Doutrina: menos-valias em IRC

Até 2003, as menos-valias realizadas com a alienação de partes de capital adquiridas a entidades que estejam em situação de relações especiais com a alienante, nos termos do artigo 58.º, n.º 4, do Código do IRC, não poderão ser desconsideradas do resultado fiscal, com a fundamentação de serem gastos dispensáveis nos termos do artigo 23.º, do Código do IRC.

É esta a doutrina fixada por este Acórdão do TCAS, que anulou uma correcção técnica no valor de cerca de € 40 milhões. 

A decisão dos juízes não foi consensual, pois houve um voto vencido.

A partir de 2003, foram introduzidos os n.ºs 4, 5 e 6 ao artigo 23.º do Código do IRC, pela Lei n.º 32-B/2002, de 31 de Dezembro, que passou a excluir, sem admissão de prova de contrário, da formação do lucro tributável este tipo de menos-valias realizadas com a transmissão onerosa de partes de capital. 

Estudo da OCDE (6)

Cumprimento por meios electrónicos de obrigações declarativas relativas ao IVA:

Estudo da OCDE (5)

Cumprimento de obrigações declarativas por meios electrónicos (imposto sobre pessoas colectivas):

Estudo da OCDE (4)

Cumprimento de obrigações fiscais por meios electrónicos relativas ao IRS:

Estudo da OCDE (3)

De acordo com este gráfico, podemos classificar as administrações fiscais da OCDE em termos de eficiência:
1 - As mais eficientes: Suíça, Suécia e Estados Unidos;
2 - As menos eficientes, porque apresentam um maior rácio de custos por 100 unidades de receita: República Eslovaca, Portugal e Bélgica.

Estudo da OCDE (2)

Estudo da OCDE

Pode consultar o estudo aqui.

Qual o futuro da CCCTB?

Notícia da International Tax Review (ITR) de 20 de Janeiro:

"Common tax base plans on hold under new EU presidency

Joanna Faith

In another setback to the European Commission's campaign to introduce a harmonised corporate tax base across the EU, the Czech Republic has said that plans for the initiative will not progress during its six-month presidency.

"We will not address this issue during our presidency," finance minister Miroslav Kalousek said at a recent briefing on the Czech priorities for its presidency.

This obstacle is one of many the Commission has faced during its controversial campaign for a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB). In September last year, Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs delayed the release of the legislative proposal saying there was still more work to be done. This was despite saying in October the previous year that he would present a proposal "after the summer break in 2008".

The previous French presidency also failed to move the project forward even though finance minister Christine Lagarde pledged action when France's presidency began in June.

Rumours suggest the Commission wants to wait until after the second Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, scheduled to be held in October, before releasing a proposal. Ireland has been one of the most vocal member states opposing the CCCTB. In the first referendum last year, no campaigners claimed the initiative was a forerunner to a harmonised corporate tax rate across Europe which would threaten the country's 12.5% charge.

But tax advisers think the latest delay could be a sign the project is too complex.

"It's one of those grand ideas which is good in concept but when it comes to the nuts and bolts it's very difficult," said Fintan Clancy from the Irish law firm, Arthur Cox.

"There are 27 legal and accounting systems underlining all transactions. Then profits would have to be split between countries which would lead to great disagreement," he said.

Despite the campaign's setbacks, the Commission is still adamant it will produce a legislative draft.

"We are working on the impact assessment and we give it the necessary time before any proposal," said a Commission spokesperson.

But Clancy isn't sure about the validity of this comment.

"If the Commission can't assess the impact of something quickly, it's questionable if it's worth the effort," he said.

The uncertain economic situation could also cause problems for the CCCTB. "On a combined basis the consolidated tax base would increase Europe's competitiveness but there is also genuine competition between EU member states," said Sue Bonney from KPMG in the UK.

"Countries want their own investment. They have fiscal or potential fiscal deficits and they are scrapping for tax revenue wherever they can get it," she said."

Sobre a base tributária consolidada comum já haviamos tecido aqui um pequeno comentário.

FRAUDE CONTABILÍSTICA

Foi revelada mais uma gigantesta fraude contabilística, desta vez na India (contas fasificadas em cerca de 1 bilião de dólares).

"Raju [presidente do conselho de administração da Satyam, empresa da área da informática e das tecnologias de comunicação e informação] confessed to filling the company's balance sheets with "fictitious" assets and "nonexistent" cash in an extraordinary letter to the company's board on Wednesday."

Agora chegou o momento de se encontrarem as causas, e penso que serão as mesmas do costume: os incentivos para a gestão alcançar objectivos de curto prazo; a flexibilidade permitida pelas normas contabilísticas; a indexação da remuneração da gestão de topo a medidas que dependem de constructos contabilísticos; falhas de auditoria; conflito de interesses; notação de risco; evitar supresas negativas ao nível dos resultados alcançados que afectem a cotação das acções.

Depois das causas teremos as soluções, que penso também como as do costume: mais regulação; mais regulação; mais regulação. E pública (feita pelo Estado), pois a regulação que era feita por organismos privados também falhou, como por exemplo nos EUA, em que a supervisão da profissão de auditor deixou de estar sob a alçada do AICPA e passou para o PCAOB, na sequência da aprovação do Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOA) de 2002.

E o Estado vai assim aumentando a sua dimensão e precisa de financiar estas suas novas funções e para se financiar precisa de cobrar mais impostos, e o resto da história não é preciso aqui discorrer.

Notícia do Yahoo Finance.

De acordo com a notícia, a empresa é cotada no Bolsa de Nova Iorque, estando portanto sujeita ao SOA de 2002, que foi uma resposta legislativa aos escândalos contabilísticos occoridos nos EUA, em empresas como a Enron e a Worldcom, contendo medidas muito exigentes ao nível do controlo interno das empresas (section 404) no sentido de prevenir este tipo de fraudes e a necessidade de ser elaborada uma certificação da veracidade da informação financeira pelos gestores de topo responsáveis por essa área (CEO e CFO) - section 303

Pelo facto de ter acções admitidas à negociação na NYSE tem que entregar na Securities and Exchange Commission (a CMVM lá do sítio) um conjunto de documentação, como este relatório anual (Form 20-F), onde consta a seguinte declaração do Sr. Raju:

"I, B Rama Raju, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 20-F of Satyam Computer Services Limited;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the company as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The company’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the company and have:

(a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;

(b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

(c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the company’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

(d) Disclosed in this report any change in the company’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by the annual report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the company’s internal control over financial reporting;

and

5. The company’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the company’s auditors and the audit committee of the company’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

(a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

(b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Dated this August 08, 2008"

Será que o SOX falhou?

KPMG e os "Abrigos Fiscais" (Tax Shelters)

Notícia da ITR de 2009-01-06:

"Three guilty in KPMG tax shelter trialInternational Tax Review

A US court has convicted two ex-KPMG executives and a lawyer of tax evasion in one of the biggest tax fraud cases ever.
John Larson and Robert Pfaff, together with Raymond Ruble - a onetime Sidley Austin partner – were found guilty, on December 17, of selling illegal tax shelters from 1996-2005 and depriving the US Treasury of at least $2 billion in revenue.
A fourth man, David Greenberg, was acquitted.
The case, which began in 2005, once involved 17 former KPMG executives and two other individuals. One executive had already pleaded guilty, along with individuals not affiliated with the accountancy firm.
In August last year an appeal court upheld a decision to throw out the indictment of 13 other KPMG executives. Judge Dennis Jacobs said that federal prosecutors had violated the defendants' constitutional right to legal counsel by threatening to indict KPMG if it paid the legal fees of its former partners and employees.
Charges against KPMG were dismissed in 2005 after it paid a $456 million fine."