Juridical double taxation by cross border transactions: the Block Case (C-67/08)

Treaty Establishing the European Community, operative until December 1st 2009, had already established in its article 2 the mission of the up until then European Community and actual European Union is to promote an harmonious, equilibrated and sustainable development of the economic activities of the whole Community. This Mission must be achieved by establishing a Common Market, an Economic and Monetary Union and the realization of Common Policies. One of the instruments to obtain these objectives is the use of free circulation of people, services and capitals inside the Common and Interior Market of the European Union. The European Union is characterized by the confirmation of the total movement of capitals, services and individuals and legal peoples’ freedom; freedom that was already predicated by the Maastricht Treaty, through the suppression of whatever obstacles which are in the way of the objectives before exposed. The old TEC in its Title III, now Title IV of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, covered the free circulation of people, services and capitals. Consequently, the inclusion of this mechanism inside one of the regulating texts of the European Union indicates the importance this freedom supposes for the European Union objectives’ development. Once stood up the relevance of the free movement of people, services and capitals, we must mention that in this paper we are going to centre our study in one of these freedoms of movement: the free movement of capital. In order to analyze in detail the free movement of capital within the European framework, we are going to depart from the analysis of the existent case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The use of jurisprudence is basic to know how Community legislation is interpreted. For this reason, we are going to develop this work through judgements dictated by the European Union Court. This way we can observe how Member States’ regulating laws and the European Common Law affect the free movement of capital. The starting point of this paper will be the Judgement C-67/08 European Court of Justice of February 12th 2009, known as Block case. So, following the argumentation the Luxemburg Court did about the mentioned case, we are going to develop how free movement of capital could be affected by the current disparity of Member States’ legislation. This disparity can produce double taxation cases due to the lack of tax harmonized legislation within the interior market and the lack of treaties to avoid double taxation within the European Union. Developing this idea we are going to see how double taxation, at least indirectly, can infringe free movement of capital.

Jurisdictional immunity in tax haven countries

El següent projecte conté informació sobre què són els paradisos fiscals, els seus avantatges, i on s'ubiquen. També s'analitza el procés que algú ha de seguir per anar a un paradís fiscal i avalua com la gent rica i les grans empreses operen els seus negocis a través dels paradisos fiscals i prenen avantatge d'ells reduint les seves obligacions fiscals de manera significativa. El projecte també considera la qüestió del secret bancari, que ha estat un gran conflicte entre els països en els darrers anys.

Prohibició de submissió a nou judici - regla del ne bis in idem - en el sistema interamericà de drets humans i en el dret comparat

Aquest article tracta el tema del “ne bis in idem” com a garantia processal penal del sistema interamericà de protecció dels drets humans. Tot fent referència als casos portats a la Cort Inteamericana de Drets Humans, s’hi presenten algunes consideracions que s’han tingut en compte a l’hora de flexibilitzar-ne el principi. Aquesta garantia es compara amb el sistema del “double jeopardy” de la common law. Així mateix, es compara també amb altres sistemes de protecció dels drets humans, com l’europeu, el del Tribunal Penal Internacional i el del Pacte de Drets Civils i Polítics de les Nacions Unides. Per concloure, es destaca la importància de l’harmonització de les garanties del procés penal en relació amb la discussió de conflictes jurisdiccionals. Aquest text és fruit de les reflexions debatudes Durand el curs de postgrau de la Facultat de Dret de la Universitat de São Paulo, “As Garantias do Processo Penal no Sistema Interamericano de Direitos Humanos”, 2008.

Prohibición de sumisión a nuevo juicio - regla del ne bis in idem - en el sistema interamericano de derechos humanos y en el derecho comparado

Este artículo trata el tema del ne bis in idem como garantía procesal penal dentro del sistema interamericano de protección de los derechos humanos. Haciendo referencia a los casos llevados ante la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, se presentan algunas reflexiones que fueron tomadas en consideración para la flexibilización del principio. Esta garantía se compara con el sistema del “double jeopardy” de la common law. Asimismo, se compara también con otros sistemas de protección de los derechos humanos, como el europeo, el del Tribunal Penal Internacional y el del Pacto de Derechos Civiles y Políticos de las Naciones Unidas. Finalmente, se destaca la importancia de la armonización de garantías del proceso penal en la discusión de conflictos jurisdiccionales. Este texto es producto de las reflexiones debatidas en el curso de postgrado de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de São Paulo, “As Garantias do Processo Penal no Sistema Interamericano de Direitos Humanos”, 2008.

Tax Coordination Between Regions in Spain - Role of the Courts

Análisis de la jurisprudencia constitucional española sobre la distribución de competencias tributarias entre los distintos niveles de gobierno.

Did the cooperative start life as a Joint-Stock company? business law and cooperatives in Spain, 1869–1931

Studies of Spanish cooperatives date their spread from the Law on Agrarian Syndicates of 1906. But the first legislative appearance of cooperatives is an 1869 measure that permitted general incorporation for lending companies. The 1931 general law on cooperatives, which was the first act permitting the formation of cooperatives in any activity, reflects the gradual disappearance of the cooperative’s "business" characteristics. In this paper we trace the Spanish cooperative’s legal roots in business law and its connections to broader questions of the freedom of association, the formation of joint-stock enterprises, and the liability of investors in business and cooperative entities. Our account underscores the similarities of the organizational problems approach by cooperatives and business firms, while at the same time respecting the distinctive purposes cooperatives served.

The size of the underground economy in Germany: A correction of the record and new evidence from the Modified-Cash-deposit-Ratio approach

Based on the Ahumada et al. (2007, Review of Income and Wealth) critique we revise existing estimates of the size of the German underground economy. Among other things, it turns out that most of these estimates are untenable and that the tax pressure induced size of the German underground economy may be much lower than previously thought. To this extent, German policy and law makers have been misguided during the last three decades. Therefore, we introduce the Modified-Cash-Deposit-Ratio (MCDR) approach, which is not subject to the recent critique and apply it to Germany for the period 1960 to 2008. JEL: O17, Q41, C22, Keywords: underground economy, shadow economy, cash-depositratio, currency demand approach, MIMIC approach

Tax evasion, technology shocks, and the cyclicality of government revenues

This paper analyzes the behavior of the tax revenue to output ratio over the business cycle. In order to replicate the empirical evidence, we develop a simple model combining the standard Ak growth model with the tax evasion phenomenon. When individuals conceal part of their true income from the tax authority, they face the risk of being audited and hence of paying the corresponding fine. Under the empirically plausible assumptions that the intertemporal elasticity of substitution exhibits a sufficiently small value and that productivity shocks are serially correlated, we show that the elasticity of government revenue with respect to output is larger than one, which agrees with the empirical evidence. This result holds even if the tax system displays flat tax rates. We extend the previous setup to generate larger fiscal deficits when the economy experiences a recession.

Objetivos y carencias de la política criminal contra la pequeña delincuencia

Trabajo realizado en el marco del Proyecto de investigación, estudio y análisis sobre la seguridad en Cataluña (ISPC 2009), gracias a la ayuda concedida por el Departament d’Interior en virtud de Resolución del director del Instituto de Seguridad Pública de Cataluña de 22 de diciembre de 2009 (DOGC núm. 5693 - 16/08/2010)

La lucha contra la impunidad de los crímenes internacionales en España: de la persecución a Pinochet a la inculpación del juez Garzón

Este trabajo analiza la evolución que ha tenido el legislador y la judicatura española en la persecución de los crímenes internacionales. Desde que amparados en la jurisdicción universal los tribunales españoles se declarasen competentes para perseguir a Pinochet, hasta la imputación del delito de prevaricación al juez Garzón por iniciar diligencias en relación con posibles crímenes internacionales cometidos en España durante la guerra civil y el período de la dictadura, muchas y variadas han sido las actuaciones por parte del legislador y del poder judicial. La esquizofrenia que éstas denotan debería servir como laboratorio de los pros y contras a los que tiene que hacer frente el modelo de lucha contra la impunidad a nivel nacional, sin que ello suponga perder el sentido mismo de esta lucha: ofrecer el derecho a una tutela judicial efectiva a aquel que ha sido víctima de los más abominables crímenes que se puedan cometer contra el género humano.

The Rise of The Swiss Tax Haven in the Interwar Period: An International Comparison

The history of tax havens during the decades before World War II is still little known. To date, the studies that have focused on the 1920s and 1930s have presented either a very general perspective on the development of tax havens or a narrow national point of view. Based on unpublished historical archives of five countries (Switzerland, Great Britain, Belgium, France, Germany), this paper offers therefore a new comparative appraisal of international tax competition during this period in order to answer the following question: What was the specificity of the Swiss case - already considered a quintessential tax haven at the time - in comparison to other banking centres? The findings of this research study are twofold. First, the 1920s and 1930s appear as something of a golden age of opportunity for avoiding taxation through the relocation of assets. Most of the financial centres granted consistent tax benefits for imported capital, while the limited degree of international cooperation and the usual guarantee of banking secrecy in European countries prevented the taxation of exported assets. Second, within this general environment, the fiscal strategies of a tax haven like Switzerland differed from those of a great financial power like Great Britain. Whereas the Swiss administration readily placed itself at the service of the banking community, British policy was more balanced between the contradictory interests of the Board of Inland Revenue, the Treasury, and the English business circles.