Research background: The paper investigates the impact of bequest taxation on saving and transfers when parents and children make decisions consistently. It complements the predictions of Gale and Perozek's life-cycle modeling (2001) when decisions of parents and children are set independently and can be time-inconsistent. Purpose of the article: The paper strives to answer the question of whether taxation of bequest harms savings and inter vivos transfers. The previous results indicated that this is possible for some bequest motives. Our results show that this is not likely for the most typical values of parameters. Methods: The analysis involves economic modeling of four bequest motives: altruistic, paternalistic, accidental, and exchange. The method is based on the overlapping generation approach and life-cycle approach in the case of a paternalistic bequest. The results are supplemented with numerical simulations. Findings & value added: For the altruistic motive, savings are smaller if interest rates are low relative to the tax rate and the utility of one's consumption is more valuable than the utility of the next generations. For the accidental motive, savings decrease with small interest rates, high taxation and long-life expectancy. For the paternalistic motive, savings decrease when the interest rate and the value of future utility are low. For the exchange motive, savings are higher after a tax increase, but it depends on the value of attention and life expectancy. The general conclusion is that higher bequest taxation hamper saving behavior and may disturb the intergenerational exchange process. The bequest tax should, therefore, be set low, especially for aging populations, in order to induce higher savings and force the young to provide the elderly with higher attention.
The Supreme Administrative Court has correctly adjudicated that without determining which inheritance law is applicable to the inheritance from the testator, the tax authority cannot categorically claim that an heir subject to inheritance and donation tax acquired the ownership of things or rights by inheritance at the time of the testator’s death. The ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court is also an opportunity to take a broader look at the provisions of the Act of the 28th of July 1983 on inheritance and donation tax which go beyond the issues covered by this jurisdiction. That act also raises other issues the resolution of which requires the application of conflict-of-law rules or, at the very least, of the methods of qualification specific to private international law.The position adopted by the Supreme Administrative Court in this verdict should contribute to the increase of the interest of tax authorities in conflict-of-law issues. Inheritance and donation tax is a public levy with which, due to the nature of the legal events covered by it, there are cases with the so-called „foreign element”. These are also of interest to the conflict-of-law rules. When considering them, as follows from the ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court, it is necessary to refer not only to our own (Polish) provisions of civil law, but also, by applying appropriate conflict-of-law rules, to the provisions of foreign civil law.
Like all official activities, also the opening of a will was carried out in the time and place provided by law. They were the resultant of various factors, such as the place and circumstances of the death of the testator, the time of funeral, as well as the accessibility of the will itself, witnesses to its preparation and physical presence of the official for whom the procedure of opening the will had to be carried out. In each case, there were widely available places, because the opening of a will was public. This article considers the regulations regarding the time of legal opening of a will, in particular the precedence of the funeral of the deceased testator. Next explains the factors determining the place of the opening of the will, among others, the territorial competence of state officials in this respect, the availability of the witnesses of the will and the place of its storage.
The paper deals with Paul Kirchhof’s concept of simplification of tax law, presented in the book Bundessteuergesetzbuch: Ein Reformentwurf zur Erneuerung des Steuerrechts (Federal tax code: proposal of a reform to renewing tax law, 2011). It was drafted as an attempt to find a solution to the generally recognised but prevailing weaknesses of contemporary tax systems, as well as repeated voices demanding their substantial reforms. Although the Federal tax code was intended for German use, Paul Kirchhof ’s proposal was more ambitious. His concept of simplification of tax law could also be implemented in other countries, and, at least partly, in tax regulations of the European Union law. The aim of this paper is to present Paul Kirchhof ’s main assumptions and premises, as well as basic regulations of the proposed new tax. In place of thirty different taxes existing under present German tax law Kirchhof proposed only four: income tax, gift and inheritance tax, turnover tax and excise tax. Additionally he significantly reduced the number of exemptions, exceptions and specific regulations. As a result, out of the previous more than 50,000 articles of the existing tax regulations, the proposed tax code contains only 237. This paper is the first one in Polish legal doctrine literature that addresses Kirchhof ’s concept, andcontains its positive evaluation. It is stressed that it may well serve as a model for over-active legislator and become an inspiration for reforms of tax systems in the modern world. Its implementation, however, might be difficult, because it requires first the lasting acceptance by legal doctrine, political parties, as well as the public opinion.
PL
Artykuł dotyczy koncepcji Paula Kirchhofa uproszczenia prawa podatkowego. Została ona przedstawiona w projekcie Bundessteuergesetzbuch: Ein Reformentwurf zur Erneuerung des Steuerrechts (Federalny kodeks podatkowy: projekt reformy dla odnowienia prawa podatkowego [2011]). Projekt uproszczenia prawa podatkowego Kirchhofa jest próbą odpowiedzi na dobrze rozpoznane słabości współczesnych systemów podatkowych i powtarzające się wezwania do ich reformy. Choć kodeks został stworzony z myślą o Niemczech, nieukrywane ambicje heidelberskiego profesora są większe. Zgodnie z nimi jego koncepcja uproszczenia prawa podatkowego może być zastosowana w innych państwach, a częściowo także w regulacjach podatkowych w prawie Unii Europejskiej. Celem artykułu jest zapoznanie czytelnika z motywacjami Kirchhofa, przyjętymi przez niego założeniami, a także podstawowymi regulacjami projektu. W miejsce ponad 30 podatków występujących w prawie niemieckim projekt pozostawia jedynie cztery: podatek dochodowy, podatek od spadków i darowizn, podatek obrotowy oraz podatek akcyzowy. Znacznie ograniczona została liczba wyjątków, zwolnień i regulacji szczególnych. W efekcie zamiast ponad 50 000 paragrafów obowiązującego prawa podatkowego proponowana regulacja zawiera tylko 237 paragrafów. Jest to pierwsze omówienie koncepcji Kirchhofa w polskiej doktrynie prawa. Zdaniem autora artykułu przedstawiony przez Kirchhofa kodeks zasługuje na pozytywną ocenę, może być wzorem dla nadaktywnego ustawodawcy oraz inspiracją dla reform systemów podatkowych we współczesnym świecie. Autor artykułu dostrzega jednak problem uzyskania przez tego rodzaju projekt trwałej akceptacji doktryny prawa, partii politycznych i opinii publicznej.
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