FIN 48 is an interpretation that was meant to provide clarity around certain aspects of FAS109, specifically, the computation and disclosure of Uncertain Tax Positions ("UTPs"). As such, FIN 48 is an integral part of FAS 109 and needs to be considered within the tax provision work flow. Under FIN 48, UTPs formerly computed under FAS 5 must now be reviewed under new standards for identification, probability, computation, and disclosure. Once this has been done, the results need to be fully integrated with the rest of the tax provision.
Originally, taxes were levied to pay for government expenses. But they underwent a malignant transformation. They began to be used to express social preferences. Tax revenues were diverted to pay for urban renewal, to encourage foreign investments through tax breaks and tax incentives, to enhance social equality by evenly redistributing income and so on. As Big Government became more derided - so were taxes perceived to be its instrument and the tide turned. Suddenly, the fashion was to downsize government, minimize its disruptive involvement in the marketplace and reduce the total tax burden as part of the GNP.
Taxes are inherently unjust. They are enforced, using state coercion. They are an infringement of the human age old right to property. Money is transferred from one group of citizens (law abiding taxpayers) - to other groups. The recipients are less savoury: they either do not pay taxes legally (low income populations, children, the elderly) - or avoid paying taxes illegally. But there is no way of preventing a tax evader from enjoying tax money paid by others.
In the past, companies often shifted reserves within the payable with little or no disclosure. The roll forward of UTPs now requires companies to clearly breakout increases and decreases due to changes in judgment and the expiration of statute of limitations, both of which are offset by charges to the current tax provision. In practice, this means that the current tax provision related to the tax return needs to be tracked separately from the current provision related to UTPs to allow for separate roll forwards. Likewise, payments and refunds related to the filing of the tax return will have to be separated from payments and refunds related to the settlement of UTPs in order to populate the Settlement column of the UTP roll forward. Where a UTP is relieved with an audit settlement, a "true up" may have to be recorded as a PY Increase or PY Decrease, offset by an adjustment to the current tax provision.
The results were socially and morally devastating: an avalanche of illegal activities, all intended to avoid paying taxes. Monstrous black economies were formed by entrepreneuring souls. These economic activities went unreported and totally deformed the processes of macroeconomic decision making, supposedly based on complete economic data. This apparent lack of macroeconomic control creates a second layer of mistrust between the citizen and his government (on top of the one related to the collection of taxes).
The initial VAT legislation, usually close to standard international models, as time goes on tends to become both more complex and to some extent ad hoc in how it is actually applied. The structure of VAT becomes littered with privileges and exemptions that minimize its revenue impact and make it difficult to manage. Sometimes, once concessions enter the system, they have been subsequently enlarged surreptitiously without quick response from the tax administration, becoming in effect almost a "self- assessment" system without the necessary administrative systems and safeguards to support such a system. Concessions thus feed on themselves, encouraging taxpayers to lobby for still more concessions, just as tax amnesties create an incentive to defer payment in anticipation of future amnesties. Little assistance in coping with these complexities is offered in the way of taxpayer services. Nor is much done to guard against abuse, with most so-called VAT "audits" amounting to little more than simple numerical checks. Widespread base erosion facilitates both evasion and also, when taxpayers are subject to audit, corruption.
Originally, taxes were levied to pay for government expenses. But they underwent a malignant transformation. They began to be used to express social preferences. Tax revenues were diverted to pay for urban renewal, to encourage foreign investments through tax breaks and tax incentives, to enhance social equality by evenly redistributing income and so on. As Big Government became more derided - so were taxes perceived to be its instrument and the tide turned. Suddenly, the fashion was to downsize government, minimize its disruptive involvement in the marketplace and reduce the total tax burden as part of the GNP.
Taxes are inherently unjust. They are enforced, using state coercion. They are an infringement of the human age old right to property. Money is transferred from one group of citizens (law abiding taxpayers) - to other groups. The recipients are less savoury: they either do not pay taxes legally (low income populations, children, the elderly) - or avoid paying taxes illegally. But there is no way of preventing a tax evader from enjoying tax money paid by others.
In the past, companies often shifted reserves within the payable with little or no disclosure. The roll forward of UTPs now requires companies to clearly breakout increases and decreases due to changes in judgment and the expiration of statute of limitations, both of which are offset by charges to the current tax provision. In practice, this means that the current tax provision related to the tax return needs to be tracked separately from the current provision related to UTPs to allow for separate roll forwards. Likewise, payments and refunds related to the filing of the tax return will have to be separated from payments and refunds related to the settlement of UTPs in order to populate the Settlement column of the UTP roll forward. Where a UTP is relieved with an audit settlement, a "true up" may have to be recorded as a PY Increase or PY Decrease, offset by an adjustment to the current tax provision.
The results were socially and morally devastating: an avalanche of illegal activities, all intended to avoid paying taxes. Monstrous black economies were formed by entrepreneuring souls. These economic activities went unreported and totally deformed the processes of macroeconomic decision making, supposedly based on complete economic data. This apparent lack of macroeconomic control creates a second layer of mistrust between the citizen and his government (on top of the one related to the collection of taxes).
The initial VAT legislation, usually close to standard international models, as time goes on tends to become both more complex and to some extent ad hoc in how it is actually applied. The structure of VAT becomes littered with privileges and exemptions that minimize its revenue impact and make it difficult to manage. Sometimes, once concessions enter the system, they have been subsequently enlarged surreptitiously without quick response from the tax administration, becoming in effect almost a "self- assessment" system without the necessary administrative systems and safeguards to support such a system. Concessions thus feed on themselves, encouraging taxpayers to lobby for still more concessions, just as tax amnesties create an incentive to defer payment in anticipation of future amnesties. Little assistance in coping with these complexities is offered in the way of taxpayer services. Nor is much done to guard against abuse, with most so-called VAT "audits" amounting to little more than simple numerical checks. Widespread base erosion facilitates both evasion and also, when taxpayers are subject to audit, corruption.
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