Premium Essay

Italian Tax More

In:

Submitted By mengli1025
Words 1088
Pages 5
The American manager in Italy was morally correct based on Kant’s three categorical imperatives1 even though the “Cultural Relativism”2 may put challenge on this statement.
First of all, the American manager refused to file the tax “Italian style”3 on the grounds that understating profit is dishonest and not in compliance with corporate practice4. As Kant’s first categorical imperative states - one should “act only on maxims which you can will to be universal laws of nature”5, the manager acted on the maxim that a corporation should be honest when reporting profits. Being honest is a principle that has been universalized – consider the exception, which was exactly what happened in Italy back then: as a “generally accepted Italian practice”6, understating profits by 30%-70%7 was adopted by most companies in Italy when filing for tax. The consequence was that the Italian Tax Authorities no longer believed there is still any “honest player” and assumed every one cheats when filing tax. Thus in Italy a tax system that’s supported by honest and genuine self-reporting ceased to exist – the Tax Authorities had to meet the representative of the corporation (the commercialista8) and negotiate the “true tax payment” – the immoral action of being dishonest is thus self-defeating9.
Kant’s 2nd categorical imperative promotes “respect for persons” principle10 which, put in business context, requires that “people in a business relationship not to be used (coerced or deceived) and business practices to be arranged to contribute to the development of human rational and moral capacities” (the “positive freedom”)11. In this case the American manager refused to be coerced (forced to adopt the Italian tax-filing practice) and deceived (hiring a commercialista to represent the company and possibly ending up paying more tax than the company actually owes). The manager’s act is moral on

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Eco International

...Assignment Cover Sheet |Family Name: |First Name: |Student ID Number: | |Nguyen Da |Huong Quynh | | |Course: SNHU2010 | |Unit Code: |Unit Title: | |Eco 322 |International Economics | |Assignment Title: | |Application of theory to study of trade | |Name of Lecturer: |Place of Lectures: | |Nguyen Thanh Tung | | |Date Submitted: |Student...

Words: 3348 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

The New Italian Patent Box

...THE NEW ITALIAN PATENT BOX: FIRST EVALUATION AND COMPATIBILITY ISSUES WITH THE OECD INDICATIONS Author: Luca Marco Pappalardo Summary: 1. The new Italian Patent Box: a brief overview. - 2. Eligible assets. - 3. Eligibility requirements and determination of the relevant income: the nexus approach. - 3.1 Nexus approach and trademarks: what went wrong? - 3.2 Looking at the issue from a comparative perspective - 4. - Conclusions. 1. The 2015 Italian Stability Law, Article 1, subsections from 37 to 45, introduces an optional taxation regime for income produced by intangible assets, known as ‘Patent Box’. The regime has been subsequently modified by Article 5 of the Law Decree n. 3 of 24 January 2015. The regime allows taxpayers to exclude from their tax base a percentage of the income derived from certain intangible assets. According to the Stability Law, individual and collective entrepreneurs as well may choose to benefit from this regime, including foreign entrepreneurs having a permanent establishment in Italy and being resident in a state that has both a double tax agreement with Italy and undertakes an effective exchange of information. The election of the regime cannot be revoked and lasts for five fiscal years. The income that benefits from the exemption may originate from: 1) direct use of the intangible assets by the taxpayer; 2) allowance of use of the intangible assets given by the taxpayer to third parties; 3) transfer of ownership of the relevant assets...

Words: 4828 - Pages: 20

Free Essay

Italian Crisis

...ITALIAN CRISIS (the main reasons) The euphoria was evident. "We've done it!" Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta tweeted the last year after the European Commission had provided his country with new financial leeway. Letta had managed to convince Brussels that Italy would remain below the European Union's budget deficit limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product, if only by a hair, at a forecast 2.9 percent. The premier insisted that his country finally had the latitude to stimulate growth and promote new jobs, and that his administration had achieved "perhaps the most important result" of all time. That was at the beginning of July. Since then, politicians and lobbyists have been energetically arguing over how to take advantage of the new opportunity. Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wants to abolish the property tax on first homes, which would cost €4 billion. And if the government were to refrain from a planned increase in the value-added tax, as has also been called for, it would forfeit an additional €2 billion ($2.6 billion) in revenues. Letta and the left, for their part, would like to invest €1.5 billion to create new jobs for young unemployed Italians. The debate, and Letta's optimism, has temporarily obscured the difficult situation in which Italy finds itself. All the ideas under discussion for stimulating the country's economy will cost money -- and will require Rome to take on additional debt. Indeed, Standart & Poor's recently showed its lack of...

Words: 1480 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

A Proposed Re-Start for Italy Without the Euro

...independence to conduct monetary policy and is now facing a stagnant economy. Italy’s main source to reduce their high debt (over 120% of their GDP) is through fiscal policy and Italians have been experiencing steep increases in their taxes ever since the Euro was introduced. The Italian society has been experiencing an increase in unemployment, especially for the youth. It is quite challenging for young Italians to find job. After graduating from a university, the average Italian will most likely end up with a job as a waiter/waitress, electrician, taxi driver, or for the lucky ones, take over the family business. If Italy dropped Euro as its official currency and regain monetary independence, monetary policy could be implemented by the central bank of Italy (Banca D’Italia) in order to stimulate the economy by increasing the supply of Lire in the country to stimulate the economy, decrease unemployment, depreciate the currency to improve exports, increase consumption, and reduce the national debt. Background Italy’s economy is industrially diversified, mostly dominated by private corporations in the north. On the other hand, the so-called Mezzogiorno region (southern region) is mostly agricultural and unfortunately well-fare dependent as the unemployment rate is higher than the north. The Italian industry is more popularly known for their exports of luxury goods such as high quality tailor (Prada, Armani, Gucci…), exotic vehicles such as Ferrari, Maserati, and Lamborghini, and high...

Words: 4604 - Pages: 19

Free Essay

Macroeconomics

... Tintoretto and Caravaggio, the operas of Verdi and Puccini, the cinema of Federico Fellini, add the architecture of Venice, Florence and Rome and you have just a fraction of Italy's treasures from over the centuries. While the country is renowned for these and other delights, it is also notorious for its precarious political life and has had several dozen governments since the end of World War II. In my report I would like to look at current situation of Italy, especially economy and some predicting for the future. Italy has a diversified industrial economy, which is divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less-developed, welfare-dependent, agricultural south, with high unemployment. The Italian economy is driven in large part by the manufacture of high-quality consumer goods produced by small and medium-sized enterprises. Italy is the fourth largest European economy and...

Words: 1836 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Fiscal Policy

...States has an impact on tax payers, future Social Security and Medicare users, unemployed individuals, students, exporters, importers, and most of all, the country’s Gross Domestic Product. In the following, the team will discuss how the U.S. deficit, surplus, and debt affect society, not only in the United States, but also around the world. Tax Payers The influence of fiscal policy changes scheduled to occur at the end of 2012 can poses serious challenges for tax payers. One area where high tax payers are disagreeing is the increase in tax rates resulting part due to the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. President Obama has asked for the reinstatement of the higher top tax rates in his budget submission to the Congress. The increase in the Medicare tax and its expansion to unearned income for high income earners under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 also contributes to the increase in top tax rates. The concern over the top individual tax rates has been a focus because of the special role played by flow-through businesses like S corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, and sole proprietorships. These businesses employ 54% of the private sector workforce and pay 44% of the federal income taxes. Higher taxes result in the significant increase in the average marginal tax rates (AMTR) on business, wage, and investment income, as well as the marginal effective tax rate (METR) on new business investment. These higher marginal tax rates result in a smaller...

Words: 1453 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Cultural Analysis of Italy

...visitors. The capital of Italy is Rome (also known as the Eternal City) and is almost 3,000 years old. It has been the capital since 1871 and is home to the Dome of St. Peter's, the Sistine Chapel, the Coliseum, and the famous Trevi Fountain. They are well known for their culture and food, along with their easily recognizable shape as a boot. They are passionate about many things, including their food. When McDonald's opened in 1986 in Rome, food purists outside the restaurant gave away free spaghetti to remind people of their culinary heritage. The richness of its past and the 'live-life-to-the-fullest' attitude combine to make Italy a must-see travel destination. II. RELEVANT HISTORY Evidence of civilization has been found on the Italian peninsula dating far into pre-history. Thousands of rock drawings discovered in the Alpine regions of Lombardy date from around 8,000 BC. There were sizable settlements throughout the Copper Age (37th to 15th century BC), the Bronze Age (15th to 8th century BC) and the Iron Age (8th to 5th century BC). In the north of Italy, the Etruscan culture took hold around 800BC, while Greeks settled in southern Italy from 700 to 600BC, namely in Apulia, Calabria and Sicily (then known as Magna Graecia). The Roman Empire (5th Century BC to 5th Century AD) The Roman Empire was one of the largest and most enduring in world history. The saying "All Roads Lead to Rome" alludes to this central hub of technology, literature, culture and architecture...

Words: 5559 - Pages: 23

Free Essay

Inter Analysis

...Executive summary Table of contents Introduction 1. Strategic analysis 2.1 internal analysis 2.1.1 existing mission, objective Jamie’s Italian was founded in oxford in 2008. Since then it has grown to more than 40 restaurants worldwide, and there are already plans for even more in towns, counties and countries around the word. Their menu and concept are constantly evolving with creativity, simplicity, great quality and genuine passion at the heart of everything. They work hard to find the very best ingredients, which are meticulously sourced from producers, both in Italy and around the UK. And the staff of the restaurant have thorough knowledge of all the dishes that they serve including the personalities and the stories. Jamie’s Italian is designed to be accessible and affordable, a neighborhood restaurant where everyone is welcome and feels comfortable. And the target of the restaurant is family style, good for business meetings, child-friendly and special occasion dining. Their productions collect with international inspirations including the cuisines of Spain, Italy, Sweden, Morocco, Greece and France (Harriet 2005). In addition, they also have online shopping contains deli, gifts, tableware, ovenware and planks. And the price of restaurant is 20-30 pounds each. The decorative style of the restaurant is “industry feel”, which is design with recycle material by Blacksheep company. According to the statement of senior designer Jordan (2011), the main concept of the...

Words: 6314 - Pages: 26

Premium Essay

Paloman Case

...Overview Palamon Capital Partners is a European private equity firm operating as a generalist firm that provides expansionary or transitional funds to companies in order to let them grow and eventually go public. Palamon takes extensive measures to screen prospective companies for the desired characteristics necessary for an investment. After careful consideration, Palamon has the opportunity to invest €25.9MM in Team Systems, an Italian accounting, tax, and payroll software company, in exchange for a 51% stake in the firm. Palamon saw recognized that there were a number of areas in which they could guide the firm to being a more professional company, and generate additional value for shareholders. There were several unknowns however, only 4 years of financial data existed, and the pro forma statements were created during due diligence, meaning there are no pro forma statements detailing the firm’s continued operations without the investment. Palamon is in need of a recommendation which incorporates all of the issues surrounding this the proposed investment to essentially determine if this is a sound the investment is sound, and do if any of the additional risks impact the value of the investment. Approach & Analysis Traditionally, the value of a company is determined by discounting the future cash flows of said company by its WACC, yielding the firm’s value. This assumes that the company has a constant capital structure, and the WACC adequately captures the opportunity...

Words: 1641 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Italy: Country Profile Euromonitor International 31 August 2012

...Unemployment will rise rapidly during the year, reaching the highest level in more than a decade. Italy currently has the third oldest population in the world and the potential rate of growth could slip further as the population ages. KEY POINTS Italy's economy will slip back into recession in 2012 when real GDP is expected to contract by 1.9%. The economy contracted by 0.7% in the second quarter of 2012. This was the fourth successive quarter of decline. The poor performance can be attributed to several factors including the on-going austerity programme and weaker demand for exports in other European markets. Unemployment was 8.4% in 2011 and it will rise to 10.8% in 2012 – the highest level in12 years. Unemployment would be even higher were it not for the low rate of labour force participation in the South and among women. Youth unemployment has reached 36%. In June 2012, the government introduced several labour reforms. The main thrust of these changes is to ease entry into the labour market for younger workers on apprenticeships, increase taxes to discourage short-term contracts and give room to employers to lay off workers for economic reasons. The budget deficit for 2011 was reduced to 3.9% GDP in 2011 and Rome plans to cut it further to 2.7% in 2012. To meet these targets, Rome rushed through an austerity programme and made various spending cuts. However, it soon became apparent that more spending cuts were necessary in order to avoid an increase in the VAT rate in...

Words: 3449 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Palamon Case Study

...of shares in TeamSystem S.p.A., the Italian ERP software company that specializes in accounting, tax, and payroll management. Knowing that this industry is fragmented and under constant regulatory change makes this acquisition of stock a significant risk. However, with TeamSystems S.p.A. controlling 14% of the market with 28,000 clients and a 95% customer retention rate, this makes for an attractive investment. TeamSystem’s revenue is sourced from initial software purchases and yearly upgrades. The company also has a lack of debt on the balance sheet. In order to take a 51% stake in TeamSystem for EUR25.9 million, we must look at the underlying factors. Being a company that thrives off of quality investments, we first need to take into account the non-price issues. By working in different countries, we must take into account the culture, language, ethics, currency, and policy changes per country. Furthermore we must consider the financial risk involved. Currently, the financial statements for TeamSystem are pro forma (i.e. unaudited). The management team heavily relies on the founder in the decision making process which could correlate to challenges in adapting to a more professionally run company post acquisition. TeamSystem is also facing an audit by the Italian tax authority, which could delay the company’s ability to go public. Furthermore, many of the company’s products were built on older software platforms. This could lead to more complicated technological problems down...

Words: 373 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

London Country Report

...of Contents I. London Country Profile……………………………………..pgs 3 to 10 II. Economic Profile of Rome Q2- 2008………………………pgs 10 to 12 A. Commercial Lease Standards…………………………..pg 12 B. Real Estate Taxation………………………………….....pg 12 and 13 III. Real estate Ownership Laws and Contract Agreements…pgs 13 to 16 IV. Tax Obligations Arising from Real Estate Ownership…...pgs 16 to 18 V. The Real Estate Sales Process……………………………...pgs 19 to 22 VI. Due Diligence Process and Documentation………………..pgs 22 to 24 VII. London Capital Markets Q1 - 2008………………………...pgs 25 to 31 C. Residential Lending and Funding……………………....pg 31 D. Mortgage Regulations……………………………………pg 32 VIII. London Real Estate Investment Funds (REIFs)……………pgs 32 to 35 IX. Conclusion: Invest or Not?.....................................................pg 36 Works Cited …………………………………………………pg 37 London Country Profile Area: 607 Sq. miles (1,572 km²) Population: 8.308 million People: Most population in London is younger than the United Kingdom. There are almost 2/3 of Londoners that are in the age 44 and younger, which would, equivalent to 63%; more than half. Life expectancy: men (79.3), women (83.5) Language(s): London has the most number of community languages that are spoken in Europe. There are 300 languages spoken in London. The most common are as follow: Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Cantonese and Mandarin most common. Religion(s): 48.4% are Christian; Atheist 20...

Words: 3412 - Pages: 14

Free Essay

Telecom Italia

...Telecom Italia Telecom Italia is the largest Italian telecommunications company, also active in the media and manufacturing industries. Now a private company listed on both “the Borsa Italiana”(the Italian stock market) and NYSE, it was founded in 1994 by the merger of several state-owned telecommunications companies. In addition to its domestic leading position, the Group has a significant presence in Latin America, a market with large growth potential. Revenues from Brazil and Argentina count for 34% of today Group's revenues. Abroad Group's focus is on Latin America. It operates in Argentina and Paraguay, providing fixed and mobile telephony services and internet through Telecom Argentina group. In Brazil, TIM Brasil remains one of the major players in what now is a market with a great potential for growth. Reasons why I have chosen Telecom Italy Firstly I am interesting to explore the possibility of investing in the company, then I would maybe like to work for the company one day, and I say that knowing the international scenario in which Telecom Italia operates and the wide chances of growth especially in emerging markets as Latin America. From this project I would also like to figure out if the growth possibilities in emerging markets can overcome the forecasts of not-so-good results in the domestic market due to what seems to be a long-term crisis scenario in Europe and Italy in particular. Risk Management The Telecom Italia Group is exposed to the following...

Words: 975 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Food Industry

...CASE STUDY HOMEWORK CORPORATE FINANCE 1 The Situation: In 2010 a new company was created in order to enter into the food industry. They spent many months in studying the market, engineering the products and the commercial strategy, find out the production plants. At the end of 2010 the business plan is ready and the company has already participated to an exhibition where many potential customers said to be very interested to the project. The problem: A private equity institution gets in touch with the company in order to buy 30% of the company buying new shares. The company wonders about the value of such shares, that is why the company asks a consultant to provide an estimation. The business idea: To manufacture in Italy, thanks to the well-known reliable partners, in order to maintain high quality. This way the company will be the leader in the market. To create franchising shops, in order to develop the brand and the customers' loyalty. To let franchisee pay weekly only the final goods he has already sold. This way: The company knows the daily amount of sales and also the product mix. Moreover it becomes easier to modify the production and to minimize the stock. Cash-inflows get closer, while the working capital investment becomes lower with a lower customer credit risk. Financial forecast: The business plan has been developed looking at an exhaustive market analysis. Forecast data are reliable; they refer to the first five years. The target is to open 80 franchising...

Words: 3191 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Fiscal Policy Paper

...Italian Clothing Company The deficit, surplus, and debt of the United States affects an Italian Clothing Company because; when it comes down to the United States deficit, it would cause the market to be over-run by foreign products. The rate in which a country is exporting is not at the level with it’s’ exports, a surplus would lead to more importation by the Italian Clothing Company and debt, it would cause the imports to be reduced (because many business partner would be hesitant to do business with the importer. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Effects on Italian Clothing Budget Deficit Expansionary polices, such as those incorporated into an economy during a recession, have positive effects for imports. Increasing the money supply will increase an American consumer’s option to purchase more foreign goods such as Italian clothing (Colander, 2010). Budget Surplus Contractionary policies, such as those that may occur in an economy operating at its productive capacity will have a negative effect on the purchase or Italian clothing. Levels of trade with foreign countries will decrease from the peak productive period. Debt Initiatives to pay-down the United States debt could have a negative effect on the economy, thus reducing the demand for Italian clothing. However, if efforts to lower the debt are successful there will be less tax burden on consumers in the future leading to more opportunities for foreign trade. An Italian Clothing Company (Importing) When the...

Words: 1188 - Pages: 5