Is the Spanish Inheritance and Gift Tax incompatible with the free movement of workers and capital?: The reasoned opinion of the EU Commission IP/10/513

The aim of my speech is answering to the question if the Spanish Inheritance and Gift Tax is incompatible with the free movement of workers and capital. We are going to pay special attention to the European Commission’s request to Spain to change its Inheritance and Gift Tax provisions for Non-Residents or Assets held abroad. In order to answer to the question mentioned above five points will be explained. At first place I am going to describe the infrengement procedure established in the Article 258 that the EU Commission can follow when a Member State doesn’t comply with Community Law. At second place, we are going to explain what is the content of the EU Commission delivered on 5th of may 2010 regarding the spanish Inheritance and Gift Tax. Then, we will analise what establishes the Community Law regarding the freedom of workers and capital and how they are understood by the EU Court of Justice in similar cases. Finally, we are going to provide possible amendments that Spain could undertake.

On estimation and identifiability issues of sex-linked inheritance with a case study of pigmentation in Swiss barn owl (Tyto alba)

Genetic evaluation using animal models or pedigree-based models generally assume only autosomal inheritance. Bayesian animal models provide a flexible framework for genetic evaluation, and we show how the model readily can accommodate situations where the trait of interest is influenced by both autosomal and sex-linked inheritance. This allows for simultaneous calculation of autosomal and sex-chromosomal additive genetic effects. Inferences were performed using integrated nested Laplace approximations (INLA), a nonsampling-based Bayesian inference methodology. We provide a detailed description of how to calculate the inverse of the X- or Z-chromosomal additive genetic relationship matrix, needed for inference. The case study of eumelanic spot diameter in a Swiss barn owl (Tyto alba) population shows that this trait is substantially influenced by variation in genes on the Z-chromosome (sigma(2)(z) = 0.2719 and sigma(2)(a) = 0.4405). Further, a simulation study for this study system shows that the animal model accounting for both autosomal and sex-chromosome-linked inheritance is identifiable, that is, the two effects can be distinguished, and provides accurate inference on the variance components.

Comprehensive analysis of Arabidopsis expression level polymorphisms with simple inheritance.

In Arabidopsis thaliana, gene expression level polymorphisms (ELPs) between natural accessions that exhibit simple, single locus inheritance are promising quantitative trait locus (QTL) candidates to explain phenotypic variability. It is assumed that such ELPs overwhelmingly represent regulatory element polymorphisms. However, comprehensive genome-wide analyses linking expression level, regulatory sequence and gene structure variation are missing, preventing definite verification of this assumption. Here, we analyzed ELPs observed between the Eil-0 and Lc-0 accessions. Compared with non-variable controls, 5' regulatory sequence variation in the corresponding genes is indeed increased. However, approximately 42% of all the ELP genes also carry major transcription unit deletions in one parent as revealed by genome tiling arrays, representing a >4-fold enrichment over controls. Within the subset of ELPs with simple inheritance, this proportion is even higher and deletions are generally more severe. Similar results were obtained from analyses of the Bay-0 and Sha accessions, using alternative technical approaches. Collectively, our results suggest that drastic structural changes are a major cause for ELPs with simple inheritance, corroborating experimentally observed indel preponderance in cloned Arabidopsis QTL.

Prescription footwear for severe injuries of foot and ankle: effect on regularity and symmetry of the gait assessed by trunk accelerometry.

After foot and/or ankle fracture, the restoration of optimal gait symmetry is one of the criteria of recovery. Orthotic insoles and orthopaedic shoes improve gait symmetry and regularity by controlling joint motion and improving alignment. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of prescription footwear on gait quality by using accelerometers attached to the lower back. Sixteen adult patients with persistent disability after ankle and/or foot fractures performed two 30-s walking trials with and without prescription footwear (insoles and stabilizing shoes). Sixteen control subjects were also tested for comparison. The autocorrelation function was computed from the acceleration signal and the first two dominant periods were assessed (d1 and d2). Two parameters were used: (1) Stride Regularity (SR) which expresses the similarity between strides over time (d2), and (2) Stride Symmetry (SS) a ratio (d1/d2) which expresses the left/right similarity of gait independently of repeatability in the successive movements of each limb. In control subjects, SR and SS were 0.86+/-0.05 (correlation coefficient) and 81+/-10%, respectively. In the patient group, the effect of footwear was significant (SR: 0.88+/-0.06 vs. 0.90+/-0.05, SS: 38+/-23% vs. 46+/-27%). Pain was also significantly reduced (-34%). By using a rapid and low-cost method, we objectively quantified gait quality improvement after footwear intervention, concomitant to pain reduction. Substantial inter-patient variability in the footwear outcome was observed. In conclusion, we believe that trunk accelerometry can be a useful tool in the field of gait rehabilitation.

On the existence of doubling measures with certain regularity properties

Given a compact pseudo-metric space, we associate to it upper and lower dimensions, depending only on the pseudo-metric. Then we construct a doubling measure for which the measure of a dilated ball is closely related to these dimensions.

Alleged Tax Competition: The Mysterious Death of Inheritance Taxes in Switzerland

Interjurisdictional competition over mobile tax bases is an easily understood mechanism, but actual tax-base elasticities are difficult to estimate. Political pressure for reducing tax rates could therefore be based on erroneous estimates of the mobility of tax bases. We show that tax competition provided the overwhelmingly dominant argument in the policy debates leading to a succession of reforms of bequest taxation by Swiss cantons. Yet, we find only very weak statistical evidence of a relationship between tax burdens on bequests and the concerned tax base of wealthy elderly individuals. Moreover, inheritance tax revenues are found to increase in inheritance tax rates even in the long run, and actual tax rates lie well below the revenue-maximising levels throughout. The alleged pressures of tax competition did not seem in reality to exist.

Regularity and counterfactuality in Hume's treatment of causation

Of the several theories of causation current in our days, Hume is said to be the inspiration of two of the most influential and accepted: the regularity theory, first clearly formulated by Thomas Brown in 1822, and the counterfactual theory, proposed by David Lewis in 1973. After a brief outline of the comparative merits and difficulties of these two views, I proceed to examine whether Hume's own treatment of causation actually corresponds to any of them. I will show that his first definition of cause, coupled with his rules by which to judge about causes and effects, contains elements that, properly developed, allow us to address successfully some traditional difficulties of the regularity view of causation, without resorting to the conceptual resources employed in the counterfactual approach. Therefore, we can properly classify Hume as an advocate of the conception of causation as regularity, noting however that his primary goal in his research and definitions of the concept was to provide not so much an analysis of causation as such, but of causation as we apprehend it, in the form of our ability to make causal inferences and refine them to reach the more sophisticated causal reasonings that are required in the theoretical and practical issues of life.

Nongenetic inheritance, linguistic competence, prenatal experience and behavior manipulation: recent contributions from behavioral neurobiology and neuropsychology to the explanation of behavior

This article gives an overview of presuppositions and explanations posed by behaviorist psychology (particularly its radical branch), cognitive–nativist sciences (i.e. psycholinguistics and a branch of cognitive psychology) and other disciplines regarding important psychological events such as anxiety, stress, fear, mood states and language. In relation to the discussion of environment versus genetics, contributions from behavioral neurobiology and neuropsychology are added, showing evidence of traits that can be multigenerationally inherited in a non-genetic way, which have an impact thought the life of organisms and on their way of interacting with the environment; ways in which behavior can be altered by recently unsuspected environmental agents or events, and the overlooked role of prenatal experiences in the explanation of behavior. The evidence calls into question presuppositions made by the academic disciplines listed above, and suggests alternative behavior reinterpretations and explanations

Safeguarding inheritance and enhancing the resilience of orphaned young people living in child- and youth-headed households in Tanzania and Uganda

This paper explores the resilience of orphaned young people in safeguarding the physical assets (land and property) that they inherited from their parents and in sustaining their households without a co-resident adult relative. Drawing on the concept of resilience and the sustainable livelihoods framework, this paper analyses the findings of an exploratory study conducted with 15 orphaned young people heading households,18 of their siblings and 39 NGO workers and community members in Tanzania and Uganda. The research suggests that inherited land and property represent key determining factors in the formation and viability of child- and youth-headed households in both rural and urban areas. Despite experiences of stigma and marginalisation in the community, social networks were crucial in enabling young people to protect themselves and their property, in providing access to material and emotional resources and in enhancing their skills and capabilities to develop sustainable livelihoods. Support for child- and youth-headed households needs to recognise young people's agency and adopt a holistic approach to their lives that analyses the physical assets, material resources, human and social capital available to the household, as well as individual young people's wellbeing, outlook and aspirations. Alongside cash transfers and material support, youth-led collective mobilisation that is sustained over time may also help to build resilience and foster more supportive social environments that challenge property grabbing and the stigmatisation of child- and youth-headed households.