Income Tax : Text, Materials and Essential Cases [8th ed.]

Tax law and policy is a vital part of Australian society. Australian society insists that the Federal Government provide extensive public programs, such as health services, education, social security, foreign aid, legal infra¬structure, regulation, police services, national defence and funding for sports development. These programs are costly to provide and are funded by taxation. The aim of this book is to introduce and explain the principles of tax law and tax policy in plain English. The book contains detailed commentary on tax principles together with extracts from cases and materials that illustrate the application of the principles. The book considers tax policy and the economic and social aspects of tax law. While tax students must develop technical competence in tax law, given the speed with which changes are made to the technical details of tax law, it is also important to grasp tax principles and policy to understand why tax law has changed or why it should change. The chapters are structured to direct readers to the key provisions of the tax law. Each case is introduced by an explanation of the facts, followed by the taxpayer’s arguments, the Commissioner’s assertions and the decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal or a court. The commentary guides readers through the issues considered in the judgments. The book contains extracts from: articles; materials dealing with tax policy; and the Commissioner’s rulings. The book also has references for further reading and medium-neutral citations (Internet citations) for cases decided since 1998.

Introduction

This book explores the impacts of global economic, political and cultural shifts on various international legal frameworks and legal norms. The economic growth of states throughout Asia, South and Central America and Africa is having a profound effect on the dynamics of international relations, with a resulting impact on the operation and development of international law. This book examines the influence of emerging economies on international legal rules, institutions and processes. It describes recent and predicted changes in economic, political and cultural powers, flowing from the growth of emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Russia, and analyses the influence of these changes on various legal frameworks and norms. Expert contributors drawn from a variety of fields, including international law, politics, environmental law, human rights, economics and finance, provide a broad analysis of the nature of the shifting global dynamic in its historical and contemporary contexts, and a range of perspectives on the impact of these changes as they relate to specific regimes and issues, including climate change regulation, collective security, indigenous rights, the rights of women and girls, environmental protection and foreign aid and development. The book provides a fresh and comprehensive analysis of an issue with extensive implications for international law and politics.

Restructuring arts and cultural funding in Tanzania : expectations and impasses

In 1984, the Tanzanian government established the Tanzania Culture Trust Fund (TCTF) – well known as ‘Mfuko’ – with the support of the Swedish government. The focus of Mfuko was to enable the arts and cultural sector to strengthen its position through grant allocations. However, rural artists have limited opportunity to access financial support to strengthen their works. The challenge remains: how to restructure arts and cultural funding in line with cutting dependence on foreign aid. This article reports on the research findings of a case study based on ‘Strategies for youth employment in Tanzania: A creative industries approach’. The study was undertaken in Dar-Es-Salaam, Bagamoyo, Dodoma, Lindi and Morogoro from July to October, 2012. This study employed mixed me thods incorporating questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups. This paper argues that lack of deliberate initiatives to restructure arts and cultural funding (in line with cutting dependence on foreign assistance) have prevented artists from fulfilling their desire for better lives. Hence, the severe lack of financial support to the artists remains a challenge to meeting the Millennium Development Goals and Tanzania Development Vision 2025. Although this discussion is specific to Tanzania, the significance and contribution of this case may apply to other developing countries.

Should tax incentives for charitable giving stop at Australia's borders?

Around the world, philanthropic gifts are increasingly crossing borders, driven by globalisation and facilitated by liberalised cross-border tax incentives. Australia is considered to have one of the strictest regimes for the tax treatment of cross-border donations. With bipartisan political support for a significant reduction in the amount and scope of Australian foreign aid, the nation’s international presence through the ‘soft power’ of aid will fall increasingly upon private philanthropy. Are the current tax incentives for Australian cross-border philanthropy and the supervision of those incentives appropriate to both facilitate and regulate international giving? To address this question, this article analyses the amount of Australian cross-border philanthropy and explains the current legislative architecture affecting the tax deductibility of cross-border gifts. It then examines the Australian Government’s proposed ‘in Australia’ reform agenda against the underlying fiscal and regulatory policy imperatives, and makes recommendations for the future tax treatment of Australian cross-border philanthropy.

Peer-Informed Learning on Increasing Contraceptive Knowledge Among Women in Rural Haiti

Contraceptive prevalence in Haiti remains low despite extensive foreign aid targeted at improving family planning. [1] Earlier studies have found that peer-informed learning have been successful in promoting sexual and reproductive health. [2-5] This pilot project was implemented as a three-month, community-based, educational intervention to assess the impact of peer education in increasing contraceptive knowledge among women in Fondwa, Haiti. Research investigators conducted contraceptive information trainings to pre-identified female leaders of existing women’s groups in Fondwa, who were recruited as peer educators (n=4). Later, these female leaders shared the knowledge from the training with the test participants in the women’s group (n=23) through an information session. Structured surveys measuring knowledge of contraceptives were conducted with all participants before the intervention began, at the end of the intervention, and four weeks after the intervention. The surveys measured general contraceptive knowledge, knowledge about eight selected types of modern contraceptives and contraceptive preferences and attitudes. Only test participants showed significant improvement in their general contraceptive knowledge score (p<0.001), but both test participants and peer educators showed significant improvement in overall knowledge scores for identifying the types and uses of modern contraceptive methods. Assessment for knowledge retention remained significantly higher four weeks after the intervention than prior to the intervention. Therefore, a one-time, three-hour peer-based educational intervention using existing social structures is effective, and might be valuable in a population with minimal access to education and little to no knowledge about contraceptives.

Aide au développement et santé comme droit humain

L’assimilation de la santé à un « droit humain » est-elle véritablement associée à un effort international massif d’aide au développement dans ce domaine ? Nous tentons de montrer que l’aide à la santé repose depuis plusieurs années sur une conception sécuritaire, qui constitue une interprétation restrictive de la notion de bien public mondial et oriente les flux vers des maladies dont l’impact mondial est le plus visible au détriment d’autres secteurs de la santé tout aussi importants pour les populations pauvres. Cette conception pose des problèmes d’efficacité dans l’allocation des fonds et d’éthique de la décision, et nous amène à une réflexion critique sur l’usage du critère économique d’efficience dans ce contexte. Nous proposons enfin quelques pistes pour un cadre théorique renouvelé de l’aide à la santé.

Divided Over Internationalism : The Canadian Public and Development Assistance

This analysis of public opinion towards foreign aid shows that Canadians are divided over internationalism. First, while most citizens agree that development assistance is important, their support often remains shallow, unmatched by a commitment to undertake concrete actions. Second, the attitudes Canadians hold toward development assistance indicate that there is a clear division in the country’s public between liberal and conservative internationalists, a cleavage that is anchored in domestic ideological and partisan differences. In many ways comparable to what is found in other countries, the internationalism of Canadians does not appear as vigorous and as consensual as is often suggested.

Public Opinion and Global Justice

The concept of global justice has been developed to stress the worldwide implications of moral problems. Not much, however, has been written about the actual politics of global justice. This article focuses on public opinion and argues that attitudes about international redistribution are not a simple projection of attitudes about the domestic situation. In countries where domestic income redistribution is seen as an important priority, foreign aid is less popular; where this is less so, there is more concern for the fate of the poor in the South. Far from reflecting a lack of coherence in public opinion, these counterintuitive results need to be understood in connection with policy achievements in donor countries. The authors' empirical findings suggest that although the commitment to redistribute is stronger at the national level, relationships of solidarity do not stop at national boundaries. The achievement of justice at home in fact sustains justice abroad.

La contribución al desarrollo local de los gobiernos territoriales a través de iniciativas de cooperación internacional descentralizada. Estudio de caso: Cooperación del País Vasco a Florencia, Caquetá (2010-2012) proyecto Embera Chamí- TEA (Tierra, Educación y Artesanía)

La cooperación internacional para el desarrollo es una herramienta de gran importancia en el actual contexto internacional. Desde su aparición, la Ayuda Oficial al Desarrollo ha sido la modalidad más recurrente y la más ampliamente estudiada. No obstante, las transformaciones de las últimas décadas han llevado al surgimiento de nuevas modalidades, las cuales toman cada vez más fuerza y requieren de una especial atención. Es el caso de la cooperación descentralizada, instrumento de ayuda exterior y de visibilización internacional de las entidades territoriales. A manera de aproximación a este mecanismo de cooperación, se estudiará la contribución del País Vasco al desarrollo humano sostenible de la comunidad indígena Emberá Chamí y al fortalecimiento de la acción exterior de esta comunidad autónoma española a partir de sus iniciativas de cooperación internacional descentralizada.

Análisis del desempeño en materia de Apropiación (Declaración de París, 2005) del gobierno colombiano frente al proyecto de cooperación internacional “Apoyo al Programa de Red de Protección Social contra la Pobreza Extrema (REDEP)” y su alcance frente al cumplimiento de la primera meta de los ODM. Periodo 2006-2010

El presente estudio de caso, pretende a partir de un análisis del principio de Apropiación contenido en la Declaración de París, determinar el desempeño del gobierno colombiano entre los años 2006-2010, frente al proyecto de cooperación internacional "Apoyo al Programa de Red de Protección Social contra la Pobreza Extrema (REDEP)" y su impacto frente al cumplimiento de la primera meta de los Objetivos del Milenio

Cooperación Sur-Sur entre Brasil y los Países Lusófonos Africanos (2003-2010)

La arquitectura de la Cooperación Internacional ha atravesado varios cambios. Entre ellos, el surgimiento de la Cooperación Sur-Sur dejó entrever el marcado interés de los países en desarrollo por hacer parte de la misma. En Brasil, el gobierno de Lula da Silva fue el gran promotor de esta cooperación, especialmente con aquellos países de habla portuguesa en África. En este contexto, la presente monografía pretende determinar de qué manera la construcción social de identidad incide en la dinámica de Cooperación Sur-Sur entre Brasil y los países lusófonos africanos. Mediante una perspectiva constructivista, se analiza el valor de diversos elementos sociales, culturales e históricos cuya interacción configuró determinadas percepciones entre Brasil y los países lusófonos africanos. Este proceso de interacción social permitió la consolidación de una identificación positiva entre ellos, fortaleciendo su acercamiento político y generando así un considerable aumento en el volumen y las temáticas de los proyectos de cooperación formulados de 2003 a 2010.

La política exterior turca en el marco del Complejo de Seguridad Regional de Medio Oriente. Del soft power al smart power. (2002 - 2013)

Dada la confluencia de Turquía en Asia, Medio Oriente, los Balcanes y Europa, el gobierno está en la necesidad de responder a los desafíos de ser un Estado pivote. Es en este punto donde su política exterior se convierte en la mayor herramienta para sobresalir y sobrevivir en un ambiente heterogéneo. El objetivo de esta monografía de grado es analizar la política exterior turca en el marco del Complejo de Seguridad Regional de Medio Oriente a partir de los aportes de la Escuela de Copenhague y su Teoría de los Complejos de Seguridad Regional, para comprender sus estrategias de soft y hard power en su política exterior a fin de analizar si se consolidó un smart power que permita posicionar a Turquía en una potencia regional.

Limitaciones y obstáculos de MINUSTAH en materia de cooperación humanitaria y desarrollo en Haití (2000-2014)

Este estudio de caso pretende analizar las limitaciones y obstáculos a los que la misión de estabilización, MINUSTAH, se ha enfrentado en el proceso de reconstrucción de Haití antes, durante y después del terremoto de 2010. Además, busca identificar los elementos que han hecho de MINUSTAH una misión cuyo objetivo inicial de carácter político y estabilización se orientó hacia la asistencia humanitaria a causa de una catástrofe natural tal como el terremoto de 2010. En esta medida y bajo el marco de cooperación internacional para el desarrollo, este estudio de caso avanza por un proceso evaluativo del papel de MINUSTAH en la consolidación del Estado haitiano.

La cooperación internacional para el desarrollo como herramienta de política exterior japonesa en África Subsahariana

El presente caso de estudio tiene como objetivo explicar el rol de la cooperación internacional para el desarrollo en Tanzania, Mozambique, Nigeria para la consolidación del liderazgo político internacional de Japón. El interés de realizar esta investigación es la ampliación del conocimiento sobre el uso del poder blando, para alcanzar los objetivos de política exterior japonesa. Por eso, se llevara a cabo una revisión bibliográfica para el análisis de documentos oficiales y artículos académicos para la consolidación de información. A partir de ello, se pretende demostrar que la cooperación al desarrollo es una herramienta de política exterior japonesa para consolidarse como líder, en la medida en que el uso de herramientas propias de la cooperación y el presupuesto destinada a la ejecución de éstas tienen incidencia en los votos de estos Estados africanos para las iniciativas japonesas en las Naciones Unidas.

Achieving the millennium development goals in the Asia-Pacific region : the role of international assistance

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a set of international development targets agreed to by members of the United Nations in 2000. The goals aim to improve many of the dimensions of extreme poverty and are to be achieved by 2015. This paper provides an overview of the issues relevant to the achievement of the MDGs in the Asia-Pacific region. The paper begins by discussing the critiques of the MDGs before assessing whether countries in the region are on track to achieve them. Issues relating to data availability and accuracy are discussed and the need to tailor the MDG targets to the special circumstances of some Asia-Pacific countries is examined. The paper proceeds by discussing the role of international assistance via international foreign development aid and non-governmental organisations in the achievement of the MDGs. The paper concludes with some policy implications for the international donor community.