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The phenomenal proliferation of crowdfunding platforms raises concerns on the heightened occurrence of financial crimes since billions of funds are exchanged through these online systems frequently. Accordingly, some countries have implemented legislative responses to address these risks, although each countries’ laws have varying degrees of severity. Hence, the purpose of this study is to assess the efficiency and robustness of Mauritian laws to combat financial crimes that may arise from a crowdfunding transaction with a particular emphasis on money laundering and tax evasion.

To achieve this research objective, the black letter approach was used to analyse Mauritian rules and regulations on the researched topic and a comparative analysis was carried out against the corresponding laws on crowdfunding in some other jurisdictions, notably the UK and the USA with the view of suggesting the policy recommendations to Mauritian authorities.

It was found that there is still scope for improving the existing legal and regulatory framework on crowdfunding in Mauritius to prevent instances of money laundering and tax evasion. The paper suggests that a crowdfunding operator must be categorised as a reporting person and must carry out regular due diligence checks. There must also be more collaboration in terms of information exchanges and training sessions among the tax authority of Mauritius, crowdfunding operators, fund seekers and investors to shed light on the tax treatment of income and deductions to avoid issues of tax evasion.

At present, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is amongst the first academic writings on the efficiency of Mauritian laws in dealing with the risk of financial crimes through crowdfunding, and also, because existing literature is quite scarce on assessing the adequacy of crowdfunding rules in developing countries, this research aims at filling in the gap in literature. The study is carried out with the aim of combining a large amount of empirical, theoretical and factual information that can be of use to various stakeholders and not only to academics.

The purpose of this research is to demonstrate how legal strategies can be used to enhance the effectiveness of value-added tax (VAT) and how taxation laws can synergise with economic goals to strengthen the economy.

This study uses a comprehensive approach to explore various aspects of VAT, including its mechanics, collection process and global trends. It uses a comparative analysis of different types of taxes and their potential impact on economic growth. Additionally, it examines the role of the law in establishing tax systems, and how the law makes VAT more effective.

The research highlights the importance of legal frameworks in implementing VAT strategies and addressing associated challenges. It also identifies the advantages and disadvantages of VAT and discusses its role in diversifying economic income sources to ensure a sustainable national revenue stream.

This research contributes to the literature by offering insights into the interplay between law, taxation and economic development, particularly focusing on the effectiveness of VAT. It provides original perspectives on legal strategies to optimise VAT systems and enhance economic growth.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comparative analysis on the regulation, the applicable law and the tax treatment in the operations of NPOs in developing countries.

A comparative analysis in term of NPOs legal framework governing the formation, existence, restriction and fundraising of NPOs, as well as the tax treatment for the NPOs.

The findings suggest that regulations of NPOs in these countries exhibit a mixed picture with respect to the establishment, operation, affiliation and fundraising, as well as their tax incentives and preferences. In some countries, NPOs have fewer restrictions and are eligible for generous tax incentives, while for other countries, various restrictions and lack of incentives are the norms. The legal frameworks for NPOs are burdensome and, to some extent, do not reflect the importance of NPOs as partner for development of society. The findings also suggest that tax treatments in these countries vary from simple to complex coupled with obscure tax exemptions rules.

Around the globe, authorities and society are increasingly acknowledging the important role of NPOs in dealing with social needs from basic poverty, health and sustainable environments. This study’s focus on NPOs regulation will provide an understanding for authorities to design an appropriate framework for the growth and vibrancy of the NPOs.

This paper aims to analyse how constitutional law and corporate income tax (CIT) law, in the Iberian Peninsula, addresses the tax justice principle of generality. Also, it has as an intention to understand the dimension of tax exemptions predicted in the CIT law of both countries.

It analyses several data sources from Spain and Portugal, between them constitutions laws, CIT laws, general tax laws and some constitutional court cases. Furthermore, it uses the content analysis method to identify the level of exemptions and tax benefits present in the CIT law.

The results show that constitutional laws reserve a section to regulate tax issues, that it can present major or minor development. The Spanish article 31 explains the tax system and the Portuguese articles of 103 and 104 explain not only the tax system but also gives instructions about how must occur income, property and consumption taxation. Both jurisdictions, do not refer expressly to the generality principle, nevertheless, it has an implicit presence in the Supreme law and the same happen in the CIT law. They predict that all legal entities, public and private ones, have to contribute to financing the public expenditure. Furthermore, the respect to generality principle implies that tax income exemptions have to be justified, otherwise it can configure a break of the researched fundamental. In researched cases, the Spanish CIT have present more tax exemptions than Portugal, which can lead to consider a relation between the level of corporate contribution to income tax revenues collection and the tax exemptions predicted in the CIT law.

It allows understanding the difference between tax jurisdictions in the tax principles domain.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

This study aims to investigate the certainty of small business (SB) taxpayers about the presumptive tax law concerning the assessment of income tax based on gross turnover and how this impacts their income tax compliance.

The study adopted the exploratory research design. The saturation point was attained upon interviewing nine owners of SB enterprises, eight tax officers from the Uganda Revenue Authority and eight tax consultants. Themes were identified and explained using verbatim texts from the various interviews. Data were analyzed using the content analysis technique.

The findings indicate that SB taxpayers are uncertain about the nature of the presumptive tax, that it is assessed based on annual sales, indicators used to determine gross turnover and their actual tax liability. This has occasioned resistance to the tax system and inhibited voluntary compliance. SB taxpayers thus opt to wait for the tax officers to make tax assessments. However, they have used this opportunity to bribe or bargain with tax officers to pay low amounts in tax or no tax at all. Thus, policymakers and revenue authorities ought to concentrate on creating massive sensitization of the law on presumptive tax, in this case, the existing tax base on which the tax is imposed and its elements to improve income tax compliance of SBs.

These results are relevant to policymakers and Revenue authorities in developing countries, especially in Africa, in improving income tax compliance of SBs.

This study examines the contribution of certainty of the income tax law on the tax base (gross turnover) on which presumptive tax is imposed to income tax compliance of SBs, which has hardly been covered in previous studies.

The purpose of this paper is to enlighten the reader about the development in tax law. Moreover, the author intends to show that other measures could be implemented to supplement the existing machinery.

The paper explores the duty vested in the courts to probe the merits of transactions meant to evade or avoid the burden of tax. So much of the text is based on case law. The methodology is based on literature research rather interpersonal research.

The paper highlights that the current tax machinery has solved a number of tax issues. However, the machinery has not addressed the problem of fraud committed in the banking sector. The paper therefore recommends solutions to this problem.

The paper was formulated before the current tax laws where implemented. The current law contains the solution this study advanced. In a sense, this study examines the impact of the current law and the duty of the court to probe the merits of impeachable transactions.

The study would give the legislature food for thought and would also guide the courts with matters of tax fraud.

Though the original recommendations form part of the current statute, this study is still immensely original in delivery and thought. It provide not only an original influence on the court but also the legislature with original solution to the existing problem.

Autonomous taxation of expenses (ATE) is a special and contentious feature of corporate income taxation in Portugal. By taxing of an expanding set of corporate expenses, it has caused many conflicts between the Portuguese tax authority and corporate taxpayers. Many of these conflicts emerged from the legal interpretation of ATE’s clauses, while others derived from frequent, and difficult to apply, legislative changes. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the following research question: does the recent evolution of the rules on ATE show an efficient process of making and interpreting tax law in Portugal? The authors intend to analyze the process of making and changing ATE’s rules, as well as to study how interpretative complexity increases conflicts between tax authorities (TA) and taxpayers.

The methodology used is a mix of the legal research method, namely, doctrinal methodology, with an analysis of jurisprudential and arbitration trends in litigation rulings, blended with the case study analysis of ATE in Portugal. Arbitration rulings will have a particular relevance to the analysis.

The main conclusion is that, urged by the need of revenues, and sensitive to the TA’ argument of ATE’s loopholes, the government hastened to close them. However, given the procedure adopted, new legal questions aroused, creating additional layers of complexity for companies, courts and tax auditors. Constitutional issues were highlighted by companies based on the prohibition of retroactive application of tax laws.

The paper has a conceptual nature and its conclusions cannot be automatically extended to other tax controversies or processes of amending tax laws. However, for the legal and accounting professions it offers valuable lessons in law interpretation and political lobbying to change tax laws. Also, in the international tax scene, some countries also introduced ATE, with potential for similar problems.

Regarding ATE’s streamlining, the process recently observed in Portugal was not, in authors’ view, managed in the best way, leaving a significant number of difficulties to be solved by courts. The change in ATE’s legal framework could have been more carefully managed, avoiding costly and time consuming disputes, in order to minimize compliance costs.

The paper contributes to the literature because this Portuguese experience, while highlighting the difficulties in making tax law, can be seen as a lesson on how to improve these processes, avoiding time and costs for business, TA and courts. Moreover, arbitration is a way of solving tax disputes that has been gaining ground in Portugal. In this respect, the paper also contributes to a better perception of the tax arbitration scenario in anEuropean Union country. It is also important for the accounting profession, whose members have often to deal with tax topics and the interpretative complexities they originate.

The principle of offshore financial confidentiality is a controversial issue in offshore law. On the one hand, offshore jurisdictions view confidentiality in financial matters as an essential ingredient in the offshore industry which deserves to be protected. On the other, onshore states are increasingly hostile to confidentiality and have been willing to take drastic measures to undermine it.

While Mauritius is ranked as the fastest growing financial centre in Africa and the second-fastest-growing offshore financial centre (OFC) in the word by the New World Health in 2019, the country is facing severe allegations that it is progressing at the expense of other developing countries. In this respect, this paper aims to assess the contribution of the Mauritius OFC, the robustness of tax avoidance and evasion laws, the endeavours undertaken by the Mauritius Government to promote Mauritius OFC and the alleged classification of Mauritius as a tax haven.

To achieve the above research objectives, this paper will adopt the black letter approach. That is, the relevant legislation and case laws will be scrutinised. Also, books, journal articles, newspaper articles, reports from international bodies amongst others will be used. The research methodology also comprising a critical analysis which implies that existing studies conducted on the subject matter of this research will be assessed and the extent to which the researcher agrees with the existing work will be weighed.

Based on the critical analysis, this paper recommends that the Mauritius Income Tax Act be amended to provide for punitive and corrective actions for those engaged in impermissible tax avoidance. Additionally, for transparency and clarity, it is suggested that the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) clarifies in a practice note the factors that it considers when determining the tax liability that should have been payable or when detecting tax avoidance cases. Similarly, to discourage tax evasion, the fines and penalties for tax-evading offences should be more strict and a regulatory framework for tax practitioners need to be set up.

To the author’s knowledge, this paper is amongst the first academic research that emphasises the position of Mauritius as an OFC and critically analysed the related laws relating to the financial world.