Through the proposed amendment of the EU Directive 2012/30/EU, the European Commission seeks the EU-wide implementation of a Preventive Restructuring Framework. The key objective is reduction of the likelihood of insolvency of generally viable businesses with (temporary) financial difficulties. Parallel to the Commission's efforts, the Dutch legislator published a detailed draft bill regulating the sanctioning of pre-insolvency composition. In the EU proposal and the Netherlands' draft legislation, relevant tax implications are not addressed. This may cause uncertainty and incentives for parties involved that interfere with the objective of a pre-insolvency composition. This article examines the Dutch tax aspects - for the debtor and involved creditors and shareholders - of common discharge and restructuring solutions in a binding restructuring plan. With every subject, general tax aspects are identified that may be relevant for other jurisdictions as well. It shows that a pre-insolvency composition may have important tax implications and that in some cases creditors and shareholders could even prefer bankruptcy over restructuring. The authors are of the opinion that the Dutch scheme needs further clarification and believe it even requires specific tax regulation. The authors recommend other EU Member States to assess the national tax elements of a binding pre-insolvency composition upon the implementation of the Preventive Restructuring Framework.

This comprehensive book provides a clear analysis of the European Restructuring Directive, which aims to improve national frameworks governing business restructuring and insolvency as well as to provide debt relief for individuals. Gerard McCormack explores the key aspects of the Directive including the moratorium on litigation and enforcement claims against the financially-troubled business, the provision for new financing, the division of creditors into classes, the introduction of a restructuring plan and the rules for approval of the plan by a court or administrative authority.

This report examines the relationship between large business taxpayers and revenue bodies, five years on from the publication of the FTA’s Study into the Role of Tax Intermediaries.

Tax administration improvements have contributed significantly to a doubling of China’s tax-to-GDP ratio and the substantial reduction in taxpayers’ compliance costs since the mid-1990s. This paper describes the key features of China’s tax administration and their evolution over the last 20 years. It also identifes emerging challenges to the tax system and areas where further tax administration improvements are needed to sustain tax revenue and reduce taxpayers’ compliance costs in the future.

To date, the use of empirical data in insolvency law analysis has been sporadic. This paper provides a conceptual framework for the use of data to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of insolvency systems. The paper analyzes the existing sources of data on insolvency proceedings, including general insolvency statistics, judicial statistics, statistics of insolvency regulators and other sources, and advocates for the design of special data collection mechanisms and statistics to conduct detailed assessments of insolvency systems and to assist in the design of legal reforms.

This paper explores how fiscal policy can affect medium- to long-term growth. It identifies the main channels through which fiscal policy can influence growth and distills practical lessons for policymakers. The particular mix of policy measures, however, will depend on country-specific conditions, capacities, and preferences. The paper draws on the Fund’s extensive technical assistance on fiscal reforms as well as several analytical studies, including a novel approach for country studies, a statistical analysis of growth accelerations following fiscal reforms, and simulations of an endogenous growth model.

This handbook provides guidance for the assessment teams and the reviewed jurisdictions that are participating in the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the “Global Forum”) peer reviews and non-member reviews.