginal tax rate, and (4) the level of true income (Pommerehne and Weck-Hannemann, 1996). Thus, the problem a person has to tackle is whether or not to evade some part of her legal tax liability given that there is a probability of being caught if she decides to be non-compliant. Therefore, economic models focus on the role of penalties and audits, with economists theorising that greater penalties and audit probabilities should increase compliance (Slemrod, 2007). Empirical research indicates that both penalties and audits can lead to greater compliance (Andreoni et al., 1998), although higher penalties have been shown to be less of a deterrent than higher audit probabilities (Hessing et al., 1992). 2.3 Equity At the centre of tax policy are concepts of equity (fairness) as the perceived fairness of a tax system has been found to be is essential to its acceptability and smooth functioning (Adams and Webley, 2001; Hofmann et al., 2008). This ‘first, basic rule of taxation’ is based on Adam Smith’s first maxim of a good tax, which reads: The subjects of every State ought to contribute towards the support of the government as nearly as possible in proportion to their respective abilities – that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the State (as cited in Musgrave, 2002: 10). Wenzel (2003) discusses three types of fairness that are applicable in this area. Distributive justice deals with the fair exchange of resources, benefits, and costs, procedural justice deals with the issue of tax collection and resource distribution, while retributive justice deals with the perceived fairness of audit and punishment as discussed above. Overall, research demonstrates that, where taxpayers feel there is a disparity in the exchange relationship, it is more likely that people will be non-complaint in order to offset or reduce the perceived inequity (Cowell, 1992). In recent work by Webley and colleagues on VAT and small businesses (Adams and Webley, 2001; Webley et al., 2004) the idea that small businesses especially are unfairly treated in the current system was a frequent theme. 2.4 Personality/Morality In their research, Adams and Webley (2001) discuss the impact of egoism on compliance behaviour. They draw on research by Weigel et al. (1998) indicating that people that have egoistic tendencies are more likely to break rules when these rules are not in their personal self-interest and thus are more likely to try to avoid paying taxes. This idea is supported by research showing that egoism is a good indicator of the individual’s propensity to evade income taxes (Elffers, 1991), engage in benefits fraud (Hessing et al., 1993), and incur parking violations (Adams and Webley, 1996). Researchers have also outlined other important norms that may be important in influencing tax compliance, such as authoritarianism and Machiavellianism (Kirchler et al., 2008), and the overall conclusion from the research in this area is that people with more developed moral reasoning or tax ethics are more likely to be compliant (Hofmann et al., 2008; Trivedi et al., 2003). 2.5 Satisfaction with the Tax Authorities Theoretical and empirical research indicates that dissatisfaction with the tax authorities is one of the reasons for non-compliance (Adams and Webley, 2001; Elffers, 1991; Hofmann et al., 2008; Webley et al., 2006). One way to look at this is based on efficiency, with research showing that people that think the tax system is inefficient are less likely to comply (Wearing and Heady, 1995). 2.6 Mental Accounting Finally, Adams and Webley (2001) and Webley et al. (2006) have found that the way in which business people see the VAT money they collect is an important factor in whetner they choose to comply with VAT laws or not and use the idea of ‘mental accounting’ (see to develop this point. According to Webley et al. (2006: 178): Mental accounting is often described as a psychological mechanism whereby income is framed†¦. in respect of personal finance †¦people have a number of mental accounts that operate independently of one another. What is interesting in the current context is whether business men and women psychologically separate monies owed to the VAT into a separate mental account from that of business turnover. If they do not, they may be more likely to try to evade VAT as a result of seeing it as ‘their’ money. The results of their research is that most of the business people saw the money collected as theirs and therefore disliked handing it over to HM Revenue and Customs. 2.7 Summary As noted in the Introduction, there has been little research on VAT compliance over the last three decades and this is reflected in the literature that has been reviewed here. However, brief review of the literature on VAT compliance, combined with the insights from the research on income tax compliance, indicates that businesses’ willingness to comply with VAT laws is influenced by sanctions, but also by a number of internal factors, important among which are perceptions of equity and their mental accounting. These five factors discussed will be used as starting points to investigate the issue as the literature search is extended over the next few months. 3.0Methodology Based on the research objectives outlined in the first section, secondary research was thought to be appropriate. Secondary research is the summary, collation, and/or synthesis of existing research (Robson, 2002). While secondary analysis is an important feature of the research and evaluation landscape, â€Å"few researchers consider the possibility of re-analysing data that have already been collected for some other purpose† (Saunders et al., 1997: 158). I initially considered undertaking a typical research strategy which would include the collection of data directly from one or more business owners and then its subsequent analysis using statistics. However, this did not seem the best manner in which to collect the evidence that was necessary primarily because time and monetary constraints meant that I would not be able to undertake research in several different types of businesses or on large samples of businesspeople. In constructing in method, a secondary information search strategy was put together with two main steps. The first step is to specify the data needs, which was empirical and theoretical articles dealing with VAT compliance. The second step includes specifying the data retrieval method. Both manual and electronic retrieval methods will be used. In the electronic search, two approaches will be used to locate relevant articles. First, a keyword search will be conducted, meaning that keywords relating to VAT evasion will be identified and then used in various search engines to locate relevant material. The next approach will be based on the previous searches, meaning that relevant material cited in the data sources already collected will be located and collected. Data will be presented using traditional narrative reviews, which use a narrative format to summarise the findings of primary studies on a coherent topic to attempt to draw conclusions or inform theory (Robson, 2002). There are two main limitations of this method. First, the research subject deals with matters that relate to contemporary issues and ay be restricted by deep-seated social, historic and regional biases. Second, the insufficiency of published information on VAT compliance in comparison to other more well-researched aspects of tax compliance are underlying limiting factors that restrict availability of requisite secondary information. This may result in the omission of significant information that may well have improved the research conclusions. References Adam, S. and Browne, J. (2009). A survey of theUKtax system. Institute of Fiscal Studies Briefing Note No. 9 [online]. Available at http://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn09.pdf [cited 17 March 2010]. Adams, C. and Webley, P. (1996). The role of economic and psychological variables in parking violations. Psychology, Crime and Law, 3: 111-133. Adams, C. and Webley, P. (2001). Small business owners’ attitudes on VAT compliance in the UK. Journal of Economic Psychology, 22 (2): 195-216. Agha, A. and Haughton, J. (1996). Designing VAT systems: Some efficiency considerations. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 78 (2): 303-308. Andreoni, J., Erard, B., and Feinstein, J. (1998). Tax compliance. Journal of Economic Literature, 36 (2): 818-860. Clotfelter, C. (1983). Tax evasion and tax rates: An analysis of individual returns. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 65 (3): 363-373. Cowell, F. (1992). Tax evasion and inequity. Journal of Economic Psychology, 13, 521- 543. Cullis, J. and Lewis, A. (1997). Why people pay taxes: From a conventional economic model to a model of social convention. Journal of Economic Psychology, 18 (2/3) 305-321. Davies, M. (2007). Doing a Successful Research Project. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. de Mello, L. (2009). Avoiding the Value Added Tax: Theory and cross-country evidence. Public Finance Review, 37 (1): 27-46. Elffers, H. (1991). Income Tax Evasion: Theory and Measurement. Amsterdam: Kluwer. Hessing, D. J., Elffers, H., Robben, H. S. J., and Webley, P. (1993). Needy or greedyThe social psychology of individuals who fraudulently claim unemployment benefits. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 23: 226-243. Hessing, D., Elffers, H., Robben, H., and Webley, P. (1992). Does deterrence deterMeasuring the effect of deterrence on tax compliance in field studies and experimental studies. In Slemrod, J. (ed.), Why People Pay Taxes: Tax Compliance and Enforcement (p. 291-305). Michigan: University of Michigan Press. HM Revenue and Customs (2010). VAT – change of the standard rate to 20 per cent: A detailed guide for vat-registered businesses. 22 June. Available online at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/forms-rates/rates/rate-rise-guidance.pdf [accessed 28 November 2010]. Hofmann, E., Hoelzl, E., and Kirchler, E. (2008). Preconditions of voluntary tax compliance: Knowledge and evaluation of taxation, norms, fairness, and motivation to cooperate. Journal of Psychology, 216 (4): 209-217. Kirchler, E. (2007). The Economic Psychology of Tax Behaviour. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Kirchler, E., Hoelzl, E., and Wahl, I. (2008). Enforced versus voluntary tax compliance: The ‘slippery slope’ framework. Journal of Economic Psychology, 29 (2): 210-225. Musgrave, R. (2002). Equity and the case for progressive taxation. In Thorndike, J. and Ventry, D. (eds.), Tax Justice: The Ongoing Debate (p. 9-24). Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press. Pommerehne, W. and Weck-Hannemann, H. (1996). Tax rates, tax administration, and income tax evasion in Switzerland. Public Choice, 88, (1/2): 161-70. Robson, C. (2002). Real World Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers. Oxford: Blackwell. Saunders, M., Lewis, P., and Thornhill, A. (1997). Research Methods for Business Students. London: Pitman Publishing. Slemrod, J. (2007). Cheating ourselves: The economics of tax evasion. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21 (1): 25-48. Trivedi, V., Shehata, M., and Lynn, B. (2003). Impact of personal and situational factors on taxpayer compliance: An experimental analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 47 (3): 175-197. Wearing, A. and Heady, B. (1995). The would-be tax evader: A profile. Paper presented at the Australian Tax Office Compliance Research Conference, Canberra, 1995. Webley, P. (2004). Tax compliance by businesses. In Sjogren, H. and Skogh, G. (eds.), New Perspectives on Economic Crime (p. 95-126). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Webley, P., Adams, C., and Elffers, H. (2006). Value Added Tax compliance. In McCaffery, E. and Slemrod, J. (eds.), Behavioural Public Finance (p. 175-205). New York, NY: Russell Age Foundation. Weigel, R., Hessing, D., and Elffers, H. (1998). Egoism: Concept, measurement, and implications for deviance. Psychology, Crime and Law, 5: 449-478. Wenzel, M. (2003). Tax compliance and the psychology of justice: Mapping the field. In Braithwaite, V. (ed.), Taxing Democracy: Understanding Tax Avoidance and Evasion (p. 41–69). Hants, UK: Ashgate Appendix The following diagram provides an indication of how it is intended to conduct the various stages of the development of this research project. —————————— Stages ——————————— Task1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Research design –– – – Planning–––– Literature review–––– Data collection––––– Data analysis––––– Dissertation production Draft––– Final–––– How to cite Sample Research Proposal: VAT Compliance in the UK, Essays

Sample Research Proposal VAT Compliance in the UK Free Essays

1.0 Introduction 1.1 Introduction Income tax, National Insurance contributions, and Value Added Tax (VAT) contribute approximately two-thirds to total tax revenue in the Uk (Adam and Browne, 2009). We will write a custom essay sample on Sample Research Proposal: VAT Compliance in the UK or any similar topic only for you Order Now VAT, which is a proportional tax paid on all sales, has become an important source of revenue in Britain, particularly as the government is under great pressures to raise revenue to ‘balance the budget’ (Adams and Webley, 2001). A business has to register for VAT when their taxable supplies in the last twelve month period surpass or are expected to surpass the current registration limit of ?70,000. The VAT is a flat rate scheme with a current rate of 17.5%, up from 15% (a rate which applicable from 01 December 2008 to 31 December 2009 as part of an economic stimulus package) (Adam and Browne, 2009). In addition to this flat tax that applies to the vast majority of goods and services purchased, there are a few items that are zero-rated, such as most foodstuff, exempt, such as health services and private education, and some with a lower rate of VAT (5%), such as baby car seats and domestic fuel and power (Adam and Browne, 2009). While items falling into these classes are not affected, the standard rate of VAT is set to increase to 20% from 4 January 2011. Investigators have found that small businesses people believe that the present rate of 17.5% is too high and promotes negative feelings towards VAT and full compliance (Adams and Webley, 2001). Given the increase in January 2010, what will be the impact on compliance ratesThis is an important issue, since research shows that VAT is more efficiently collected when VAT rates are low (de Mello, 2009). While the level of tax evasion in the UK has been found to be much smaller than in some other countries (Agha and Haughton (1996) reported evasion of 3% in the UK compared to 40% in Italy), even small amounts of evasion represent large losses in revenue. Still, there has been little research on VAT compliance over the last three decades, with research focusing mainly on income tax compliance (de Mello, 2009; Webly, 2004). I think that this is a very interesting and important topic of research because of the impending increase in the rate of VAT in the UK and the current paucity of research in this area. The lack of research on VAT in particular makes it difficult to assess the impact of the increase and so I think this is an area worth investigating more. 1.2Research Aims and Objectives The purpose of this study is to build on previous research into tax evasion in general, and VAT evasion in particular, to present a description of small businesses’ perspectives on VAT and related issues. The specific objectives of this research are: To describe small businesses’ perspectives on paying VAT and related issues, To investigate the degree to which social and psychological factors play an important role in evasion of VAT, and To investigate the possible impact of the increase in VAT on in evasion. This paper has two additional sections. The second section is the preliminary Literature Review, in which the research on VAT compliance and important social psychological factors is discussed. Section three details the Methodology, outlining how the research will be carried out. 2.0Preliminary Literature Review 2.1 Introduction People’s willingness to pay taxes depends on a range of variables. Economists tend to highlight the importance of the relevance of exogenous variables such as tax rate, income, and probability of detection and the level of sanctions, while psychological research demonstrates that endogenous variables are also significant, including taxpayers’ attitudes toward the government and taxation, personal norms, perceived efficiency and equity (Hofmann et al., 2008; Kirchler, 2007). In taking these together, Cullis and Lewis (1997: 320) terms this the ‘economic psychology approach,’ which combines the â€Å"positive approach the empirical world† with â€Å"the softer approach† in which people â€Å"comply with taxes for different reasons and †¦ the tax compliance problem is in part socially constructed.† Adams and Webley’s (2001) have undertaken research specifically investigating VAT compliance and uncovered fifteen main concepts falling into five key themes that they thought to be relevant. Of the five major themes, four were recurrent in previous research on income tax compliance research: equity, attitudes toward taxation and tax authorities, sanctions, and personality/morality. The fifth theme they highlighted was ‘mental accounting,’ which they note is a recognised psychological construct but has not previously been applied in the area of tax compliance. This five-factor model was echoed in Webley et al. (2006), who extended the research undertaken by Adams and Webley (2001) and found that mental accounting and equity were particularly important factors affecting VAT compliance. These five factors are briefly discussed here. 2.2 Sanctions and Punishments In economics, the basic theory of tax evasion is an application of the theory of choice under uncertainty (Clotfelter, 1983). In the standard approach to tax evasion, a risk-averse individual chooses either the amount or the share of income to be concealed so as to maximise her expected utility of income, considering (1) the probability of detection, (2) the penalty tax rate applied when tax evasion is detected, (3) the marginal tax rate, and (4) the level of true income (Pommerehne and Weck-Hannemann, 1996). Thus, the problem a person has to tackle is whether or not to evade some part of her legal tax liability given that there is a probability of being caught if she decides to be non-compliant. Therefore, economic models focus on the role of penalties and audits, with economists theorising that greater penalties and audit probabilities should increase compliance (Slemrod, 2007). Empirical research indicates that both penalties and audits can lead to greater compliance (Andreoni et al., 1998), although higher penalties have been shown to be less of a deterrent than higher audit probabilities (Hessing et al., 1992). 2.3 Equity At the centre of tax policy are concepts of equity (fairness) as the perceived fairness of a tax system has been found to be is essential to its acceptability and smooth functioning (Adams and Webley, 2001; Hofmann et al., 2008). This ‘first, basic rule of taxation’ is based on Adam Smith’s first maxim of a good tax, which reads: The subjects of every State ought to contribute towards the support of the government as nearly as possible in proportion to their respective abilities – that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the State (as cited in Musgrave, 2002: 10). Wenzel (2003) discusses three types of fairness that are applicable in this area. Distributive justice deals with the fair exchange of resources, benefits, and costs, procedural justice deals with the issue of tax collection and resource distribution, while retributive justice deals with the perceived fairness of audit and punishment as discussed above. Overall, research demonstrates that, where taxpayers feel there is a disparity in the exchange relationship, it is more likely that people will be non-complaint in order to offset or reduce the perceived inequity (Cowell, 1992). In recent work by Webley and colleagues on VAT and small businesses (Adams and Webley, 2001; Webley et al., 2004) the idea that small businesses especially are unfairly treated in the current system was a frequent theme. 2.4 Personality/Morality In their research, Adams and Webley (2001) discuss the impact of egoism on compliance behaviour. They draw on research by Weigel et al. (1998) indicating that people that have egoistic tendencies are more likely to break rules when these rules are not in their personal self-interest and thus are more likely to try to avoid paying taxes. This idea is supported by research showing that egoism is a good indicator of the individual’s propensity to evade income taxes (Elffers, 1991), engage in benefits fraud (Hessing et al., 1993), and incur parking violations (Adams and Webley, 1996). Researchers have also outlined other important norms that may be important in influencing tax compliance, such as authoritarianism and Machiavellianism (Kirchler et al., 2008), and the overall conclusion from the research in this area is that people with more developed moral reasoning or tax ethics are more likely to be compliant (Hofmann et al., 2008; Trivedi et al., 2003). 2.5 Satisfaction with the Tax Authorities Theoretical and empirical research indicates that dissatisfaction with the tax authorities is one of the reasons for non-compliance (Adams and Webley, 2001; Elffers, 1991; Hofmann et al., 2008; Webley et al., 2006). One way to look at this is based on efficiency, with research showing that people that think the tax system is inefficient are less likely to comply (Wearing and Heady, 1995). 2.6 Mental Accounting Finally, Adams and Webley (2001) and Webley et al. (2006) have found that the way in which business people see the VAT money they collect is an important factor in whetner they choose to comply with VAT laws or not and use the idea of ‘mental accounting’ (see to develop this point. According to Webley et al. (2006: 178): Mental accounting is often described as a psychological mechanism whereby income is framed†¦. in respect of personal finance †¦people have a number of mental accounts that operate independently of one another. What is interesting in the current context is whether business men and women psychologically separate monies owed to the VAT into a separate mental account from that of business turnover. If they do not, they may be more likely to try to evade VAT as a result of seeing it as ‘their’ money. The results of their research is that most of the business people saw the money collected as theirs and therefore disliked handing it over to HM Revenue and Customs. 2.7 Summary As noted in the Introduction, there has been little research on VAT compliance over the last three decades and this is reflected in the literature that has been reviewed here. However, brief review of the literature on VAT compliance, combined with the insights from the research on income tax compliance, indicates that businesses’ willingness to comply with VAT laws is influenced by sanctions, but also by a number of internal factors, important among which are perceptions of equity and their mental accounting. These five factors discussed will be used as starting points to investigate the issue as the literature search is extended over the next few months. 3.0Methodology Based on the research objectives outlined in the first section, secondary research was thought to be appropriate. Secondary research is the summary, collation, and/or synthesis of existing research (Robson, 2002). While secondary analysis is an important feature of the research and evaluation landscape, â€Å"few researchers consider the possibility of re-analysing data that have already been collected for some other purpose† (Saunders et al., 1997: 158). I initially considered undertaking a typical research strategy which would include the collection of data directly from one or more business owners and then its subsequent analysis using statistics. However, this did not seem the best manner in which to collect the evidence that was necessary primarily because time and monetary constraints meant that I would not be able to undertake research in several different types of businesses or on large samples of businesspeople. In constructing in method, a secondary information search strategy was put together with two main steps. The first step is to specify the data needs, which was empirical and theoretical articles dealing with VAT compliance. The second step includes specifying the data retrieval method. Both manual and electronic retrieval methods will be used. In the electronic search, two approaches will be used to locate relevant articles. First, a keyword search will be conducted, meaning that keywords relating to VAT evasion will be identified and then used in various search engines to locate relevant material. The next approach will be based on the previous searches, meaning that relevant material cited in the data sources already collected will be located and collected. Data will be presented using traditional narrative reviews, which use a narrative format to summarise the findings of primary studies on a coherent topic to attempt to draw conclusions or inform theory (Robson, 2002). There are two main limitations of this method. First, the research subject deals with matters that relate to contemporary issues and ay be restricted by deep-seated social, historic and regional biases. Second, the insufficiency of published information on VAT compliance in comparison to other more well-researched aspects of tax compliance are underlying limiting factors that restrict availability of requisite secondary information. This may result in the omission of significant information that may well have improved the research conclusions. References Adam, S. and Browne, J. (2009). A survey of theUKtax system. Institute of Fiscal Studies Briefing Note No. 9 [online]. Available at http://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn09.pdf [cited 17 March 2010]. Adams, C. and Webley, P. (1996). The role of economic and psychological variables in parking violations. Psychology, Crime and Law, 3: 111-133. Adams, C. and Webley, P. (2001). Small business owners’ attitudes on VAT compliance in the UK. Journal of Economic Psychology, 22 (2): 195-216. Agha, A. and Haughton, J. (1996). Designing VAT systems: Some efficiency considerations. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 78 (2): 303-308. Andreoni, J., Erard, B., and Feinstein, J. (1998). Tax compliance. Journal of Economic Literature, 36 (2): 818-860. Clotfelter, C. (1983). Tax evasion and tax rates: An analysis of individual returns. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 65 (3): 363-373. Cowell, F. (1992). Tax evasion and inequity. Journal of Economic Psychology, 13, 521- 543. Cullis, J. and Lewis, A. (1997). Why people pay taxes: From a conventional economic model to a model of social convention. Journal of Economic Psychology, 18 (2/3) 305-321. Davies, M. (2007). Doing a Successful Research Project. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. de Mello, L. (2009). Avoiding the Value Added Tax: Theory and cross-country evidence. Public Finance Review, 37 (1): 27-46. Elffers, H. (1991). Income Tax Evasion: Theory and Measurement. Amsterdam: Kluwer. Hessing, D. J., Elffers, H., Robben, H. S. J., and Webley, P. (1993). Needy or greedyThe social psychology of individuals who fraudulently claim unemployment benefits. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 23: 226-243. Hessing, D., Elffers, H., Robben, H., and Webley, P. (1992). Does deterrence deterMeasuring the effect of deterrence on tax compliance in field studies and experimental studies. In Slemrod, J. (ed.), Why People Pay Taxes: Tax Compliance and Enforcement (p. 291-305). Michigan: University of Michigan Press. HM Revenue and Customs (2010). VAT – change of the standard rate to 20 per cent: A detailed guide for vat-registered businesses. 22 June. Available online at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/forms-rates/rates/rate-rise-guidance.pdf [accessed 28 November 2010]. Hofmann, E., Hoelzl, E., and Kirchler, E. (2008). Preconditions of voluntary tax compliance: Knowledge and evaluation of taxation, norms, fairness, and motivation to cooperate. Journal of Psychology, 216 (4): 209-217. Kirchler, E. (2007). The Economic Psychology of Tax Behaviour. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Kirchler, E., Hoelzl, E., and Wahl, I. (2008). Enforced versus voluntary tax compliance: The ‘slippery slope’ framework. Journal of Economic Psychology, 29 (2): 210-225. Musgrave, R. (2002). Equity and the case for progressive taxation. In Thorndike, J. and Ventry, D. (eds.), Tax Justice: The Ongoing Debate (p. 9-24). Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press. Pommerehne, W. and Weck-Hannemann, H. (1996). Tax rates, tax administration, and income tax evasion in Switzerland. Public Choice, 88, (1/2): 161-70. Robson, C. (2002). Real World Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers. Oxford: Blackwell. Saunders, M., Lewis, P., and Thornhill, A. (1997). Research Methods for Business Students. London: Pitman Publishing. Slemrod, J. (2007). Cheating ourselves: The economics of tax evasion. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21 (1): 25-48. Trivedi, V., Shehata, M., and Lynn, B. (2003). Impact of personal and situational factors on taxpayer compliance: An experimental analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 47 (3): 175-197. Wearing, A. and Heady, B. (1995). The would-be tax evader: A profile. Paper presented at the Australian Tax Office Compliance Research Conference, Canberra, 1995. Webley, P. (2004). Tax compliance by businesses. In Sjogren, H. and Skogh, G. (eds.), New Perspectives on Economic Crime (p. 95-126). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Webley, P., Adams, C., and Elffers, H. (2006). Value Added Tax compliance. In McCaffery, E. and Slemrod, J. (eds.), Behavioural Public Finance (p. 175-205). New York, NY: Russell Age Foundation. Weigel, R., Hessing, D., and Elffers, H. (1998). Egoism: Concept, measurement, and implications for deviance. Psychology, Crime and Law, 5: 449-478. Wenzel, M. (2003). Tax compliance and the psychology of justice: Mapping the field. In Braithwaite, V. (ed.), Taxing Democracy: Understanding Tax Avoidance and Evasion (p. 41–69). Hants, UK: Ashgate Appendix The following diagram provides an indication of how it is intended to conduct the various stages of the development of this research project. —————————— Stages ——————————— Task1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Research design –– – – Planning–––– Literature review–––– Data collection––––– Data analysis––––– Dissertation production Draft––– Final–––– How to cite Sample Research Proposal: VAT Compliance in the UK, Essays

US Government History Essays - United States,

US Government History In this essay I will give a short history of the government in United States of America (U.S.). Then I will describe each of the three branches of government in the U.S. and the relationship between them. In principle, the U.S. is a democratic republic, they govern themselves by choosing their leaders by secret ballot, and these leaders in turn make the rules. Americans started "governing themselves" as a nation on July 4th, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia by representatives of the thirteen British colonies in North America. These states joined together formally in 1781 under a first "constitution," the Articles of Confederation. That loose union of the states was replaced by the Constitution of the U.S. in 1789. This document (amended 26 times) is still the political foundation of the U.S. Being based on a written constitution, the U.S. government is committed in principle to the rule of law. To guarantee the rights of free speech, a free press, freedom of religion etc. the first ten amendments, called the "Bill of Rights" were adopted in 1791. There are three levels of government in the U.S. Local government (city/county), state government, and federal government. Here I will pay most attention to the federal government. Many of the concepts of the U.S. government can be traced to progressive thinkers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, e.g. Locke, Spinoza, Blackstone, and Montesquiueu. Out of some of their thoughts the U.S. government system with the three branches were made: A legislative branch (Congress), an Executive branch (President), and a judicial branch (Supreme Court). The Constitution is most of all a document of checks and balances: among the three branches of the federal government; and between the levels of government, nation and state. The legislative branch (Congress) that has the power to make laws valid for the whole country. Powers like the regulation of taxes, regulation of commerce between the states and with foreign countries, the power to declare war, and the power to impeach the President are some of the other matters the legislative branch have to deal with. Congress has two chambers (or "houses"): the Senate and the House of Representatives ("the house"). The Senate consists of one hundred senators: Two senators from each of the fifty states. The senators serve for six-year terms. One third are elected every two years. The Senate's area of responsibility consists of to approve major presidential appointments, and approve major foreign policy steps. The House of Representatives has their 435 members (called "congress-men/women/people/persons") chosen from districts (the U.S. is divided into 435 districts containing some five hundred thousand inhabitants). The districts are reapportioned every ten years. The representatives serve in two-year terms, and all of them are elected every two years. All tax legislation must start in the House. Executive power is vested in the office of the President of the U.S. The President has the dual role of being the chief of state and the head of government. The President is also commander in chief of the armed forces; he issues executive orders, and appoints Supreme Court justices (with senate approval). The president is also called "the chief legislator" because he/she indirectly proposes many bills, considers all bills from Congress and signs them into law or vetoes them. The President is elected by "the whole country" for four years. He/she is assisted by the Cabinet and its departments, the White House staff, and some independent administrative agencies. The Supreme Court: "The Judicial power of the U.S. shall be vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress from time to time may ordain an establish."(The Constitution states). All nine federal judges are appointed by the President and serve "during good behaviour," usually meaning for life. The judges cannot be removed from office except for criminal behaviour or malfeasance. This makes them less vulnerable to political pressure than they would be if they had to depend upon politicians or the voters for new mandates. The main feature of the independent role for the courts lies in their power to interpret the Constitution. They review the "constitutionality" of laws and executive orders. The number of justices is decided by Congress, and they can be impeached by congress. There are also Inferior Courts: One hundred District Courts and thirteen Courts of Appeals, all of them are created by Congress, with judges appointed by the President (with Senate approval). All federal courts hear cases involving federal law, involving state laws whose constitutionally is changed, involving the U.S., involving two separate states, and

marx and marxism essays

marx and marxism essays 2. First noted by John Locke in his Second Treatise on Government, labor is a source of value. Stated simply, the work a person does is worth money or a wage. This is a fundamental, arguably the fundamental principle, in the capitalist economic system. Most critics of the system argue capitalism exploits the worker because he is not paid and cannot be paid the full value of his labor, because this is the profit for the capitalist or employer. In describing a utopian capitalist world, Robert Heilbroner writes, The laborer who contracts to work can ask only for a wage that is his due. What that wage will be depends . . . on the amount of labor time it takes to keep a man alive. (157) However, for profit to exist for the capitalist or employer, the worker must work for longer than just his subsistence for the same wage. This, what Marx calls, surplus value, is the profit. However, what I have just described is the utopia of capitalism, at least for the worker and leads into what may be the single worst consequence of the failure of government regulation during early capitalism and today, a failure to regulate the workday and enforce a living wage. A living wage, most simply, is a wage that allows a person to support themselves and their family. The text How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis will serve as evidence of the consequences of lack regulation of the wages and the workday in early capitalism, as well as help to demonstrate how the same reality exists today for many. he has done what he could with merciless severity where he could to smother every symptom of wakening intelligence in his slaves. In this effort to perpetuate his despotism he has had the effectual assistance of his own system and the sharp competition that keep the men on starvation wages (140) Riis description of an early capitalist, the sweater of Jewtown th ...

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway Review

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway Review The Old Man and the Sea was a big success for Ernest Hemingway when it was published in 1952. At first glance, the story appears to be a simple tale of an old Cuban fisherman who catches an enormous fish, only to lose it. Theres much more to the  story a tale of  bravery and heroism, of one mans struggle against his own doubts, the elements, a massive fish, sharks and even his desire to give up. The old man eventually succeeds, then fails, and then wins again. Its the story of perseverance and the machismo of the old man against the elements. This slim novella its only 127 pages   helped to revive Hemingways reputation as a writer, winning him great acclaim, including the Nobel Prize for literature.   Overview Santiago is an old man and a fisherman who has gone for months without catching a fish. Many are starting to doubt his abilities as an angler. Even his apprentice, Manolin, has abandoned him and gone to work for a more prosperous boat. The old man sets out to the open sea one day off the Florida coast and goes a little farther out than he normally would in his desperation to catch a fish. Sure enough, at noon, a big marlin takes hold of one of the lines, but the fish is far too big for Santiago to handle. To avoid letting the fish escape, Santiago lets the line go slack so that the fish wont break his pole; but he and his boat are dragged out to sea for three days. A kind of kinship and honor  develop between the fish and the man.  Finally, the fish an enormous and worthy opponent grows tired, and Santiago kills it. This victory does not end Santiagos journey; he is still far out to sea. Santiago has to drag the marlin behind the boat, and the blood from the dead fish attracts sharks.Santiago does his best to fend off the sharks, but his efforts are in vain. The sharks eat the flesh of the marlin, and Santiago is left with only the bones. Santiago gets back to shore weary and tired with nothing to show for his pains but the skeletal remains of a large marlin. Even with just the bare remains of the fish, the experience has changed him  and altered the perception others have of him. Manolin wakes the old man the morning after his return and suggests that they once again fish t ogether. Life and Death During his struggle to catch the fish, Santiago holds on to the rope even though he is cut and bruised by it, even though he wants to sleep and eat. He holds onto the rope as though his life depends on it. In these scenes of struggle, Hemingway brings to the fore the power and masculinity of a simple man in a simple habitat. He demonstrates how heroism is possible in even the most seemingly mundane circumstances. Hemingways novella shows how death can invigorate life, how killing and death can bring a man to an understanding of his own mortality and his own power to overcome it.  Hemingway  writes of a time when fishing was not merely a business or a sport. Instead, fishing was an expression of humankind in its natural state in tune with nature. Enormous stamina and power  arose  in the breast of Santiago. The simple fisherman became a classical hero in his epic struggle.

Explanation Of Two Financial Giant Merger Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Explanation Of Two Financial Giant Merger - Essay Example It is apparent that due to increased local and international stiff competition in the banking sector, many organizations have resorted to mergers. Nevertheless, these merges have to be well planned for and articulated in a manner that would lay a firm foundation for the newly formed organization to maintain competitive advantage (Yates 7). One of such things that must be considered is the applicability of information system. With online banking services being on the increase, banks are very sensitive on how they engage in information system in order to retain and attract new customers. The case of merger between Wells Fargo and Wachovia is no exceptional to the importance of prioritizing on integration of information system in their merger. In fact, having been familiar with purchasing and merging smaller banks and failing institutions especially in 2006, just before the merger with Wachovia took place, Wells Fargo is cited to have had been successful and had steady increase in stock value. In this regard, for such an achievement to take place, information system plays an important role in enhancing the success.... In light of this, it was crucial for the two firms to integrate information system in their merger in order to strengthen their approach on information system matters. Perhaps, one of the firms could have a workforce with proficient information system, but lacking personnel to propel such knowledge to a higher notch while the other could be having ideas of propelling such ideas, but lacking people to propel them. In such a case, integrating information system in the merger would have created a strong information system (Prakken 7). 2. It is apparent that although integration of information system in the merger was crucial and enabled the merger to be successful, difficulties were noted by the two firms. For instance, after being successful in most of its mergers before the merger acquisition of Wachovia, Wells Fargo had been successful in these mergers. The firm was well aware of the challenges of such a merge especially with a firm recording decrease in stock value. In essence, it i s evident when a firm is recording decrease in stock value, either it’s IT or the human resource or both could be less functional. In this regard, there was a challenge of incorporating the information system of Wachovia. This is because it could have been the one that led to decrease in its stock value. However, although there could be some aspects of it that was significant, the effort to identify and incorporate such aspects in the new merger could have been difficult as well. On the other hand, human resource that manages the information is system is very important. Therefore, if the Wachovia’s human resource was incompetent and probably leads to the downfall of the firm, then it is apparent that there were difficulties in incorporating it into the

Quantitative Analysis for Managers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Quantitative Analysis for Managers - Essay Example This essay describes an allocation of manufacturing overheads and explaines it using an examples. This essay responses to the request for the analyses of the allocation of manufacturing overheads related to two our products. A comprehensive report detailing the allocation basis and possibilities of our two products Rona Loa coffee and Colombian coffee along with their related implications and recommendations are provided for your study. Using activity based costing as the basis for assigning manufacturing overhead cost to products, the researcher established the total amount of manufacturing overhead cost assigned to the Rona Loa coffee and to the Colombian coffee for the year amounts to  £32,900 AND  £7,300 respectively. The amount of manufacturing overhead cost per kilo of the Rona Loa coffee and the Colombian coffee amounts to  £0.33  £3.65 respectively. The unit product cost of one kilo of the Rona Loa coffee and one kilo of the Colombian coffee amounts to  £4.83  £7. 15 respectively. The researcher also calculated costing as the basis for assigning manufacturing overhead cost to products, the total amount of manufacturing overhead cost assigned to the Rona Loa coffee and to the Colombian coffee for the year amounts to  £32,900 AND  £7,300 respectively. For detailed working regarding the calculation of these amounts please refer Appendix A and B. It also provides the reader with the detailed statistics tables and results.... Traditional costing systems therefore can result in significant under-costing and over-costing. However, traditional costing systems are simpler and easier to implement than ABC systems. The use of such a rate enables us to determine the approximate total cost of each job when completed. In recent years increased automation in manufacturing operations has resulted in a trend towards machine hours as the activity base in the calculation. It is believed fluctuations in product costs serve no useful purpose. To avoid such fluctuations, actual overhead rates could be computed on an annual or less-frequent basis. However, if the overhead rate is computed annually based on the actual costs and activity for the year, the manufacturing overhead assigned to any particular job would not be known until the end of the year. Simplistic overhead allocations using a declining labour base cannot be justified, particularly when information processing cost are no longer a barrier to introducing more s ophisticated cost systems (Drury 2004). ABC provides a way to allocate costs more accurately when overhead costs are not incurred at the same rate as direct labor hours. Using ABC means that all the individual activities that are part of a process can be accurately costed. For example in case of our entity it will be possible to accurately determine the cost of each activity involved in processing a coffee from input to final packaging. In this way it will be easy to identify the most and least expensive parts of the process. Process improvement activity could then focus on the most expensive parts of the process. A model could then be constructed showing a comparison between the existing process costs and the redesigned process and its associated costs.