How to Combat Value-Added Tax Refund Fraud

How to Combat Value-Added Tax Refund Fraud PDF Author: Cedric Andrew
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
A previous IMF Working Paper on value-added tax (VAT) refunds (WP/07/31, by Keen and Smith) describes the main forms of VAT noncompliance and concludes that VAT is susceptible to evasion and fraud like any other tax. This paper shows the insidious nature and extent of VAT refund fraud in selected EU countries and argues that this type of noncompliance requires tax administrations to adopt a coordinated strategy and deploy a range of countermeasures to combat this threat. Because such fraud is primarily a criminal legal issue, tackling it successfully will require cooperation, both internationally between VAT administrations and nationally between tax authorities and the judiciary. The paper’s focus is primarily on advanced economies in the context of the EU, but many of the recommendations are applicable to emerging market and developing countries. A separate IMF How to Note discusses managing VAT refunds in developing countries.

How to Combat Value-Added Tax Refund Fraud

How to Combat Value-Added Tax Refund Fraud PDF Author: Cedric Andrew
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
A previous IMF Working Paper on value-added tax (VAT) refunds (WP/07/31, by Keen and Smith) describes the main forms of VAT noncompliance and concludes that VAT is susceptible to evasion and fraud like any other tax. This paper shows the insidious nature and extent of VAT refund fraud in selected EU countries and argues that this type of noncompliance requires tax administrations to adopt a coordinated strategy and deploy a range of countermeasures to combat this threat. Because such fraud is primarily a criminal legal issue, tackling it successfully will require cooperation, both internationally between VAT administrations and nationally between tax authorities and the judiciary. The paper’s focus is primarily on advanced economies in the context of the EU, but many of the recommendations are applicable to emerging market and developing countries. A separate IMF How to Note discusses managing VAT refunds in developing countries.

How to Manage Value-Added Tax Refunds

How to Manage Value-Added Tax Refunds PDF Author: Mario Pessoa
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1513577042
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 29

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Book Description
The value-added tax (VAT) has the potential to generate significant government revenue. Despite its intrinsic self-enforcement capacity, many tax administrations find it challenging to refund excess input credits, which is critical to a well-functioning VAT system. Improperly functioning VAT refund practices can have profound implications for fiscal policy and management, including inaccurate deficit measurement, spending overruns, poor budget credibility, impaired treasury operations, and arrears accumulation.This note addresses the following issues: (1) What are VAT refunds and why should they be managed properly? (2) What practices should be put in place (in tax policy, tax administration, budget and treasury management, debt, and fiscal statistics) to help manage key aspects of VAT refunds? For a refund mechanism to be credible, the tax administration must ensure that it is equipped with the strategies, processes, and abilities needed to identify VAT refund fraud. It must also be prepared to act quickly to combat such fraud/schemes.

Value-added Tax Fraud in the European Union

Value-added Tax Fraud in the European Union PDF Author: A. A. Aronowitz
Publisher: Kugler Publications
ISBN: 9789062991365
Category : Fraud
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
This research report aims at filling the knowledge gap concerning organized business crime by highlighting one specific phenomenon, that of EU cross-border VAT fraud. It intends to provide insight into: the effectiveness of the present VAT control system; the vulnerability of legitimate trade to criminal inroads; and, the development of organized crime in this area.

VAT Fraud and Evasion

VAT Fraud and Evasion PDF Author: Michael Keen
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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Book Description
Like any tax, the VAT is vulnerable to evasion and fraud. But its credit and refund mechanism does offer unique opportunities for abuse, and this has recently become an urgent concern in the European Union (EU). This paper describes the main forms of noncompliance distinctive to a VAT, considers how they can be addressed, and assesses evidence on their extent in high-income countries. While the practical significance of current difficulties in the EU should not be over-stated, administrative measures alone may prove insufficient to deal with them, and a fundamental redesign of the VAT treatment of intra-community trade required. The current difficulties in the EU largely reflect circumstances that would not apply in the United States.

VAT Refunds: A Review of Country Experience

VAT Refunds: A Review of Country Experience PDF Author: Graham Harrison
Publisher: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
ISBN: 9781451862379
Category : Tax refunds
Languages : en
Pages : 43

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Book Description
A key feature of the invoice-credit form of value-added tax (VAT) is that some businesses- notably exporters-will pay more tax on their purchases than is due on their sales, and so can seek refunds of excess credits from government. While refunding is straightforward in principle, serious problems arise in practice, including opportunities for fraud and corruption, and denial of refunds by governments with cash shortages. This makes the refund process the "Achilles heel" of the VAT. This paper examines the refund approaches of tax administrations in 36 developing, transitional, and developed countries. It evaluates the effectiveness of these approaches and suggests a model of best practice that takes into consideration compliance issues faced by countries during different stages of development.

Refund Fraud? - Real-Time Solution! Digital Security Borrowed from the VAT (Brazil, Quebec, & Belgium).

Refund Fraud? - Real-Time Solution! Digital Security Borrowed from the VAT (Brazil, Quebec, & Belgium). PDF Author: Richard Thompson Ainsworth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 14

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Book Description
This article provides support for a proposal to eliminate refund fraud in the U.S. by turning Forms W-2, and 1099 into self-certified/ self-authenticated tax documents. The proposal suggests that a “digital signature” of these documents should be taken after they are completed. The signature should then be made part of the final document. This proposal was initially advanced in Refund Fraud? Real-Time Solution! The underlying premise of that article was that the US could dramatically reduce, if not eliminate, refund fraud if it borrowing digital security techniques from the VAT. The article did not however, explain or expand upon these techniques from within the VATs where they were developed. This article takes up the VAT side of that analysis. VAT frauds frequently manipulate documents for gain, and VAT jurisdictions have spent a considerable amount of time and energy devising effective and efficient methods for determining if a document is legitimate (or original). The strong suggestion is that the IRS should look to the VAT to solve refund fraud, because even though the tax is different, the administrative problem is the same. The refund fraud problem is essentially document verification problem. The VAT is very good at document verification. The IRS can learn from the VAT. This paper looks at three VAT jurisdictions, Brazil, Quebec and Belgium, and explains how they use technology to solve document authentication problems. In each case a tax fraud is facilitated by false documentation, and the administrative response is to use technology to certify the documents and stop the fraud. In Brazil the fraud arises in the context of internal cross-border B2B transactions. In Quebec and Belgium the fraud is skimming profits from B2C cash and debit/credit card transactions.

VAT Attacks!

VAT Attacks! PDF Author: Michael Keen
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 28

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Book Description
Like the theory of the second best that the 2006 congress marks, the VAT is now fifty years old. Judged by the extent and speed of its spread around the world, and the revenue that it raises, the VAT would seem to have been a remarkable success. Over the last few years, however, it has come under a series of attacks. This paper considers three of the most prominent of these. One is the fear (raised mainly in the United States) that the VAT actually does too good a job of raising tax revenue. The second is the view that the VAT does a bad job of taxing the informal sector-and that tariffs might be a better revenue-raising instrument for many developing countries. The third attack is the most literal, by criminals rather than theorists: in the European Union and elsewhere, sophisticated VAT fraud, targeting its refund provisions, has become a serious concern.

Stopping the carousel

Stopping the carousel PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: European Union Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780104010686
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
Missing Trader Intra-Community Fraud (also known as carousel fraud), where goods are repeatedly exported and imported with the EU, has caused a considerable loss of revenue In 2005/6 it is estimated the UK lost between £3-4.5 billion. This report looks both at some of the measure that have been taken to recoup some of this money and measures to stop fraud occurring. In addition it considers whether the Government's policies have imposed an unreasonable burden upon legitimate businesses within affected sectors. It concludes that not only are existing measures unsustainable, steps need to be taken to ensure innocent traders are not damaged. The government needs to work with Member States to implement a system of taxation of intra-Community transactions that will be less vulnerable to major fraud.

Tackling Intra-community VAT Fraud

Tackling Intra-community VAT Fraud PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789287238276
Category : Fraud
Languages : en
Pages : 54

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Book Description


The Modern VAT

The Modern VAT PDF Author: Mr.Liam P. Ebrill
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1589060261
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
Value-added tax, or VAT, first introduced less than 50 years ago, is now a pivotal component of tax systems around the world. The rapid and seemingly irresistible rise of the VAT is probably the most important tax development of the latter twentieth century, and certainly the most breathtaking. Written by a team of experts from the IMF, this book examines the remarkable spread and current reach of the innovative tax and draws lessons about the design and implementation of the VAT, as experienced by different countries around the world. How efficient is it as a tax, is it fair, and is it suitable for all countries? These are among the questions raised. This highly informative and well-researched book also looks at the likely future of the tax.