Factors Affecting the Costs of UK VAT Compliance for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

10.1068/c0319 ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Hansford ◽  
John Hasseldine ◽  
Carole Howorth

As firms grow, taxation and, in particular, value added tax (VAT), is one of the first areas in which they must deal with government regulations. It has been argued in the United Kingdom that regulatory requirements are burdensome and can even be a constraint on the development and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The authors focus on SMEs and link the literature on VAT regulations and compliance costs to wider issues relating to SMEs. The costs of complying with VAT regulations are separated into core costs and total costs. Core costs are the mandatory costs that SMEs have to incur in order to comply with the VAT legislation and regulations. Total costs include VAT planning and one-off costs. For SMEs core costs represent a larger proportion of total compliance costs than is the case for larger businesses. A reduction in core costs would have a significant impact on the total VAT-compliance costs for SMEs. Factors expected to be associated with higher compliance costs are identified and tested in a multivariate framework. Empirical data were obtained from a survey of 4796 firms resulting in a final sample of 1085 firms and a response rate of 25.1%. Higher compliance costs (in absolute terms) are associated, inter alia, with increased turnover, newly registered firms, and increased complexity. Firms with higher compliance costs also perceived high psychological costs of VAT compliance. Compliance costs were also higher for individuals who did not have English as their first language, and individuals with special needs. The important implications of the findings for policy are highlighted.

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 635-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginija Grybaitė ◽  
Jelena Stankevičienė

Research background: There are widely recognized benefits of sharing economy for entrepreneurs and consumers. The European Commission emphasizes the importance of European countries being open to new opportunities that sharing economy brings. In order to promote the development of sharing economy, it is important to understand what factors contribute to its development. Purpose of the article: The presented paper aims to identify the main factors relevant for the growth of sharing economy and to determine whether there are factors which are more significant for the development of the sharing economy than others. Based on reviewed literature, the Authors compiled a set of indicators and employed them for research purposes. The selected indicators were assigned into four main groups: technological, political and regulatory environment, economic and social-cultural environment. Methods: The authors used two multicriteria methods (SAW and APH), which were applied to the set of indicators and modeled five different situations by attributing significance to the indicators. The Authors have applied this set of indicators for assessing the following selected countries:  Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the United Kingdom. The data covers the years 2011–2015. Findings & Value added: The results of the research show that technological readiness and social-cultural environment are significant for the development of sharing economy. For further research the Authors recommend the creation of a composite Sharing Economy Index (SHEI).


Author(s):  
Arkady Nikolaevich Daykhes ◽  
Vladimir Anatolievich Reshetnikov ◽  
Olga Aleksandrovna Manerova ◽  
Ilya Aleksandrovich Mikhailov

Aim of the study. Analysis of medical tourism’s organizational features based on the example of the large medical organizations in the United Kingdom, South Korea, Italy and China. Materials and methods. The data were collected by the authors by interviewing the heads of medical organizations and their deputies in the United Kingdom, South Korea, Italy and China (3–4 respondents per medical organization) using the developed questionnaire to identify the main mechanisms and tools for organizing the export of medical services. SWOT-analysis (Strengths; Weaknesses; Opportunities; Threats) was performed in order to comprehensively evaluate the received information. Results. Along with weaknesses and threats that slow down the development of medical services exports, strengths (internal factors) and opportunities ( external factors) that contribute to the development of medical tourism were also identified: the widespread popularity of the brand of medical organizations abroad which is associated with the provision of premium medical services; versatility and ability to conduct high-tech surgical operations; the presence of a separate premium class building and an international department for working with foreign patients and promoting a medical organization in the world market; well-established business relationships with assistance companies; foreign medical personnel who speak foreign languages and possess necessary skills to treat foreign patients; developed electronic medical care system; developed system of quality control of medical care; the presence of branches in other countries; the presence of a medical visa in the system of legislation; established cooperation with many countries at the embassy level; state licensing and accreditation for the provision of medical services to foreign citzens; the availability of a state website on the provision of medical assistance to foreign citizens; the possibility of the age of value added tax. Conclusion. We identified main patterns in the organization of export of medical services that can be applied to develop this direction in medical organizations of the Russian Federation during the analysis the strengths and weaknesses of four large medical organizations abroad, as well as external factors that affect the work of these medical organizations.


2016 ◽  
Vol 195 (4S) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seong Cheol Kim ◽  
Jae-Seung Chung ◽  
Sang Hyun Park ◽  
Seok San Park ◽  
Cheol Kyu Oh

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Jiang ◽  
Yi-Chung Hu ◽  
Ghi-Feng Yen ◽  
Hang Jiang ◽  
Yu-Jing Chiu

As a crucial part of producer services, the logistics industry is highly dependent on the manufacturing industry. In general, the interactive development of the logistics and manufacturing industries is essential. Due to the existence of a certain degree of interdependence between any two factors, interaction between the two industries has produced a basis for measurement; identifying the key factors affecting the interaction between the manufacturing and logistics industries is a kind of decision problem in the field of multiple criteria decision making (MCDM). A hybrid MCDM method, DEMATEL-based ANP (DANP) is appropriate to solve this problem. However, DANP uses a direct influence matrix, which involves pairwise comparisons that may be more or less influenced by the respondents. Therefore, we propose a decision model, Grey DANP, which can automatically generate the direct influence matrix. Statistical data for the logistics and manufacturing industries in the China Statistical Yearbook (2006–2015) were used to identify the key factors for interaction between these two industries. The results showed that the key logistics criteria for interaction development are the total number of employees in the transport business, the volume of goods, and the total length of routes. The key manufacturing criteria for interaction development are the gross domestic product and the value added. Therefore, stakeholders should increase the number of employees in the transport industry and freight volumes. Also, the investment in infrastructure should be increased.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 4936
Author(s):  
Ahmed Tawfik ◽  
Shou-Qing Ni ◽  
Hanem. M. Awad ◽  
Sherif Ismail ◽  
Vinay Kumar Tyagi ◽  
...  

Gelatin production is the most industry polluting process where huge amounts of raw organic materials and chemicals (HCl, NaOH, Ca2+) are utilized in the manufacturing accompanied by voluminous quantities of end-pipe effluent. The gelatinous wastewater (GWW) contains a large fraction of protein and lipids with biodegradability (BOD/COD ratio) exceeding 0.6. Thus, it represents a promising low-cost substrate for the generation of biofuels, i.e., H2 and CH4, by the anaerobic digestion process. This review comprehensively describes the anaerobic technologies employed for simultaneous treatment and energy recovery from GWW. The emphasis was afforded on factors affecting the biofuels productivity from anaerobic digestion of GWW, i.e., protein concentration, organic loading rate (OLR), hydraulic retention time (HRT), the substrate to inoculum (S0/X0) ratio, type of mixed culture anaerobes, carbohydrates concentration, volatile fatty acids (VFAs), ammonia and alkalinity/VFA ratio, and reactor configurations. Economic values and future perspectives that require more attention are also outlined to facilitate further advancement and achieve practicality in this domain.


Author(s):  
Michaela Moučková ◽  
Leoš Vítek

Presented paper focuses on measuring tax literacy among bachelor degree students at the University of Economics, Prague, along with analysis of the two factors that influence it. Based on the 150 collected questionnaires (63 % response rate), we measured tax literacy of students (personal income tax and VAT) and examined whether it depends on (i) previous passing of tax courses and (ii) previous practical experience with filing tax returns. More than half of the students were well to excellently-versed in tax matters, including those who have not completed any more advanced tax courses apart from the elementary tax course. For VAT, the results of statistical tests show that students’ knowledge depends on passing a more advanced course on consumption taxation. On the other hand, the link between experience with tax returns and results of tax literacy tests cannot be unambiguously confirmed or rejected. Within the first statistical test (personal income tax), it was established that students’ knowledge does not depend on previous filing of tax returns; the second test (value added tax) led to the opposite conclusion.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 241
Author(s):  
Mohammad Sharif Zami

Despite the fact that contemporary earth construction may open up new avenues to cutting down CO2 emissions, a review of literature reveals that there is sparse research to date identifying reasons behind why there may be resistance to earth construction as a sustainable construction material in the United Kingdom. The aim of this paper is to formulate a conceptual framework that facilitates a clearer understanding of factors affecting the acceptance of earth as a sustainable material in the UK. To achieve this aim, this study adopted a research methodological framework comprising of an extensive review of literature, the Delphi technique, and in-depth interviews. The conceptual framework provides insight into factors related to the UK context specifically including a lack of technological innovation, resources, well-established supply chain networks, training facilities in universities and building codes. These issues may be addressed through the promotion of earthen architecture as a method of cutting CO2 emissions and introducing earth construction modules in relevant degree programs. Keywords: conceptual framework, factors, building material, earth, environmental sustainability


2021 ◽  
Vol 129 ◽  
pp. 07005
Author(s):  
Nikola Slastanova ◽  
Marek Hlodak ◽  
Hubert Palus

Research background: The global environment influences the behaviour of companies. This concerns the requirements for increasing number of products, product lines, brands, the need for market segmentation, consumer demand, innovations as well as the behaviour of consumers and suppliers including environmentally appropriate purchasing. The forest-based industries must respond to changes from the perspective of the globalization process by appropriate adaptation and, inter alia, to focus on the introduction of environmentally properly procurement. The integration of green purchasing principles into business systems is increasingly mentioned in the process of globalization of economies in connection with the huge potential for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage. Purpose of the article: The aim of the paper is to identify and analyze the factors affecting the implementation of environmentally friendly purchasing in the companies of forest-based sector in Slovakia. Methods: The reasons for implementing responsible practices in supply chains are based either on the stakeholder theory or the assumption that companies have a more proactive approach to implement sustainable purchasing practices as they are aware of the possible benefits. Using a questionnaire survey the companies operating in all sub-sectors of the forest-based industry - wood, pulp and paper and furniture manufacturing, including their suppliers of wood raw material in Slovakia, were questioned with the aim to identify the reasons for implementing sustainable purchasing practices. Findings & Value added: Data obtained are used to identify the factors that are crucial for the introduction of green purchasing in companies in dependence on the specific company characteristics and conditions of the market environment under which companies operate.


2021 ◽  
pp. 097226612110588
Author(s):  
S. Vishnuhadevi

This article surveys the existing literature on the compliance and administrative costs of VAT incurred by the businesses and the governments respectively. The review focuses on the concepts and components of VAT operating costs, the link between the tax compliance costs and the tax compliance decision, factors associated with compliance costs and the steps taken by various countries to mitigate these costs. The major studies of VAT compliance cost since 1980 and the methodologies adopted are summarised. The review of the studies shows that the VAT compliance costs are higher and significant in both absolute money terms and relative to tax revenue in developed as well as developing countries than the administrative costs and the compliance costs are highly regressive in nature which disproportionately affects the small businesses. Further, the psychological costs are underexplored in the VAT compliance cost literature due to the difficulty in measuring them. This article also highlights the understudied area of VAT compliance costs in India and the importance of exploring the compliance burden in India.


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