Ukrainian Academy of Banking of the National Bank of Ukraine

Ukrainian Academy of Banking of the National Bank of Ukraine is a state-owned higher educational institution within the system of the National Bank of Ukraine of the IVth level of accreditation. It is located in the city of Sumy, in the north-eastern part of Ukraine.
The academy offers degrees in economics and law.
History.
The Ukrainian Academy of Banking was founded on February 12, 1996 according to the decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. With the support of the National Bank of Ukraine and its Board, the academy created a material and technical base of the European type for the training of students: three educational buildings with a total area of 35,000 sq.m. It includes two fully renovated historical buildings for the Law Faculty, Faculty of Banking Technologies and the main building (Faculty of Accounting and Finance). The academy's telecommunication systems and network technologies include computer equipment, software and hardware, electronic turnstile gates, new telephone communication systems, an open Wi-Fi network and other projects.
Academy’s logo.
In the center of the academy's logo is the Hryvnia (large silver ingot or bar which served as a monetary unit in the ancient Kievan Rus' and in Eastern Europe). The Hryvnia is surrounded by 4 letters "УАБС" - a Ukrainian abbreviation of "the Ukrainian Academy of Banking". At the top of the logo is a coat of arms of the town Sumy in the form of three bags. At the bottom of the logo is the year of the academy's foundation - 1996. On both sides of the logo there are Griffins - mythical winged creatures with the body of a lion, who are supposed to search, find and protect treasures. The logo of the National Bank of Ukraine also has the Hryvnia surrounded by Griffins. Thus, the academy is a treasure of the town Sumy, which is under the auspices of the National Bank of Ukraine.
Faculties, departments and structural subdivisions.
The structure of the Ukrainian Academy of Banking includes three faculties:
Each faculty trains specialists according to a degree system of education: bachelor, specialist and master degrees. Such system contributes to the effective training of modern banking specialists and ensures the continuity and quality of education.
The training is conducted by 14 departments: Banking, Finance, Accounting and Audit, Management, Theoretical and Applied Economics, Economic Cybernetics, Higher Mathematics and Computer Science, International Economics, State Law, Civil and Banking Law, Criminal Law, Humanities, Foreign Languages, Physical Training.
The educational process is organized with the use of modern educational technologies. They include practical training at the bank "AkademBank", the specialized class-room of dealing operations, the training company, internet center, Networking Academy CISCO, etc.
The academy has corresponding structural subdivisions, which ensure its educational, scientific, organizational, cultural and educational activities.
In 2009 was opened the Scientific Library of the Ukrainian Academy of Banking. Its area is 8,030 sq.m. The academy's library is a multifunctional educational, informational, scientific and socio-cultural center, with a stock 145 thousand copies. Its users have 200 seats and 140 automated workstations. The library has implemented modern radio-frequency technologies for customer servicing. The Polish- Ukrainian Сenter and the European Union Information Center function on the basis of the library.
The academy has its own medical center, with 11 doctors, physiotherapy, massage, diagnostic and infusion suites, as well as the rooms of functional and ultrasound diagnostics, a therapeutic swimming pool and a medical laboratory. There are first-aid medical centers at the hostels and educational buildings for students and staff.
The academy's sports and recreation complex includes a Universal Athletics Center with a total area of 11586 sq.m., which by the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine was granted the status of an Olympic training center, and an "Olympic" Hotel. There are 11 gyms, a swimming pool, tennis court and specialized sports grounds.
Students from other towns are provided with three hostels, all of which are linked to the Intranet (local network). Each educational building and hostel has functioning canteens and buffets, gyms and sports facilities. For students’ recreation there is a Students' Park.
The academy has its own information and publishing department, which publishes scientific conference reports, monographs, educational textbooks and manuals.
Student life.
The life of the academy's students is filled with scientific, cultural and sport events.
The Ukrainian Academy of Banking has a youth scientific sector and 29 research circles functioning at the departments. All-Ukrainian scientific student conference "Problems and development prospects of Ukraine's financial system: a look into the future" is annually held the academy. Students win prizes in the national competitions and conferences; receive scholarships from the National Bank of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and the Sumy Oblast State Administration.
The academy has student clubs, in which young journalists get involved in the publication of the student newspaper "AkadeMix" and the activities of the student TV studio "Zachet TV", while poets meet in the literary club "Waves of words". Students take part in the activities of the volunteers club, dramatic actors perfect their skills in the theatrical studio "Kurazh". Very popular among students is a club of intellectual games, debating society “Dumka”, student Team of the Funny and Inventive "Cartouche" and other creative associations.
A student self-government committee and a student union organization have become a real school of leaders.
The academy offers opportunities for students’ self-realization in sport: a professional athletics arena, 11 gyms, a modern swimming pool, tennis courts, sports grounds, sports club of "Volodymyr Holubnychy", women's futsal team of the Ukrainian Academy of Banking, and 20 sport clubs. On a regular basis the academy organizes competitions for the "Cup of the Rector of the Ukrainian Academy of Banking" in different kinds of sports: mini-football, basketball, volleyball, handball, table tennis, bench press, swimming and others. Among the academy's students there are many sports stars – champions of the World, Europe and Ukraine, champions of the World Student Games, winners of other prestigious competitions, including:
Polina Rodionova - archer, world champion in archery (13–20 October 2013, Wuxi, China), silver medalist of the World Indoor Archery Cup (25 February - 3 March 2014, Nimes, France), Champion of Europe (15–21 July 2013, Bucharest, Romania);
Vita Semerenko - biathlon bronze medalist of the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi (2014), five-time winner of the World Championships in biathlon, the World Cup winner, five-time European champion in biathlon, participant of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver;
Yevhen Hutsol – track and field athlete, participant of the World Championship in track and field athletics (March 7–9, 2014, Sopot, Poland), where he set a new national record of Ukraine (3,08,79).
Achievements and awards.
According to the rating of the Academy of Sciences and Higher Education of Ukraine the Ukrainian Academy of Banking is among the top ten of the country's economic universities. According to the rating of universities "Top 200 Ukraine" the academy is included in the list of top 200 universities in Ukraine as evidenced by its awards:
Scientific activity.
Scientific activity of the academy is determined by the priorities of the National Bank of Ukraine.
The academy publishes several professional journals in economics and philosophy approved by the Higher Attestation Commission of Ukraine:
Every year the academy organizes scientific and practical conferences, which have become traditional:
There is a specialized academic council for the evaluation of candidate and doctor's dissertations in the speciality 08.00.08 – money, finance and credit.
Since 2011 the academy has a functioning Scientific and Methodological Seminar of Young Scientists "Application of mathematical methods in the study of economic problems".
The academy has a "Scientific centre of initiative youth", which contributes to the development and realization of students’ scientific interests and their creative abilities.
Electronic scientific journal "Youth Research Bulletin of the Ukrainian Academy of Banking of the National Bank of Ukraine" is published twice a year in 4 series: "Legal sciences", "Economics", "Humanities" and "Special issues".
Since 2012 the academy has been promoting the activities of the "Council of Young Scientists" — a youth organization that brings together students, young lecturers and scientists of the academy.
International activities.
The academy cooperates with more than 40 educational institutions abroad specializing in economics, finance, banking and management, in particular, with the University of Applied Sciences of the Deutsche Bundesbank (Hachenburg, Germany), the Poznan School of Banking (Faculty in Chorzow, Poland), Olsztyn University of Computer Science and Economics (Poland), the Banking Institute of Prague (Czech Republic), the School of Business and Economics of the Linnaeus University (Sweden), Heilbronn University (Germany), Moscow Banking School of the Bank of Russia, International Training Center for Bankers (Budapest, Hungary), Belgrade Banking Academy (Serbia), Forum for company Law and Financial Market Law (FOCOFIMA) research centre at the University of Copenhagen Law Faculty (Denmark), Belarusian State Economic University (Minsk, Belarus), Financial University with the Government of the Russian Federation (Moscow, Russia), St.-Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance (Russia), the National Research University “Higher School of Economics” (Moscow, Russia), etc.
There are two international research centers functioning at the academy:
"International Centre for Banking and Corporate Governance", headed by the Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor of the Department of International Economics Alex Kostyuk. The Center consists of 63 scholars from 26 countries, 7 post-graduate students and the best students of the academy.
The Centre has implemented the following international scientific and educational projects of the academy:
"International Center for scientific research of the theory and practice of insurance", headed by the Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor Olga Kozmenko.
The result of the work of the center's authors is a scientific articles, monographs, textbooks, including:


James Alexander Ulio

James Alexander Ulio (29 June 1882 – 30 July 1958) was an officer in the United States Army who served as Adjutant General from 1942 to 1946. As such, he was responsible for the classification and assignment of soldiers in an Army that would grow to 8.2 million by March 1945.
The son of an Army officer, Ulio was raised on Army posts in the Washington Territory and Montana. He enlisted the Army in 1900, and rose to be a battalion sergeant major. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry in 1904. During World War I he served at El Paso, Texas, during the Pancho Villa Expedition, and on the Western Front, where he was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel on the staff of IV Corps. After the Armistice was signed in November 1918, he served with the Army of Occupation in Germany , and in Armenia as chief of staff of the American Relief Administration.
Between the wars Ulio attended the Command and General Staff College and Army War College, and was as a junior military aide-de-camp on the staff of the President of the United States, Herbert Hoover, and then on that of his successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt.
On 1 March 1942, Ulio became the Adjutant General with the rank of major general. As Adjutant General, one of his most important roles was notifying families when their loved ones became casualties. Thousands of telegrams went out under his name every day. He also oversaw the Army Postal Service, the National Service Life Insurance scheme, and the military penal system.
Early life and career.
James Alexander Ulio was born at Fort Walla Walla in what was then the Washington Territory on 29 June 1882, the son of First Lieutenant James Ulio, an immigrant from Ireland, whose birth name was James Graham, and his wife Caroline Kohlhauf. He had a sister, Anna. His father had enlisted in the US Army in 1855 and had been commissioned during the American Civil War, in which he had risen to the rank of captain and was breveted as a major. He had briefly left the army after the war but had rejoined as a second lieutenant in 1866. Ulio's middle name was that of his paternal grandfather. He attended Custer County High School in Miles City, Montana, but in those days it went only to year eleven, so he completed high school at Washington School.
He decided to join the Army, so he traveled with his mother to Butte, Montana to sit the entrance examination. He passed, but only secured an alternative nomination. The nomination went to George V. Strong. Ulio then enlisted in the 10th Infantry Regiment on 1 September 1900. He was appointed a battalion sergeant major at Fort Keogh, Montana, and passed an competitive examination at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for a commission. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry on 5 October 1904.
For his first posting, Ulio was sent to Fort Brady, Michigan. He was then assigned to the 1st Infantry Regiment and served in the Philippines from 1906 to 1908. When he returned to the United States, he was assigned to the Vancouver Barracks in Washington state. Following his promotion to first lieutenant on 11 March 1911, he served in the Territory of Hawaii at the Schofield Barracks and Fort Shafter from 1912 to 1916. He was promoted to captain on 1 July 1916 and served with the 23rd Infantry.
World War I.
Ulio served at El Paso, Texas, during the Pancho Villa Expedition. After the United States entered World War I, he moved to Camp McClellan, Alabama, where, he received a temporary promotion to major on 5 August 1917 and was assigned on 15 August as the division adjutant of the 29th Division until 26 February 1918. In March 1918, he embarked for France , where he attended the Army General Staff College of the American Expeditionary Force until 31 May 1918. He was then assigned to the headquarters of the 35th Division as its Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel (G-1). In June 1918, he was assigned to the newly organized IV Corps as its G-1 until 14 December 1918. He was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel on 9 September 1918.
In 1919 he received the Distinguished Service Medal for his service in this last assignment as well as honors from several allied governments. His citation read:
He was also awarded the French Legion of Honor and the Order of the Crown of Italy.
After the Armistice was signed in November 1918, Ulio served with the Army of Occupation in Germany until August 1919. He then went to Armenia as chief of staff of Colonel William N. Haskell's American Relief Administration there. Ulio felt that the Armenian people were opposed to communism, and that the communist takeover in neighbouring Azerbaijan was not a popular uprising but one engineered by Enver Pasha.
Between the wars.
Ulio reverted to his permanent rank of captain on 19 April 1920 but was promoted to major, the highest rank his father had held, on 1 July. He served in the Office of the Adjutant General of the Army in Washington, D.C., and transferred from the infantry to the Adjutant General's Department on 1 May 1922. His duties concerned assisting the Veterans Bureau in reducing delays and ensuring that veterans received their vocational and health benefits.
In 1923, Ulio went to Greece for six months, where he served as chief of the administrative division of the American Red Cross. He was awarded the Greek Order of the Redeemer, Montenegran Order of Prince Danilo I, Serbian Order of the White Eagle and the Panama Medal of Solidarity. He was then assigned as assistant to the G-1 on the headquarters staff of the II Corps Area at Fort Jay on Governors Island in New York City. In 1926, he returned to Office of the Adjutant General of the Army. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 13 November 1927. From 8 September 1930 to 19 June 1931 he attended the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Fellow students included his boyhood friend Jonathan M. Wainwright.
After graduation, Ulio was again assigned to the Office of the Adjutant General of the Army from 1931 to 1935. During this assignment, he served as a junior military aide-de-camp on the staff of the President of the United States, Herbert Hoover, and then on that of his successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt. The role was a largely ceremonial one; military aides had no input into policy. Ulio attended the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, from 1933 to 1934. Fellow students included Omar Bradley, Ulysses S. Grant III, Ernest N. Harmon, Lewis Hershey, Courtney Hodges and Johnathan Wainwright, all of whom subsequently achieved general officer rank.
In June 1934, Ulio returned to the Office of the Adjutant General of the Army. He was assigned to the Hawaiian Department in February 1935 as aide-de-camp to the commanding general, Major General Major General Hugh A. Drum. From June to September 1935 headed the service command section responsible for planning for the contingency of a blockade of the islands. Following his promotion to colonel on 1 August 1935, he became chief of staff of the Hawaiian Department. He then returned to Governor's Island as G-1 of the II Corps Area, and, in May 1938, to the Office of the Adjutant General of the Army as an Assistant Adjutant General, one of three reporting to the Adjutant General, Major General Emory Sherwood Adams. Ulio was promoted to brigadier general on 28 December 1939.
World War II.
On 1 March 1942, Ulio became the Adjutant General with the rank of major general. As Adjutant General, he had overall responsibility for the classification and assignment of soldiers in an Army that would grow to 8.2 million by March 1945. The Office of the Adjutant General had 12,574 personnel assigned in June 1943, of whom about 9,000 were in Washington, D.C.
Induction.
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 that brought the United States into the war, the Army, after fifteen months of peacetime mobilization, had 1.6 million soldiers. By 30 June 1942, it was already 162,505 men short. An early accomplishment was lowering the draft age from twenty to eighteen. Ulio began his push for this in October 1942. Advice from Major General Lewis B. Hershey, the Director of the Selective Service System, indicated that the country would run out of single and childless married men by 1 October 1943. In November 1942, Congress lowered the draft age to 18.
In May 1943, the chief of Army Ground Force, Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair, foresaw the possibility of unfavourable public reaction if 18-year-olds were sent into combat with just 13 weeks' training, and suggested that they be assigned to units training in the United States that were not scheduled to move overseas in the near future rather than to replacement training centers. The postponement of plans for an invasion of northwest Europe had created large numbers of such units. Ulio did not think this was practical, as the Army was nearly at its maximum size, and almost all new inductees were being sent to replacement training centers. As casualties mounted though, the War Department ordered in June 1944 that no 18-year-olds be sent overseas as infantry or armor replacements. This was also extended to men who had children conceived before the US declaration of war. Rising casualties soon forced this restriction to be dropped.
Classification.
Soldiers inducted into the Army received a physical examination. One of Ulio's first directives was that every one would get a chest X-ray. Experience had shown that many inductees had tuberculosis, but the Army had previously not required X-rays on account of the cost, which had proven to be a false economy. The Army initially also rejected inductees with venereal diseases, but improved methods of treatment led to this being relaxed in 1943. Ulio personally signed an order on 21 May 1945 transferring Lieutenant Colonel Albert Sabin from the Army Medical Corps, where he had helped develop a vaccine against Japanese encephalitis, to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital, where he developed the oral polio vaccine.
Inductees were given mechanical, technical and clerical aptitude tests, and interviewed by personnel staff. Initially, attempts were made to place new recruits in roles depending on their skills, and nearly four in five were placed in a role similar to their civilian work. As the war went on this was seen as draining the best personnel away from the combat arms. In February 1944, the Army began to adopt the Physical Profile Plan, under which inductees were assessed on stamina, upper limbs, lower limbs, hearing, eyesight and emotional stability. In each category they were given a rating of 1 to 4. Grades 1 and 2 were considered qualified for general service; grade 3 as qualified for limited service; and grade 4 as unfit for service. The six numbers (in that order) together gave a personal profile serial. Those with serials of 211211 or better were Profile A, qualified for strenuous combat duty; those below 211211 down to 322231 were Profile B, qualified for service in combat areas; those below 322231 down to 333231 were Profile C, qualified for base duties. A 4 anywhere meant below the minimum standard. Different branches were assigned their own mix of the profile; the infantry, 86 percent of its recruits would be Profile A, 7 percent Profile B and 7 percent Profile C.
Casualty notification.
One of his most important roles was notifying families when their loved ones became casualties. By the war's end Casualty Branch in the Office of the Adjutant General consisted of 80 officers and 2,000 enlisted personnel. Every day it received punched cards from the theaters of operations. The staff then translated these into words. Other members then typed the information onto casualty forms. The soldier's emergency contact information was then verified; many people changed address without notifying the Army. If the soldier had died, the branch head, Colonel George F. Herbert, would review the paperwork. The Signal Corps then contacted Western Union and sent a telegram, which would go out under Ulio's name. Ulio directed that no telegrams would be delivered between 22:00 and 07:00. A confirmation letter would follow in the post. These were individualised; Ulio directed that no form letters would be sent to grieving families. During the war, 318,274 US soldiers were killed and 565,861 were wounded.
In the case of soldiers who were missing in action or held as a prisoner of war, pay and benefits would continue for twelve months. A follow up letter would provide whatever details were available. It was not unusual for missing soldiers to turn Updates would be sent no less frequently than every 90 days. The casualty Branch tried to send notifications every three or four weeks. In the case of wounded soldiers, updates were sent immediately if the soldier's status changed. Families of wounded soldiers also received a message of cheer form. These messages had to be no more than five words long, and were sent by radiogram. Up to 6,000 telegrams were despatched each day. The Casualty Branch handled up to 1,300 calls per day. Callers seeking information about family members were asked for the soldier's name and serial number. The call center operators would pass this information on to searchers, who would retrieve the soldier's personnel file. The call would then be returned.
Life insurance.
One of the newest responsibilities of the Adjutant General was the administration of the National Service Life Insurance scheme. This was enacted by Congress on 8 October 1940. Soldiers could buy up to $10,000 () worth of life insurance in $500 lots. Premiums for $10,000 worth of insurance ranged from $6.70 () a month for some aged 25 year old to $7.10 () for someone aged 30 year old and $9.90 () per month for someone aged 45. In the event of the policy holder's death it was payable in 120 or 240 monthly instalments of $5.51 () payments for each $1,000 of insurance depending on whether the beneficiary was over or under 30 at the time. Fourteen million service personnel took out policies, and by January 1944 99 percent of officers and 98 percent of enlisted personnel signed up.
Correction.
In 1944, Ulio became responsible for the supervision of the Army's penal system. A Correction Division was established in the Office of the Adjutant General. The Army operated two types of penal institutions: rehabilitation centers and disciplinary barracks. Soldiers convicted of offences other than capital crimes and certain other major offences were sent to rehabilitation centers where at attempt was made to rehabilitate them through rigorous physical and psychological training. Of the 34,209 prisoners admitted to rehabilitation centers during the war, about 13,940 were restored to duty and 10,562 were sent on to disciplinary barracks to serve out their sentences. By the war's end, 13,468 prisoners were held in disciplinary barracks.
Postal.
The Adjutant General operated the Army Postal Service. Between March and June 1945, of mail was sent to the troops by air. The volume of surface mail sent by ship peaked at in January 1945, and parcel post at 1.7 million sacks in October 1944. V-mail was a means of sending mail whereby it was microfilmed before transmission. It was popular in the early war years when air mail services were few, and its use declined as air mail became more generally available. By April 1945 an air mail letter took an average of 10.2 days to reach Europe, and 7.3 days to reach the South Pacific.
Later life.
Ulio retired from the Army on 21 January 1946, five months after the surrender of Japan and just before he reached the mandatory retirement age of 64. He was awarded a bronze oak leaf cluster to his Distinguished Service Medal "for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility."
Shortly before his retirement it was announced that Ulio would join Food Fair, a supermarket chain based in Philadelphia as its vice president. This allowed him to remain in Washington, D.C. He retired from Food Fair in 1949. During the 1950s he served on the board of the United Services Life Insurance Company.
In 1947, he testified at the trial of Congressman Andrew J. May from Kentucky. He testified that May had written to him in 1943 requesting a furlough for Sergeant Albert Freeman, whose father Joseph E. Freedman, was the Washington, D.C., representative of Garsson Brothers, a munitions firm that Federal prosecutors alleged had paid May $53,000 in bribes. Ulio had denied the request, and said that he had handled it like like any one of the many he had received from members of the public each day.
Ulio never married. He died at his residence at the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C., on 30 July 1958, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.


Sergej Kraigher

Sergej Kraigher (30 May 1914 – 17 January 2001) was a Yugoslav Communist politician from Slovenia who served as the President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia from 1981 to 1982. During World War II, he fought in the Yugoslav Reisdance Movement.
Kraigher was born in Postojna, Austria-Hungary (now in Slovenia). His uncle, George (Jurij) Kraigher was a prominent american civil and war pilot; another uncle, Lojz Kraigher, was a prominent writer and left wing activist; his cousin, Boris Kraigher, also became an influential Communist politician. Sergej rose through the ranks of the Communist Party of Slovenia in the 1940s. He fought in the partisan resistance. He became chairman of the People's Assembly of Slovenia in 1967. He held that position until 1974, and then served as President of the Presidency of Slovenia from 1974 to 1979. Following the death of Edvard Kardelj, Kraigher became the Slovenian member of the collective presidency of Yugoslavia and served as 3rd President of Presidency Yugoslavia after death of Josip Broz Tito (1980), from 1981 to 1982. Kraigher is also known as the chairman of Kraigher Commission which was set up by the government of Yugoslavia to advise and give proposals in solving the Yugoslavian economic crisis which started to develop in the early to mid-1980s. The commission report was the basis of a reform package that was to be implemented by the Milka Planinc cabinet but it never happened.
He died in Ljubljana, Slovenia.


Taxation in Estonia

Taxation in Estonia consists of state and local taxes. A relatively high proportion of government revenue comes from consumption taxes whilst revenue from capital taxes is one of the lowest in the European Union.
Land Value Tax.
Estonia levies a Land Value Tax which is used to fund local municipalities. It is a state level tax, but 100% of the revenue is used to fund Local Councils. The rate is set by the Local Council within the limits of 0.1-2.5%. It is one of the most important sources of funding for municipalities.
The Land Value Tax is levied on the value of the land only, improvements are not considered. Very few exemptions are considered on the land tax and even public institutions are subject to the land value tax. Land that is the site of a church is exempt, but other land held by religious institutions is not exempt.
The tax has contributed to a high rate (~90%) of owner-occupied residences within Estonia, compared to a rate of 67.4% in the United States.
Natural persons income tax.
Estonia natural person income tax is considered to be proportional, but, due to basic exemption, it is actually progressive. Standard rate for natural persons in year 2015 is 20% (down from 21% in 2014). A basic exemption is granted, which is increased upon provision of maintenance to a child, in event of pensions, in event of compensation for accident at work or occupational disease. Additionally, a number of expenses are deductible: housing loan interests, training expenses, gifts, donations, contributions to a voluntary/mandatory funded pension and unemployment insurance, social security payments mandatory in a foreign state. Amount of deductible housing loan interest, training expenses, gifts and donations is limited – in 2011, the limit was 3196 euros but no more than 50% of the taxpayer's income during the same period of taxation.
There is no capital gains tax but gains from transfer of securities or other financial assets are subject to standard income tax. Since 2011, a new system has been in place, which allows natural persons to defer the tax liability created on income received from financial assets until the time of taking the income into use, by using an investment account for this purpose. An investment account is just an ordinary monetary account with an obligation to record all money transfers. For attaining an objective by means of an investment account, income received from the financial assets must be transferred to an investment account without delay. A taxable amount shall be created when the disbursements made from all investment accounts exceed the balance of contributions in all investment accounts after the disbursement.
Social tax and mandatory insurance payments.
Salaries paid to employees are subject to
Social tax rate stands at 33%. The same rate is applied to fringe benefits that employer provides to employees. Unemployment insurance premiums are paid by both employer and employee: 2,8% is withheld is of the employee gross salary and 1,4% is paid by employers of monthly gross salaries. In 2012, a rate of a funded pension payment is 2% of the gross salary of a resident employee and are withheld by employer.
Corporations/legal persons income tax.
Legal persons income tax rate is 20% in the year 2015. However, the system of corporate earnings taxation currently in force in Estonia is a unique system, which shifts the moment of corporate taxation from the moment of earning the profits to the moment of their distribution. In other words, earning profits in itself does not bring income tax liability, which arises only when earned profit is distributed to shareholders. In case profit distributed to shareholders originates from dividends received from a subsidiary company or from a permanent establishment the corporation has in another country, then profit distribution is tax exempt. Distributed profits mean gifts, donations, representation expenses and any payments and expenses not connected to the business. Estonia does not have withholding tax on dividends paid. Nevertheless, distributed profits are taxed at a rate of 20%.
Value added tax.
From 1 July 2009, the standard VAT tax rate in Estonia has been 20% and a reduced rate of 9%. A small number of goods and services are not taxed. Estonian VAT system is based on EU Council directive 2006/112/EC and its basic principles are the same as in other EU countries. As of 2018, the annual turnover threshold for mandatory registration as VAT liable person is 40,000 euros.
Tax administration in Estonia.
Responsibility for administering taxes lies on the Tax and Customs Board. Majority of tax declarations are presented via Internet: for example, in the year 2012 94,2% of all natural persons income tax declaration were presented using the Internet. Percentages for VAT and customs declarations are even higher.
Other taxes.
Taxes applied in Estonia that were not mentioned previously:


Stollwerck

Stollwerck GmbH is a German chocolate manufacturer. It was founded in 1839 and expanded internationally in Europe and America, becoming the second largest producer of chocolate in the United States by 1900. Since 2011 it has belonged to Belgian firm Baronie Group.
History.
From beginnings until the Second World War.
In 1839 the baker Franz Stollwerck started business in Cologne, Germany. He diversified into chocolate and other candy, having particular success with cough drops. Local pharmacists requested that he be prevented from selling such medicinal items in 1845, but this was rejected. His business flourished in Germany and also he opened two coffee houses in Cologne. One of these was briefly converted into a music hall before becoming a chocolate and candy factory in the 1860s. In 1871 his sons registered a separate company "Gebrüder Stollwerck" (Stollwerck Brothers) which merged back into the original company in 1876, after the death of Franz Stollwerck.
Stollwerck's five sons expanded the business into a multinational corporation with plants in Europe and America. The second youngest of the brothers, Ludwig Stollwerck was instrumental in introducing new technology including the first vending machines in 1887. These were initially used to sell small samples of chocolate, but their immediate popularity meant they were soon used to sell entire bars. In 1893 Stollwerck was selling its chocolate in 15,000 vending machines. It set up separate companies in various territories to manufacture vending machines to sell not just chocolate, but cigarettes, matches, chewing gum and soap products. By 1890 its Cologne works alone had 1500 staff.
Stollwerck turned their focus to exporting their products. Subsidiaries were formed in England, Belgium and Austria-Hungary. In 1894 Stollwerck founded "Volkmann, Stollwerck & Company" in the USA, in partnership with German businessman John Volkmann to produce vending machines in their factory in New York. By the early 1890s there were over 4,000 of its vending machines on New York train stations. It also became a leading manufacturer of cinematographs. In 1902 the company went public, but World War I brought Stollwerck's rapid expansion to a halt.
In 1927 Karl Stollwerck built the Stollwerck Mausoleum in Upper Bavaria, a rare combination of Protestant church and family burial chamber.
Costly acquisitions and the global economic downturn of the Great Depression devastated Stollwerck's finances. It had to be rescued by the Deutsche Bank in the 1930s, which marked the end of its family ownership.
In the Second World War food rationing and the scarcity of cocoa drastically reduced the firm's market.
From the Post Second World War period to the present.
After the Second World War the firm was left with damaged factories and much of its manufacturing equipment expropriated as reparations. It restarted production in 1949 and fared moderately in the face of intense competition in the 1950s and 1960s. Its finances worsened until 1972, when Hans Imhoff bought the company and guided it to great success as a chocolate manufacturer with plants in West Germany and abroad, directly competing with long-established brands such as Sarotti.
After the reunification of Germany, Stollwerck quickly invested in the former East Germany, buying the Thuringian Chocolate Factory GmbH in Saalfeld, makers of "Rotstern" brand chocolate and the German Democratic Republic's largest chocolate producer.
Stollwerck opened a chocolate factory in Székesfehérvár, Hungary in 1995 and became the market leader. It achieved similar success in Poland and Russia.
In 1993 the Imhoff-Stollwerck chocolate museum was opened in Rheinauhafen, Cologne to exhibit items from Stollwerck's history and the history and science of chocolate making.
In 1998 Stollwerck acquired Sarotti from Nestlé.
In 2001 Hans Imhoff retired and Stollwerck sold its Eastern European subsidiaries to Kraft Foods.
In 2002 Stollwerck was sold to Barry Callebaut AG, the world's largest chocolate company, who bought back its public shares and ceased production at the parent factory in Cologne, just leaving administrative functions there.
In 2011 Barry Callebaut sold Stollwerck to the Baronie Group of Veurne, Belgium.
In 2011 Stollwerck had five factories in Belgium, Germany and Switzerland and employed 1700 staff. Its annual production was around 100,000 tonnes of chocolate.


Sonali Bank

Sonali Bank Limited () is the principal state-owned leading public commercial bank in Bangladesh.
It is the largest bank of the country.
History.
Sonali Bank was established in 1972 under the Bangladesh Banks (Nationalisation) Order, through the amalgamation and nationalisation of the branches of National Bank of Pakistan, Bank of Bahawalpur and Premier Bank branches located in East Pakistan until the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. When it was established, Sonali Bank had a paid up capital of 30 million taka. In 2001, its authorised and paid up capital were Tk 10 billion and Tk 3.272 billion respectively. Presently, its authorised and paid up capital is Tk 10 billion and Tk 9 billion respectively. The bank's reserve funds were Tk 60 million in 1979 and Tk 2.050 billion on 30 June 2000. In 2013, $250,000 was stolen from the bank by Cyber criminals using the Swift International payments network. In 2016 the Bank signed an Memorandum of Understanding with PayPal.
Branches.
Sonali Bank has a total of 1227 branches. The most recent branch that opened services is in Rajshahi University Campus Branch, Rajshahi. Out of them, 467 are located in urban areas, 746 in rural areas, and 2 are located overseas (India). It also operates the Sonali Exchange Company Inc. in USA, Sonali Exchange in Dubai (UAE), Sonali Bank (UK) Ltd., United Kingdom, Hong Kong, (HAR), and Singapore to facilitate foreign exchange remittances. Sonali Bank UK remits up to 25 destinations across Bangladesh directly, these include Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Beanibazar, Balaganj, Biswanath, Jagannathpur, Sunamganj, Gopalganj, Nabigonj, Hobigonj, Kulaura, Tajpur.
Overseas.
United States.
There are currently four in the US in Washington DC, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
United Kingdom.
There are four branches in the UK, one located in Osborn Street, in London, another in Small Heath; Birmingham and in Manchester.
India.
There are two branches in India, one in Kolkata & others in Siliguri of West Bengal state of India.
Islamic banking.
In 2010, Islamic banking was launched in 5 branches of different districts of the country through Sonali Bank. In 2009, again Islami banking was launched in six other branches of Sonali Bank in different districts across the country.


Battle of Waj Rudh

The Battle of Waj Rudh was fought in 642/643 between the Rashidun Caliphate under Nu'man, and the Sasanian Empire under the Dailamite Muta, the Parthian Farrukhzad and Isfandiyar, and the Armenian Varaztirots. The battle was fought in Waj Rudh, a village in Hamadan. The Sasanians were defeated under heavy casualties, which included the death of Muta and Varaztirots.


Nigerian nationality law

Nigerian nationality law is the law of Nigeria which concerns citizenship and other categories of Nigerian nationality.
Requirements.
(1) The following are ways to gain citizenship in Nigeria
By birth-namely-
(a) Every person born in Nigeria after the date of independence (October 1, 1960), either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents belongs or belonged to a community indigenous to Nigeria;
Provided that a person shall not become a citizen of Nigeria by virtue of this section if neither of his parents nor any of his grandparents was born in Nigeria.
(b) Every person born outside Nigeria either of whose parents is a citizen of Nigeria.
(2) In this section, "the date of independence" means the 1st day of October 1960.
By registration:
26. (1) Subject to the provisions of section 28 of this Constitution, a person to whom the provisions of this section apply may be registered as a citizen of Nigeria, if the President is satisfied that -
(2) The provisions of this section shall apply to-
(a) Any woman who is or has been married to a citizen of Nigeria or every person of full age and capacity born outside Nigeria any of whose grandparents is a citizen of Nigeria.
By naturalization:
27. (1) Subject to the provisions of section 28 of this Constitution, any person who is qualified in accordance with the provisions of this section may apply to the President for the same of a certificate of naturalisation.
(i) Resided in Nigeria for a continuous period of fifteen years; or
(ii) Resided in Nigeria continuously for a period of twelve months, and during the period of twenty years immediately preceding that period of twelve months has resided in Nigeria for periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than fifteen years.
28. (1) Subject to the other provisions of this section, a person shall forfeit forthwith his Nigerian citizenship if, not being a citizen of Nigeria by birth, he acquires or retains the citizenship or nationality of a country, other than Nigeria, of which he is not a citizen by birth.
29. (1) Any citizen of Nigeria of full age who wishes to renounce his Nigerian citizenship shall make a declaration in the prescribed manner for the renunciation.
(2) The President shall cause the declaration made under subsection (1) of this section to be registered and upon such registration, the person who made the declaration shall cease to be a citizen of Nigeria.
(3) The President may withhold the registration of any declaration made under subsection (1) of this section if-
(a) The declaration is made during any war in which Nigeria is physically involved; or
(b) In his opinion, it is otherwise contrary to public policy.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section.
(a) "full age" means the age of eighteen years and above;
(b) Any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age.
30. (1) The President may deprive a person, other than a person who is a citizen of Nigeria by birth or by registration, of his citizenship, if he is satisfied that such a person has, within a period of seven years after becoming naturalized, been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than three years.
(2) The President shall deprive a person, other than a person who is citizen of Nigeria by birth, of his citizenship, if he is satisfied from the records of proceedings of a court of law or other tribunal or after due inquiry in accordance with regulations made by him, that -
(a) The person has shown himself by act or speech to be disloyal towards the Federal Republic of Nigeria; or
(b) The person has, during any war in which Nigeria was engaged, unlawfully traded with the enemy or been engaged in or associated with any business that was in the opinion of the president carried on in such a manner as to assist the enemy of Nigeria in that war, or unlawfully communicated with such enemy to the detriment of or with intent to cause damage to the interest of Nigeria.
31. For the purposes of this Chapter, a parent or grandparent of a person shall be deemed to be a citizen of Nigeria if at the time of the birth of that person such parent or grandparent would have possessed that status by birth if he had been alive on the date of independence; and in this section, "the date of independence" has the meaning assigned to it in section 25 (2) of this Constitution.
32. (1) The president may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Chapter, prescribing all matters which are required or permitted to be prescribed or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the provisions of this Chapter, and for granting special immigrant status with full residential rights to non-Nigerian spouses of citizens of Nigeria who do not wish to acquire Nigerian citizenship.
(2) Any regulations made by the president pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be laid before the National Assembly
NIGERIA
CITIZENSHIP: Citizenship is based upon the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, dated 1989. (UKC-Commonwealth Nation)
Those born before or on the date of independence, October 1, 1960, whose parents or grandparents were born in Nigeria and who were legally residing in Nigeria at the time, are considered citizens of Nigeria.
BY BIRTH: Birth within the territory of Nigeria does not automatically confer citizenship.
BY DESCENT: Child, at least one of whose parents is a citizen of Nigeria, regardless of the child's country of birth.
REGISTRATION: The following persons are eligible to become citizens through registration: A foreign woman who marries a citizen of Nigeria. Person who is of adult age (17), born outside Nigeria, any of whose grandparents is or was a citizen of Nigeria. A foreign child adopted by Nigerian parents.
BY NATURALIZATION: Nigerian citizenship may be acquired upon fulfillment of the following conditions: Person is of full age (17), has resided in Nigeria for at least 15 years, is of good character, plans to remain in Nigeria, is familiar with Nigerian language and customs, has a viable means of support, and has renounced previous citizenship.
LOSS OF CITIZENSHIP:
VOLUNTARY: Voluntary renunciation of Nigerian citizenship is permitted by law. Contact the Embassy for details and required paperwork.
INVOLUNTARY: The following are grounds for involuntary loss of Nigerian citizenship: Registered or Naturalized citizen voluntarily acquires the citizenship of a foreign country. Naturalized citizen, before seven years of residence, sentenced to prison for three years or more. Registered or Naturalized citizen is convicted of acts of disloyalty to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Dual nationality.
Nigerian nationality law allows dual nationality of people of Nigerian descent either through birth or parentage. They are also allowed to hold public office in Nigeria.
Some in Nigeria feel that dual nationality damages nationality unity of the country.
Nigeria and the Commonwealth of Nations.
Nigerians are also Commonwealth citizens.
Visa requirements of Nigerian citizens.
Visa requirements for Nigerian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Nigeria. In 2016, Nigerian citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 45 countries and territories, ranking the Nigerian passport 92nd in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index.


Timor Telecom

Timor Telecom, S.A. (TT) is an East Timorese telecommunications company, based in the national capital Dili.
The company originally had a state monopoly on telecommunications in East Timor. The monopoly was lifted by the government in 2010 in response to overwhelming public opinion in favour of liberalisation.
Shareholdings.
, the largest shareholder of the company (54.01%) was Telecomunicações Públicas de Timor, S.A. (TPT), which was controlled by Investel Communications, a Brazilian company owned by Timorese businessman , with partners and capital from the Middle East and China.
The shareholders of TPT were Investel (76%), the Harii Foundation – Sociedade para o Desenvolvimento de Timor-Leste (linked to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baucau) (18%), and Fundação Oriente (6%).
Investel held a further 3.05% of TT via another company, PT Participações SGPS, S.A. The remaining shareholders in TT were the State of Timor-Leste (20.59%), VDT Holding Limited, a Macau-based company (17.86%) and East Timorese businessman Júlio Alfaro (4.49%).
History.
In September 1999, the telecommunications infrastructure in East Timor was destroyed during the crisis following the East Timorese independence referendum. In 2001, the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) launched an international tender for the construction of a replacement telecommunications system. The new network was to be operated according to a concession agreement as a BOT (Build–operate–transfer) arrangement. In July 2002, the Timor Telecom consortium (led by Portugal Telecom) was awarded the tender.
On 17 October 2002, the Timor Telecom consortium was transformed into Timor Telecom, S.A., the first corporation to be formed in the newly independent East Timor. Under the concession agreement, TT was granted a monopoly on telecommunications in East Timor for a term of 15 years.
By 1 March 2003, the company had created East Timor's first national telecommunications network, and set up its country code, +670. On that day, the company began operating the network in Dili, Lospalos, Baucau and Oecusse. By the end of 2003, landline, mobile and internet services were available on the network, and the company had opened its first store in Dili. The following year, the company started operating a telecommunications station on Atauro, and opened stores in Baucau and Gleno.
In 2005, further stores followed in Maliana, Suai and Pante Macassar. In 2006, independent East Timor's first phone book appeared. The following year, 2007, the first yellow pages were published (also online) and voice mail was first offered. By 2008, the company had 125,000 mobile customers. In 2009, it engaged ZTE, a Chinese equipment supplier, to expand its mobile telecommunications system and establish Wideband CDMA.
In March 2010, the East Timorese government approved a new telecommunications policy, under which telecommunications would be liberalised. TT's monopoly was to be ended in response to overwhelming public opinion in favour of liberalisation, and in line with developments in the European Union and other countries in the Pacific such as South Korea. In 2012, the government and the company signed an agreement for the early end of the monopoly.
On 2 October 2013, Portugal Telecom and Oi, S.A., a Brazilian telecommunications company, announced that they would combine operations to form a new Brazil-based business. In 2015, the merged company's assets in Portugal were sold to Altice to reduce debt; the merged company retained its interests in TT. In June 2016, Oi filed for a 19 billion (65 billion) bankruptcy protection, the largest on record for Brazil. In December 2016, Oi sought approval from a Rio de Janeiro district court to sell its stake in TT to Investec, and in March 2017 the court gave its approval, subject to an assessment that the amount Investec had offered was appropriate.
Meanwhile, TT, now operating under the new liberalised telecommunications policy, expanded its range of services and steeply reduced its prices. In 2013, it introduced three new customer plans, completed the renovation of all of its existing stores, and opened a new call centre at . Since then, the company has introduced new technologies, including an improved internet concept and a high speed internet mobile service.
Services and coverage.
TT offers landline and mobile voice and internet services, under a variety of plans. , the company covered about 94% of East Timor's population with mobile network and internet services, and had about 632,500 customers for those services.


Leonid Maykov

Leonid Nikolaevich Maikov (1839, Saint Petersburg – 1900, Saint Petersburg) was a prominent researcher in the history of Russian literature, a full member of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences, president of the Russian Bibliological Society, Privy Councillor; the son of the painter Nikolay Maykov, the younger brother of Apollon, Valerian and Vladimir Maykov.
Biography.
Maykov was born on April 9, 1839. He studied at the boarding school of Count Suzor and the 2nd Saint Petersburg Gymnasium and in 1860 graduated from the course of Saint Petersburg University as a candidate of the historical and philological faculty and for some time taught at the gymnasium of the Human–Loving Society. In the same year he was enlisted in the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Finance.
In 1863 Maykov defended his thesis for a master's degree in Russian literature titled "On the Epics of the Vladimir Cycle", in which he proposed a historical point of view on the origin of epics: he indicated, in particular, that the epics of the Vladimirov cycle are a reflection of the Kiev specific period. Maykov did not last long in the Ministry of Finance and in 1864 he moved to the Central Statistical Committee and took an active part in its work until 1892, as well as in international statistical congresses. From 1868, Maykov worked as a professor at the Saint Petersburg Archaeological Institute.
In 1882 he was appointed assistant director of the Imperial Public Library. In 1889 he was elected an academician, in 1893 he was appointed vice president of the Academy of Sciences. By virtue of his rank of vice president, he was chairman of the Emperor Nicholas II Foundation to assist writers and scholars.
Maykov became a member of the Russian Geographical Society in 1864. Inn 1871 he headed the ethnographic department, in 1872–1886 he was the chairman of the ethnographic department and edited several of its publications, including five volumes of "Notes on the Ethnography Department". He was also a member of the Archaeographic Commission of the Moscow Archaeological Society from 1876, becoming ruler of affairs in 1892 and chairman in 1899. From 1868–1882 he was an assistant editor of the Journal of the Ministry of Education and from 1882–1890 editor.
Markov also began his literary activities as a student, posting a long series of historical and literary articles and reviews in "Domestic Notes", "Dawn", "Russian Herald", "Ancient and New Russia", "Russian Antiquity", "Russian Archive", "Journal of the Ministry of Public Education", "Historical Bulletin", "Russian Philological Bulletin" and others.
The most important of them are devoted to Simeon Polotsky, Lomonosov, Vasily Maykov, Sumarokov, Krylov, the history of Russian journalism, the ancient Russian story, the history of Russian superstitions and are collected under the title "Essays from the History of Russian Literature of the 17th and 18th Centuries" (Saint Petersburg, 1889, 1893).
Markov separately published "Materials and Research on Ancient Russian Literature" (1890–1891).
In 1889, Maykov edited a compilation of works by Konstantin Batyushkov with the assistance of Vladimir Saitov).
In 1891, he edited and characterized the collection of critical experiences of his brother Valerian.
In his master's thesis, Maykov showed significant scientific independence. In an era of almost undivided domination of the mythological explanation of folk poetry, he put forward a historical point of view on the origin of Russian epics, with is still respected by scholars. In Maykov's opinion, the Russian epic is a true echo of Russian historical life, and, in particular, the epics of the Vladimirov cycle, the Kiev specific period. Many heroes of epics – Dobrynya, Alyosha Popovich, Sadko, Ilya Muromets – the author, comparing the annals, considers them to be truly existing; in household details, he indicates traces of the actual historical life of 10th–13th centuries. Epics arose, in his opinion, among the squads.
Maykov died on April 20, 1900. He was buried in Saint Petersburg at the Novodevichy Cemetery.


Tehaapapa I

Tehaʻapapa I (c. 1735–1790) (Tehaʻapapa Fatu'araʻi Teri'i-tariʻa Te-i'oa-tua-vahine) was a Queen regnant of the island of Huahine. She was the ruler of that island during the time Captain Cook visited the island and an ancestor of Queen Teha'apapa II.
Biography.
She was born in 1735 and became queen in 1760. Her husbands were Chiefs Rohianuʻu and Mato Teriʻi-te Po Areʻi of Raiatea (both brothers).
She died in 1790 and her successor was her son Teriʻitaria I. His father was Mato.
She had a daughter Tura'iari'i Ehevahine, who was a queen consort of Raiatea. Her grandchildren were king Tamatoa IV and queen Teri'itaria II.


Governor of the Bank of Spain

The Governor of the Bank of Spain () is the head of the Bank of Spain, the central bank of the Kingdom of Spain. The Bank of Spain is integrated in the European System of Central Banks and, as such, the Governor is an "ex officio member" of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank.
The Governor is appointed by the executive branch and it reports to both Government and Parliament. To ensure its independence, the governor has a term of six years, with no possibility of renewal. Further, the governor cannot be fire except for exceptional cases.
The current and 70th governor is Pablo Hernández de Cos, whose appointment was official on May 31 and it assumed the office on June 11, 2018.
Appointment process.
As stipulated by the Bank of Spain Autonomy Act of 1994, the Monarch appoints the Governor, the Deputy Governor and the rest of members of the Bank's Governing Council and Executive Committee. The governor is nominated by the Prime Minister, while the deputy governor is nominated by the incumbent governor.
The governor has a special appointment process. Before its appointment, the Minister of Economy must appear before the Congress of Deputies' Economy Committee to inform about the candidate. The candidate do not need the approval of Congress, although as a requirement the candidate is required to be a Spanish person with recognized competence in monetary or banking matters.
The governor's and deputy governor's mandates lasts six years and are not renewable. The governor and deputy governor only leave the office when its term ends, by resignation or when the Government proves that the governor has a permanent incapacity for the exercise of its powers, serious breach of its obligations, office incompatibility or prosecution for a criminal offense.
Functions.
The governor's functions are:
List of governors.
This is a list of the people that have served as Governor of the Bank of Spain. This title was adopted in 1856, although the Bank's roots dates back to 1782.


NLB Group

NLB Group is the largest banking and financial group in Slovenia with an exclusive strategic interest in South-eastern Europe (SEE). It covers markets with a population of approximately 17.4 million people. In addition to NLB d.d., a main entity in Slovenia, NLB Group comprises nine subsidiary banks in SEE: NLB Banka Skopje, NLB Banka Sarajevo, NLB Banka Banja Luka, NLB Banka Prishtina, NLB Banka Beograd, NLB Banka Podgorica, newest members Komercijalna Banka a.d. Beograd and its two subsidiaries in BIH and Montenegro, several companies for ancillary services (asset management, leasing, real estate management etc.) and a limited number of non-core subsidiaries controlled wind-down. NLB d.d. is as of 14 November 2018 a publicly listed company owned by a diversified investor base and whose largest shareholder is the RoS with a 25% plus one share. With the acquisition of Komercijalna Banka, Beograd in December 2020, the Group further strengthened its strategic and systemic position in the region and now holds a top 3 position in six out of seven markets where it has a banking presence.


Taxation in Iran

Taxation in Iran is levied and collected by the Iranian National Tax Administration under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of the Government of Iran. In 2008, about 55% of the government's budget came from oil and natural gas revenues, the rest from taxes and fees. An estimated 50% of Iran's GDP was exempt from taxes in FY 2004. There are virtually millions of people who do not pay taxes in Iran and hence operate outside the formal economy. The fiscal year begins on March 21 and ends on March 20 of the next year.
As part of the Iranian Economic Reform Plan, the government has proposed income tax increases on traders in gold, steel, fabrics and other sectors, prompting several work stoppages by merchants. In 2011, the government announced that during the second phase of the economic reform plan, it aims to increase tax revenues, simplify tax calculation method, introduce double taxation, mechanize tax system, regulate tax exemptions and prevent tax evasion.
Government's budget.
The government can increase its tax revenues 2.5 times by enacting tax reforms. As at 2012, taxes account for 43% of the government's revenues and 7% of Iran's GDP. The Expediency Council's report recommended increasing that share to 15% of the GDP. As of 2014, the share of direct taxes from the total tax revenues was around 70%. Top ten percent earners in Iranian society pay 3% of all income taxes, while in the United States the top 10% pay more than 70% of the total income taxes. Contradicting this, the head of the Majlis Economic Commission says that 85% of Iran's tax revenues “come from barely 3% of taxpayers”.
Tax evasion.
According to the Expediency Council, more than 60% of economic activity in Iran avoids or evades taxation: 40% of the economic activity falls under an exemption and the remaining 21% are conducted off-the-books (2012). Iran is losing between $12–20 billion a year through tax avoidance and evasion. However the Iranian National Tax Administration only identified and collected through audit unpaid taxes worth 184 trillion rials ($1.5 billion) in FY 2018. Starting in 2015, Iran's parliament decided to tax Setad and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Tax evaders typically are either involved in activities in the gray sector of economy or in the underground market which they do not divulge. Others are engaged in smuggling and the black market. The loses are equivalent to 20% to 25% of the country's gross domestic product revenue. In 2014, international medias reported Iranian nationals to be listed among the tax evaders in Switzerland.
In 2019, Iranian tax revenues increased by 35% because of reported taxation evasion crackdown.
Income tax.
There are five categories of income earned by individuals. Each category is taxed separately and has its own computational rules.
According to the Iranian direct tax rolls article no 84. all employees salary tax rate from the beginning of the 1396 fiscal year is as below:
Every year annual salary exemption from tax will be announce by Iranian tax organization up to this level the salary tax rate is zero.
Up to the 5 times more than annual exemption salary tax rate is 10%.
In excess of above level salary tax rate is 20%.
For taxable income consisting of salary and benefits, employers are required to make the necessary tax deductions from their employees’ payroll and submit them to the tax authorities. However, when calculating taxable income, exemptions and deductions are allowed. As of 2009, only government employees were paying their fair share of income taxes.
Individuals of Iranian nationality resident in Iran are subject to tax on all their income whether earned in Iran or abroad. Foreign nationals working in Iran are also subject to the same income tax based on their salary. Non-resident individuals are liable to pay tax only on their Iranian-sourced income. Foreign employees cannot obtain an exit visa from Iran unless they provide proof that they have paid their due taxes, and since they need to obtain an exit permit when their presence in Iran is based on a work permit, the government can easily enforce this rule. The government assumes a certain salary for employees depending on their position and country of origin. The assumed minimum monthly salaries in 2004 range from US$2,500 for unskilled European workers to US$7,000 for European managing directors.
According to the 131 note of Iranian tax rolls, from the beginning of the 1395 Iranian year tax rates of the individual business income have changed:
up to 500.000.000 IRR is 15%
500.000.000 to 1.000.000.000 IRR is 20%
In excess of 1.000.000.000 IRR is 25%
Islamic taxes.
In addition to these mandatory taxes, as of 2007, Islamic taxes were collected on a "voluntary" basis. These included an individual's income tax (Arabic khums, “one-fifth”); an alms-tax (zakat), which has a variable rate and benefits charitable causes; and a land tax (kharaj), the rate of which is based on the principle of one-tenth (ushr) of the value of crops, unless the land is tax-exempt.
"Al Khums" or the Fifth of excess income paid as a form of "Zakat" (alms-giving), which is usually reserved for Aal-Al-Bayt, Prophet Mohammad’s Household. The black turban of Khamenei signifies that he belongs to Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib and Fatima’s household and being Al Wali Al Faqeeh (guardian of Islamic jurists with full control of the society's affairs) gives him the majority share of the Fifth, as was the case with Ayatollah Khomeini. The amount is worth hundreds of millions of dollars accrued annually and added to Setad’s revenues.
Real estate tax.
Rental income is subject to real estate income tax in Iran. A fixed deduction of 25% of the gross income is extended to all taxpayers to account for income-generating expenses. The net income, which is 75% of the gross rent, is then subject to the same rates as in the above table (max. 35%). Rental income is exempted from real estate tax if the property is a residential property leased as such and measures up to 150 sq. m. if it is located in Tehran (up to 200 sq. m. if it is located in other parts of the country).
According to the presented above rate for individual business tax rate:
-If the landlord is a company the rental income after deducting 25% as exemption will be-multiply 25% because the income tax rate for companies is 25%
-If the landlord is a person rate of calculating tax on rent is as below "from the beginning of the 1395 fiscal year":
up to 500.000.000 IRR is 15%
500.000.000 to 1.000.000.000 IRR is 20%
In excess of 1.000.000.000 IRR is 25%
In Iran the transfer of land, not the land itself, is subject to taxation. Transfer of properties: 5% of the transaction value (15% for new buildings).
Capital gains tax.
As of 2020, Iran has no capital gains tax on the sale of real estate assets.
Capital markets.
Starting April 2014, all companies have to report their short term investments at fair value instead of cost. As of July 2010, taxes on TSE transactions were as follows:
Inheritance tax.
Inheritance taxes are levied at progressive rates depending on the relationship between the deceased and the heir.
A deduction allowance of IRR30 million (US$3,230) is extended to each first degree heir. First degree heirs who are below 20 years of age or are incapacitated are entitled to the maximum deduction allowance of IRR50 million (US$5,383).
The inheritance tax rates are as follows:
Corporate income tax.
A new flat rate corporation tax of 25 per cent payable on the profits of corporate commercial entities has been introduced. This rate replaces the old corporation tax of 10 per cent and progressive rates of income tax (12-54 per cent) on reserves and distributable income. Apart from the 25 per cent corporation tax and the 0.3 per cent Chamber of Commerce tax no more taxes will be payable by the corporate entity or the shareholders.
The new rate of corporation tax will also apply to joint venture corporate entities registered in Iran. The tax incidence will therefore be on the corporate entity and not on the shareholder. The calculation of the tax has been simplified.
All contracting work performed by foreign contractors, whether or not the company is registered in Iran, is taxed. For contracts signed before March 21, 2003, gross taxable income is calculated as gross contract receipts less the cost of imported material. Income is then taxed at 12% of gross taxable income less contract retention. For contracts signed after March 21, 2003, taxable income is the gross contract receipts less contract expenses. Income is taxed at 25 per cent less 5 per cent taxes withheld at source.
Taxation of foreign companies.
Taxation in Iran generates particular unease among foreign firms because they appear to be arbitrarily enforced – tax bills are initially based on 'assumed earnings' calculated by the Finance and Economy Ministry according to the size of the company and the sector in which it operates. Factors such as the quality and location of a company's offices are also widely believed to affect tax assessment.
All foreign investors doing business in Iran or deriving income from sources in Iran are subject to taxation. Depending on the type of activity the foreign investor is engaged in, various taxes and exemptions are applicable, including profit tax, income tax, property tax, etc.
Generally speaking, Iran has two types of laws concerning foreign companies. The first are laws that address issues concerning foreign companies directly such as the "Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Act" (FIPPA) and the second are general laws of which certain articles or by-laws address foreign companies, for instance the Taxation Law and the Labor Law. The Tax Act had divided the source of income earned by foreign companies either direct or through their branches in Iran into three main categories:
[Note: "The Amendment" has introduced certain changes in the tax treatment of the above activities.]
Foreign legal entities must pay taxes on all taxable income earned through investments in mainland Iran or from direct or indirect (through agents, branch offices, etc.) activities in mainland Iran, at the flat rate of 25% as mentioned in Article 47 of "the Amendment" law.
Income from royalty and licensing fees received from industrial and mining companies, government ministries and municipalities, and income from film-screening rights are subject to a deemed taxable coefficient on income of 20 per cent. All other income from royalties and licences from foreign companies is subject to a deemed taxable coefficient on income of 30 per cent. The coefficients are based on the standard corporate tax rate of 25 per cent, so that the effective tax rate is either 5 per cent or 7.5 per cent.
[Note: "The Amendment" has removed the confusion surrounding 'technical assistance contracting' by including 'technical assistance' and 'transfer of technology' in contracting operations subject to tax on the basis of 12 per cent of annual fees.]
Tax on liaison, representative and branch Offices.
The same corporate and profit taxes will be applied to the taxable income of branches of foreign companies (contractors, consultant engineers, et al.)
Other income earning activities of foreign branches will be subject to taxation on an actual basis, i.e. based on their income tax return as filed and supported by their statutory accounting books.
Expenses incurred in Iran by Iranian registered branches and representative offices of foreign companies that are not authorized by their head offices to engage in any trading activity but are only authorized to conduct marketing and market research in Iran are tax deductible upon presentation of receipts from their head office.
Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Act (FIPPA).
Location requirement for tax-exemption:
Tax exemption – major changes.
The exemptions on exports of manufactured and agricultural goods remain in force, but an ambiguity has occurred in the amendment regarding exemptions extended to the public sector (Iranian Government owned entities). Government owned enterprises and their shares in the private sector entities were excluded from all exemptions granted under the Tax Act.
This exclusion has been removed from the relevant texts in the amendment. Until clarification is provided, it is not certain whether or not the government minority shares in the private sector manufacturing, mining and exports activities would enjoy the exemptions granted.
The 50 per cent tax exemption previously granted to tourism enterprises has been extended to include five-star hotels. Since 2014, foreign companies who set up business in Iran will receive corporate tax breaks of up to 50%, if they export at least 30% of their products.
Losses.
Losses sustained by all taxpayers engaged in trading and other activities, who are required to keep proper books of account, provided they are accepted by the tax authorities; will be carried forward and written off against future profits for a period of three years.
Double taxation.
List of countries that have a double-taxation avoidance agreement with Iran (as of 2014):<br>
 Algeria, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, France, Georgia, Germany, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela.
Appeals procedure.
It is noteworthy to point out that "the Amendment" has removed the second stage of appeal process. Appeals to the High Council of Taxation could only be made on questions of non-compliance with the provisions of the Tax Act rather than questions of fact.
Accounting standards.
"The Amendment" has for the first time after 1979 reintroduced the concept of the tax audit to be undertaken by 'official accountants' and their designated firms. The taxpayer or the tax administration can choose to appoint an official accountant or a designated firm of official accountants to examine his records and report to the tax authorities.
The accounting profession is not particularly organized in Iran. However, the influence of the foreign accounting practices implies an evolution and a relation between the Iranian accountants training and the American one. Thus, an increasing number of accountants and Iranian auditors receives an American training and apply it in Iran. This will contribute to strengthen the harmonization of Iranian book-keeping systems with international standards. Iranian banks use interest-based transactions and retain the accounting standards of conventional banking. Following international sanctions, KPMG, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, RSM, Crowe Horwath and Grant Thornton have suspended their activities in Iran in recent years. The main professionals and representative organization in Iran is the Iranian Institute of Certified Accountants.
Starting in FY 2017, all Iranian companies are required to prepare their financial statements based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
Indirect taxes.
Value added tax (VAT).
In 2008, sales tax rate in Iran was 3%. "Value Added Tax Act (VATA)" was put into effect since mid-year 1387 (2008). Its implementation was suspended following 10 days of widespread demonstrations across Iran in October 2008. This Act has substituted all previous laws and regulations dealing with indirect taxes (including sales tax). According to the VATA, supply of commodities and services, as well as their imports and exports, shall be subject to the provisions of this Law.
According to article 16 of this Act, the VAT rate is 1.5%, but the VAT rates of certain goods such as "cigarettes and tobacco products" and "gasoline and jet fuel" are respectively 12 and 20%. In addition to the VAT rates just mentioned, article 38 of VATA levies the following duties on goods and services which are subject to this Act:
The fifth development plan stipulates that VAT is to be increased by 1% each year, in order that it reaches 8% by the end of the plan (by 2015). As of 2010, VAT for goods and services (except oil and tobacco products) was 3%.
VAT tax exemption.
VAT will not apply to free trade zones in Iran. However, goods and services entering Iran's customs territory will be subject to payment of VAT according to the law. Articles 12 and 13 stipulate that supply and importation of some commodities and services including the following shall be exempt from the VATA:
Municipal tax.
This tax only applies to companies, which are subject to a municipal tax at the rate of three per cent of their taxable income (2006).
E-commerce.
Neither the Electronic Commerce Law of 2004 nor any other Iranian legislation deals specifically with taxation arising from e-commerce.
Customs.
As of 2006, imports to Iran valued at more than IR500,000 ($50,000) must undergo pre-shipment quantity and quality inspection in their country of origin by an internationally recognised inspection organisation (such as SGS S.A.). Goods exported to Iran must be subject to invoices authenticated by the Iranian Embassy and by a nominated Chamber of Commerce operating in the supplier's country.
Tariff rates.
As of 2015, there are a variety of items which are exempt from taxes being imported into Iran, such as:
Protectionism and dumping.
As much as 70% of Iran's imports could be substituted by domestically produced products. Iran has passed a law that bans the import of foreign goods and services when similar products or capacities already exist in Iran. The government says that 200 thousand new jobs are created with every one billion dollar reduction in imports. Reported issues are increasing the quality of domestic products, more research and development needed, adaptation by domestic suppliers to the Iranian consumer tastes and marketing. As part of the resistive economy, the Supreme Leader of Iran has urged Iranians to consume more domestic products over imported ones.
In 2019, Iranian media reported that foreign firms were dumping their medicines in order to hinder the development of competing domestic pharmaceutical firms.
Modernization.
In an effort to streamline and harmonize the customs procedure with other governmental and
private partners, the Government of Iran has selected ASYCUDAWORLD as a tool for its customs administration in order to move toward e-commerce and e-customs. This project is a technical cooperation project between the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and UNDP.
As of March 21, 2010, all imported goods must have barcode stickers "Irancode" that meet the national and international standards.
Free trade zones and re-export.
Value added tax (VAT) will not apply to free trade zones in Iran. However, goods and services entering Iran's customs territory will be subject to payment of VAT according to the law. In accordance with Article 12 of the Export-Import Regulations Act, the pre-exportation entry (temporary importation) of materials and goods to be used in producing, finishing, processing and packaging of exported goods are exempted from all import duties.
Smuggling.
One third of the imported goods in Iran are delivered through the black market, underground economy, and illegal jetties. Iran is modernizing the customs to prevent the smuggling of contraband "in" and "out" of the country worth $12 billion annually. Other estimates put the value of smuggled goods "into" Iran alone at $5.5 billion-$6 billion annually. In 2010, Police in Iran estimated about $16 billion worth of goods is smuggled into Iran each year. $12 billion worth of goods are illegal to have or own in Iran, with the remaining $4 billion being legal goods that are legal to own in Iran. In 2013, smugglers imported $17 billion of goods. Nearly $3 billion of goods were also imported, using tariff exemptions, while the total import reached $50 billion in value. Less than 1% of smuggled goods are intercepted by the authorities.
Largest black markets in Iran are those of:
One Majlis member recently stated that IRGC black-market activities alone might account for $12 billion per year. Iranian commander Mohammadreza Yazdi has stated that all IRGC economic activities are legitimate. Besides the IRGC, rogue elements within the Government of Iran, Bonyads and the Bazaar are allegedly involved in the smuggling activity.
Dubai and Khasab in the Persian Gulf are important foreign centers of smuggling into Iran. These imports enter Iran through major ports such as Bandar-e Abbas or free trade zones such as the islands of Kish and Qeshm. A total of 750,000 unlicensed small shops serve as conduit for the distribution of those goods throughout Iran.
Excessive import tariffs (for items such as clothing for example) also contributes to smuggling in Iran.
Damage to the economy.
Up to 80% of the goods enter the country through unregistered ports and jetties in the Persian gulf, thus undermining the domestic industries in energy, agriculture, garment, textile, electronics, home appliances (which account for 13% of all the goods smuggled into Iran/or one third of all home appliances in Iran). As of 2014, 75% of the cell phones in the market were smuggled into the country.
Effect on employment.
As per 2010 Iranian customs report $14.43 billion worth of goods were smuggled in and out of Iran out of which $13.25 billion was the value of goods smuggled into Iran leading to loss of some 600,000 jobs.


State Justice Institute

The State Justice Institute (SJI) is a private, nonprofit corporation that awards grants to improve judicial administration in the state courts of the United States. It was created under the State Justice Institute Act of 1984 (, "et seq.").
SJI is governed by an 11-member Board of Directors appointed by the US President and confirmed by the US Senate. The board includes six state court judges, one state court administrator, and four members of the public (no more than two of whom may be of the same political party).
The SJI Executive Director is responsible for the executive and administrative operations of SJI, is a non-voting "ex officio" member of the Board, and serves at the pleasure of the Board.


Euro Plus Pact

The Euro-Plus Pact (or Euro+ Pact, also initially called the Competitiveness Pact or later the Pact for the Euro) was adopted in March 2011 under EU's Open Method of Coordination, as an intergovernmental agreement between all member states of the European Union (except Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden and UK), in which concrete commitments were made to be working continuously within a new commonly agreed political general framework for the implementation of structural reforms intended to improve competitiveness, employment, financial stability and the fiscal strength of each country. The plan was advocated by the French and German governments as one of many needed political responses to strengthen the EMU in areas which the European sovereign-debt crisis had revealed as being too poorly constructed.
The pact was constructed as an attempt to incentivize increased implementation of structural reforms by each participating EU member state, to improve their performance within the four focus areas of the pact, through: (1) A regular bottom-up inter-governmental political dialogue (learning best practices from each other) and (2) A commitment for each state to include reform measures (freely chosen from a broad list of potential policy action responses) in their annual "National Reform Programme" for those of the areas found in critical need of improvement. It also featured a commitment to transpose and operationalize one of the Stability and Growth Pact fiscal rules directly into national legislation – to make it more effectively working, and a commitment to perform regular "structured dialogue" for enhanced tax policy coordination in EU.
In May 2015, the European Political Strategy Centre (in-house think tank of the European Commission) upon its analysis of the latest set of submitted National Reform Programmes, declared the pact was in a dormant state (not being actively used or referred to by the majority of participating states), and recommended it should be revived by moving it from its current intergovernmental state to become an integrated part of the European Semester in the EU framework law. In the latest approved plan for reforming the EMU, this recommendation was adopted with a target for its transposition to take place at the latest in June 2017.
Euro-Plus Pact.
The Euro-Plus Pact came with four broad strategic objectives along with more specific strategies for addressing these objectives. The four objectives are:
An additional fifth issue is:
Although for tax policy coordination, there is no requirement to achieve certain improvements or implement specific measures, as member states only more vaguely:
"commit to engage in structured discussions on tax policy issues, notably to ensure the exchange of best practices, the avoidance of harmful practices, and consideration of proposals to fight against fraud and tax evasion."
The four key objectives listed above are intended to be addressed with individualized measures by all member countries of the pact, unless a Member State can "show that action is not needed" in a specific area. While the pact comes with specific strategies, these are not compulsory. Specifically the pact states:
"The choice of the specific policy actions necessary to achieve the common objectives remains the responsibility of each country, but particular attention will be paid to the set of possible measures mentioned below."
Each member state commits at an annual frequency to "agree at the highest level on a set of concrete [policy] actions to be achieved within 12 months". The actions and initiatives taken by each member state across the four common key objectives, shall after having been agreed, then be noted as an explicit part of their "National Reform Program" and/or "Stability/Convergence Program" reports, being published annually in March/April. Finally, in addition to this:
"Member States also commit to consult their partners on each major economic reform having potential spill-over effects before its adoption".
Competitiveness.
This area of the pact, is the same as several European countries had to address in the 1980s by abolishing Wage Indexation. The need for competitiveness improvements will be evaluated for each country upon analysis of its national "Unit Labour Cost" (ULC), a quantitative measure of wage costs per unit produced or serviced, and is to be addressed by measures that will reduce the cost of labour and/or measures that will increase productivity. Each country will be responsible for the selection of its own specific policy actions to improve competitiveness, but should mainly pick and choose between the following reform types:
Employment.
This objective will be evaluated on basis of measured figures for the "long-term unemployment rate, youth unemployment rate" and "labour participation rates." Beside of full employment being an objective by itself, a flexible all-inclusive labour market with security arrangements removing barriers for employees to conduct an increased amount of job shifts throughout their working career, also positively spill-over into improving the competitiveness. Each country will be responsible for the selection of its own specific policy actions to improve employment, but should mainly pick and choose between the following reform types:
Sustainability of public finances.
This objective will be assessed on basis of the sustainability gap indicators (S0 for the short-term, S1 for the medium-term and S2 for the long-term), which the Commission already publish every third year in their fiscal sustainability report (as part of their work to calculate appropriate minimum Medium-Term budgetary Objectives for each EU member state). If the composite S0 indicator is above 0.43, it signals existence of too high risk for fiscal stress in the short-term, which call on implementation of immediate counter measures. If the fiscal gap indicators S1 and/or S2 indicators are positive, it means debt levels are forecast to become unsustainable in the medium-term and/or long-term under a no-policy-change assumption, because of increasing public expenditures caused by demographic factors. If such S1 or S2 sustainability issues arise, they are to be addressed through implementation of fiscal consolidation leading to sufficient annual improvements for the structural budget balance and/or by increasing the sustainability of pensions, health care and social benefits systems through the following expenditure saving reforms:
To further safeguard fiscal sustainability, one of the most stringent conditions of the pact is given with respect to also implementing national fiscal rules:
"Participating Member States commit to translating EU fiscal rules as set out in the Stability and Growth Pact into national legislation."
When implementing a balanced budget amendment, Member States are free to choose the type of legislation instrument (i.e. constitutional law or framework law), as long as it impose a "sufficiently strong binding" condition and a "durable nature". The law-enforced rule, needs to be fully compliant with the Stability and Growth Pact rules, but the exact formulation of the rule is up for each country to decide, as it could either be a "debt brake rule, or a rule related to the primary balance or an expenditure benchmark rule." Additionally, in case sub-national levels of the general government have autonomy to issue debt or other liabilities, the rule should ensure enforcement of fiscal discipline both at the national and sub-national levels.
Financial stability.
The Financial stability will be measured quantitatively for each country with respect to its "level of private debt for banks, households and non-financial firms." With assistance from the President of the European Systemic Risk Board, the countries will be regularly informed on their present state of macro-financial stability, and will be expected to put into place "national legislation" to resolve potential problems. In addition, all participating Member States commit to adopt a fully community acquis compliant national legislation for banking resolution.
Tax policy coordination.
The Euro Plus Pact does not entail any specific commitments on tax policy initiatives, other than to briefly outline that member states commit to engage in discussions about it through a regular "structured dialogue". Tax policy coordination is expected to help strengthen the sharing of best practices and fight against tax fraud and evasion. Direct taxation remains a national competence for each Euro Plus Pact member to decide upon individually. The European Commission had presented a proposal to introduce a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) with appliance for all EU member states already back in March 2011, which if agreed could be a revenue neutral way to ensure consistency among national tax systems, while respecting national tax strategies - as it refrain to set a common tax rate. The Euro Plus Pact explicit mentioned, that its featured "structured dialogue" for "tax policy coordination", should also be used for the purpose to try and reach a future CCCTB agreement. The CCCTB proposal had still not reached any final agreement as of June 2015, which prompted the commission to announce they will now submit a relaunched less ambitious CCCTB proposal in 2016 - leaving out the more difficult "consolidation part" for later agreement - so that the core CCTB can be adopted more rapidly in the short-term.
In November 2011, the Finance ministers of all 23 participating states agreed on the content and format of the regular "structured dialogue" on tax policy coordination. The dialogue was decided to focus on: "Avoidance of harmful practices, fight against fraud and tax evasion, exchange of best practices, prospects for International Coordination, and other potential issues (including taxation challenges related to digital economy, stronger alignment of national tax systems in specific areas like the recently proposed CCCTB, financial transaction tax, environmental and energy taxation, sustainability of tax systems, and empirical analysis of the impact of tax changes on growth)." It was agreed, to set up a regular monitoring and reporting to the highest political level (European Council meetings) by the end of each future Council presidencies, on the following issues: "progress within the structured dialogue, concrete results in the field of tax coordination, avenues explored and specific issues on which agreement could be reached". Status reports for the structured dialogue on tax policy coordination, were subsequently published in: June 2012, November 2012, June 2013, December 2013, June 2014, December 2014, and June 2015. These regular specific reports which focus on Euro Plus related taxation dialogues, supplement those being simultaneously published by the ECOFIN council - which produce status on all relevant tax dialogues conducted between all EU member states. The ECOFIN tax dialogue reports were also published in June 2012, November 2012, June 2013, December 2013, June 2014, December 2014, and June 2015.
Participation.
On 25 March 2011 the proposal for economic measures and cooperation was adopted by the European Council and included as participants without any caveats the Eurozone member states as well as Bulgaria, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania. The EU members which did not participate are Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden and the United Kingdom, all for different reasons. Croatia subsequently acceded to the EU in July 2013.
Progress.
The pact did not set up any structures or agreement for an independent monitoring of reform progress among its participating members. However, as a third party independent initiative aimed to keep institutional investors informed, the annual "Euro Plus Monitor report" conducts a comparative competitiveness ranking for all eurozone states and selected EU member states, as per the joint analysis and opinion of Berenberg Bank and the Lisbon Council. According to the Euro Plus Monitor report 2011, many eurozone member countries were found to be rapidly reforming to increase the competitiveness of their economies as of November 2011. The report also found that "Many of those countries most in need to adjust [...] are now making the greatest progress towards restoring their fiscal balance and external competitiveness". Greece, Ireland, Malta and Spain are among the top five reformers among 17 countries included in the report. The monitor report was also published in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
The original plan: The Competitiveness Pact.
The original plan was announced by Germany and France in February 2011 and called for six policy changes to be set as well as for a monitoring system to be implemented to ensure progress. The four objectives are: abolishing wage indexation, raising pension ages, creating a common base for corporate tax and adopting debt brakes. In the following sections the motivation for and criticism of each objective is summarized.
Wage indexation is the process of adjusting wages to compensate for inflation, which reduces the value of money over time. Abolishing indexation would allow for real wages to decrease increasing the competitiveness of countries as it becomes less expensive to employ people. Understandably this policy objective has been called into question by some governments such as Belgium as it reduces people's purchasing power.
In countries with "pay as you go" pension systems, as most European countries have, raising pension ages has a very profound impact on government revenue as people who continue working will also pay taxes instead of requiring them. This too is a controversial proposal as can be seen in the 2010 French pension reform strikes.
Creating a "common base" is perceived by some as a first step in a process of unifying tax rates and as such has been opposed by countries such as Ireland, which have low corporate tax rates. The opinion of the European Commission is that having a common rules for calculating of the base amount over which the different national tax rates are applied is beneficial for the enterprises since it will reduce the administrative burden and costs of maintaining compliance with 27 different rule sets for corporate bookkeeping.
The word "debt brake" comes from the German "Schuldenbremse", an amendment to the constitution legally limiting the size of sovereign debt countries are allowed to run. These have been implemented in Switzerland in 2003 and in Germany in 2010. Debt brakes can vary in strictness and details of the intended implementation are not yet clear, but the motivation for this rule is to create a legally binding policy instead of the current budget guidelines on deficits which have been not been implemented by member countries.
Criticism.
The plan has been criticised for impinging on the sovereignty of countries, due to its authority to set policy in areas that were previously under national sovereignty. The reforms that the pact contain have also been criticised as being too harsh, or conversely called into question for not being strict enough in its requirements to implement reforms. On the other hand, some leaders agree that in order to avoid dangerous nationalisms and have fiscal and economic governance, it is necessary to transfer sovereignty.