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Digital assets and currencies

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Banking

Bank transaction tax

A bank transaction tax is a tax levied on debit (and/or credit) entries on bank accounts. In 1989, at the Buenos Aires meetings of the International Institute of Public Finance, University of Wisconsin–Madison Professor of Economics Edgar L. Feige proposed extending the tax reform ideas of John Maynard Keynes, James Tobin and Lawrence Summers, to their logical conclusion, namely to tax a

Finance

Base erosion and profit shifting

Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) is a category of corporate tax avoidance strategies used by multinationals to "shift" profits from higher-tax jurisdictions to lower-tax jurisdictions or no-tax locations where there is little or no economic activity, thus "eroding" the "tax-base" of the higher-tax jurisdictions using deductible payments such as interest or royalties. For the gover

Finance

Capital asset

A capital asset is defined as property of any kind held by an assessee. It need not be connected to the assesse's business or profession. The term encompasses all kinds of property, movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, fixed or circulating. Land and building, plant and machinery, motorcar, furniture, jewellery, route permits, goodwill, tenancy rights, patents, trademarks, shares

Trading basics

Capital gain

Capital gain is an economic concept defined as the profit earned on the sale of an asset that has increased in value over the holding period. An asset may be tangible property, a car, a business, or intangible property such as shares.

Finance

Child trust fund

A child trust fund (CTF) is a long-term savings or investment account for children in the United Kingdom. New accounts can no longer be created as of 2011, but existing accounts can receive new money: the accounts were replaced by Junior ISAs.

Finance

Church tax

A church tax is a tax collected by the state from members of some Christian denominations to provide financial support of churches, such as the salaries of its clergy and to pay the operating cost of the church. It is related to the concept of tithes and offerings. Not all Christian countries have such a tax. In some countries that do, people who are not members of a religious community

Finance

Conduit and sink OFCs

Conduit OFC and sink OFC is an empirical quantitative method of classifying corporate tax havens, offshore financial centres (OFCs) and tax havens.

Finance

Contract for difference

In finance, a contract for difference (CFD) is a financial agreement between two parties, commonly referred to as the "buyer" and the "seller." The contract stipulates that the buyer will pay the seller the difference between the value of an asset at the time the contract was initiated and the current value of the asset. If the asset's price increases from the opening to the closing of t

Trading basics

Corporate tax

A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax or corporate income tax, is a type of direct tax levied on the income or capital of corporations and other similar legal entities. The tax is usually imposed at the national level, but it may also be imposed at state or local levels in some countries. Corporate taxes may be referred to as income tax or capital tax, depending on

Assets

Cryptocurrency exchange

A cryptocurrency exchange, or a digital currency exchange (DCE), is a business that allows customers to trade cryptocurrencies or digital currencies for other assets, such as conventional fiat money or other digital currencies. Exchanges may accept credit card payments, wire transfers or other forms of payment in exchange for digital currencies or cryptocurrencies. A cryptocurrency excha

Finance

Currency transaction tax

A currency transaction tax is a tax placed on the use of currency for various types of transactions. The tax is associated with the financial sector and is a type of financial transaction tax, as opposed to a consumption tax paid by consumers, though the tax may be passed on by the financial institution to the customer.

Trading basics

Double taxation

Double taxation is the levying of tax by two or more jurisdictions on the same income (in the case of income taxes), asset (in the case of capital taxes), or financial transaction (in the case of sales taxes).

Finance

Egyptian Exchange

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX), Egypt's stock exchange, comprises two exchanges, Cairo and Alexandria, both governed by the same board of directors and sharing the same trading, clearing and settlement systems. Presently, the chairman of the Egyptian Exchange is Omar Radwan.

Finance

European Union financial transaction tax

The European Union financial transaction tax (EU FTT) is a proposal made by the European Commission to introduce a financial transaction tax (FTT) within some of the member states of the European Union (EU).

Trading basics

Exchange fund

An exchange fund, also known as a swap fund, is a private investment vehicle that allows investors holding large, appreciated positions in publicly traded stock to pool their shares into a single fund, diversifying their holdings without triggering a taxable event. Each investor contributes concentrated stock and receives a proportional interest in the fund, which holds a diversified por

Finance

Finance Act

A Finance Act is the headline fiscal (budgetary) legislation enacted by the UK Parliament, containing multiple provisions as to taxes, duties, exemptions and reliefs at least once per year, and in particular setting out the principal tax rates for each fiscal year.

Finance

Finances of the British royal family

The finances of the British royal family come from a number of sources. The monarch and some of his family are supported financially by means of the Sovereign Grant, which comes from the government and is calculated as a percentage of profits from the Crown Estate, and which is intended to meet the costs of the sovereign's official expenditures. This includes the costs of the upkeep of t

Finance

Financial Secrecy Index

The Financial Secrecy Index (FSI) is the report published by the advocacy organization Tax Justice Network (TJN) which ranks countries by financial secrecy indicators, weighted by the economic flows of each country.

Finance

Financial transaction tax

A financial transaction tax (FTT) is a levy on a specific type of financial transaction for a particular purpose. The tax has been most commonly associated with the financial sector for transactions involving intangible property rather than real property. It is not usually considered to include consumption taxes paid by consumers.

Finance

FIRE movement

The Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement is a personal finance phenomenon characterized by high savings rates—often exceeding the 10–15% typically recommended by financial planners—and aggressive investment, with the goal of accumulating sufficient assets to cover living expenses without traditional employment. The movement gained traction among millennials in the 2010s,

Trading basics

Gold exchange-traded product

Gold exchange-traded products are exchange-traded products (ETPs) that seek to provide exposure to gold or to the market price of gold. They include exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds (CEFs), and exchange-traded notes (ETNs). Gold ETPs are traded on the major stock exchanges including the SIX Swiss Exchange, the Bombay Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange, the Paris Bour

Finance

Individual savings account

An individual savings account (ISA or Isa; ) is a class of retail investment arrangement available to residents of the United Kingdom. Introduced in 1999 as an Individual Special Savings Account (ISSA), the accounts are exempt from income tax and capital gains tax on the investment returns, and no tax is payable on money withdrawn from the scheme.

Finance

Installment sale

In United States income tax law, an installment sale is generally a "disposition of property where at least 1 loan payment is to be received after the close of the taxable year in which the disposition occurs." The term "installment sale" does not include, however, a "dealer disposition" (as defined in the statute) or, generally, a sale of inventory. The installment method of accounting

Finance

Internal Revenue Code section 1031

A Section 1031 exchange, commonly known as a like-kind exchange, is a transaction under the 26 U.S.C. § 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code that allows owners of investment or business real estate to defer certain taxes when selling property and reinvesting the proceeds into other qualifying real property. It is most commonly used by real estate investors and property owners with low tax b

Trading basics

International tax planning

International tax planning also known as international tax structures or expanded worldwide planning (EWP), is an element of international taxation created to implement directives from several tax authorities following the 2008 worldwide recession.

Trading basics

Investment

Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broader viewpoint, an investment can be defined as "to tailor the pattern of expenditure and receipt of resources to optimise the desirable patterns of t

Finance

Irish Section 110 Special Purpose Vehicle

An Irish Section 110 special purpose vehicle (SPV) or section 110 company is an Irish tax resident company, which qualifies under Section 110 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA) for a special tax regime that enables the SPV to attain "tax neutrality": i.e., the SPV pays no Irish taxes, VAT, or duties.

Finance

Law of the British Virgin Islands

The law of the British Virgin Islands is a combination of common law and statute, and is based heavily upon English law.

Trading basics

List of taxes

This page, a companion page to tax, lists different taxes by economic design. For different taxes by country, see Tax rates around the world.

Fiat currencies

Lombard credit

Lombard credit (or lombard loan) is a form of short-term secured lending, characterized by loans against movable collateral, today mostly in the form of account balances, securities or life insurance policies. The lombard rate is a central bank lending rate charged to commercial banks for short-term loans with securities pledged as collateral.

Trading basics

Negative gearing

Negative gearing is a financial leverage strategy whereby an investor borrows money to acquire an income-producing investment, knowing that the gross income generated by the investment (at least in the short term) will be less than the cost of owning and managing the investment, including depreciation and interest charged on the loan (but excluding capital repayments).

Finance

Panama as a tax haven

The Republic of Panama is one of the oldest and best-known tax havens in the Caribbean, as well as one of the most established in the region. Panama has had a reputation for tax avoidance since the early 20th century, and Panama has been cited repeatedly in recent years as a jurisdiction which does not cooperate with international tax transparency initiatives.

Finance

Pandora Papers

The Pandora Papers are 11.9 million leaked documents with 2.9 terabytes of data that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published beginning on 3 October 2021. The leak exposed the secret offshore accounts of 35 world leaders, including current and former presidents, prime ministers, and heads of state as well as more than 100 business leaders, billionaires,

Trading basics

Payroll tax

A payroll tax may be imposed on employers or employees. They are usually calculated as a percentage of the salaries that employers pay their employees. By law, some payroll taxes are the responsibility of the employee and others fall on the employer, but almost all economists agree that the true economic incidence of a payroll tax is unaffected by this distinction, and falls largely or e

Finance

Pooled income fund

The Pooled Income Fund (PIF) is a type of charitable mutual fund or charitable trust that pools the securities or cash separately donated by an individual, a family or a corporation to a charity, which is then invested to provide dividends for both the donor's beneficiary and charity. The donations are irrevocable and tax-deductible and must be from personal assets. Capital gains taxes d

Trading basics

Private pension

A private pension is a plan into which individuals privately contribute from their earnings, which then will pay them a pension after retirement. It is an alternative to the state pension. Usually, individuals invest funds into saving schemes or mutual funds, run by insurance companies. Often private pensions are also run by the employer and are called occupational pensions. The contribu

Trading basics

Qualified residence interest

Qualified residence interest is the most significant exception to the limitations imposed by § 163(h) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Securities & exchanges

Restricted stock

Restricted stock, also known as restricted securities, is stock of a company that is not fully transferable (from the stock-issuing company to the person receiving the stock award) until certain conditions (restrictions) have been met. Upon satisfaction of those conditions, the stock is no longer restricted, and becomes transferable to the person holding the award. Restricted stock is of

Trading basics

Securities Transaction Tax

Securities Transaction Tax (STT) is a tax payable in India on the value of securities (excluding commodities and currency) transacted through a recognised stock exchange. As of 2016, it is 0.1% for delivery based equity trading.

Trading basics

Self-invested personal pension

A self-invested personal pension (SIPP) is the name given to the type of UK government-registered personal pension scheme which allows individuals to make their own investment decisions from a wide range of investments by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Securities & exchanges

Share repurchase

Share repurchase, also known as share buyback or stock buyback, is the reacquisition by a company of its own shares. It is an alternative way of returning money to shareholders than dividends. After a repurchase event, the company's stock price is now proportionally higher because of the smaller number of shares outstanding. Repurchases allow stockholders to potentially reduce taxes, by

Fiat currencies

Spahn tax

A Spahn tax is a type of currency transaction tax that is meant to be used for the purpose of controlling exchange-rate volatility. This idea was proposed by Paul Bernd Spahn in 1995.

Finance

Stock market

A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called as shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include securities listed on a public stock exchange as well as stock that is only traded privately, such as shares of private companies that are sold to investors through equity crowdfunding platforms. Invest

Finance

Tax burden

The tax burden is the level of effective taxation represented as the distribution of tax rates across people, households, sectors, or forms of income by the amount of their income. Tax burdens are commonly summarized as the tax revenue as a share of gross domestic product for different groups; usually as the effective tax rates paid by different income groups as a share of their income o

Trading basics

Tax competition

Tax competition, a form of regulatory competition, exists when governments use reductions in fiscal burdens to encourage the inflow of productive resources or to discourage the exodus of those resources. Often, this means a governmental strategy of attracting foreign direct investment, foreign indirect investment (financial investment), and high value human resources by minimizing the ov

Finance

Tax compliance software

Tax compliance software is software that assists tax compliance, and may cover income tax, corporate tax, VAT, service tax, customs, sales tax, use tax, or other taxes its users may be required to pay. The software automatically calculates a user's tax liabilities to the government, keeps track of all transactions (in case of indirect taxes), keeps track of eligible tax credits, etc. The

Trading basics

Tax law

Tax law or revenue law is an area of legal study in which public or sanctioned authorities, such as federal, state and municipal governments (as in the case of the US) use a body of rules and procedures (laws) to assess and collect taxes in a legal context. The rates and merits of the various taxes, imposed by the authorities, are attained via the political process inherent in these bodi

Trading basics

Tax shield

A tax shield is the reduction in income taxes that results from taking an allowable deduction from taxable income. For example, because interest on debt is a tax-deductible expense, taking on debt creates a tax shield. Since a tax shield is a way to save cash flows, it increases the value of the business, and it is an important aspect of business valuation.

Finance

Taxation in Algeria

In Algeria, the most important sources of government revenue have been oil and gas royalties.

Finance

Taxation in Argentina

Due to the absence of the tax code in Argentina, the tax regulation takes place in accordance with separate laws, which, in turn, are supplemented by provisions of normative acts adopted by the executive authorities. The powers of the executive authority include levying a tax on profits, property and added value throughout the national territory. In Argentina, the tax policy is implemen

Finance

Taxation in Colombia

See Government of Colombia for a broader perspective of Colombian government.

Finance

Taxation in Cyprus

Taxes in Cyprus are levied by both the central and local governments. Tax revenue stood at 39.2% of GDP in 2012. The most important revenue sources are the income tax, social security, value-added tax and corporate tax, and are all collected by the central government.

Finance

Taxation in Estonia

Taxation in Estonia consists of state and local taxes. A relatively high proportion of government revenue comes from consumption taxes whilst revenue from capital taxes is one of the lowest in the European Union.

Finance

Taxation in Iceland

Taxes in Iceland are levied by the state and the municipalities. Property rights are strong and Iceland is one of the few countries where they are applied to fishery management. Taxpayers pay various subsidies to each other, similar to European countries that are welfare states, but the spending is less than in most European countries. Despite low tax rates in relation to European welfar

Finance

Tobin tax

A Tobin tax was originally defined as a tax on all spot conversions of one currency into another. It was suggested by James Tobin, an economist who won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Tobin's tax was originally intended to penalize short-term financial round-trip excursions into another currency. By the late 1990s, the term Tobin tax was being applied to all forms of shor

Finance

United States as a tax haven

In 2010, the United States implemented the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act; the law required financial firms around the world to report accounts held by US citizens to the Internal Revenue Service.

Trading basics

Venture capital trust

A venture capital trust or VCT is a tax efficient UK closed-end collective investment scheme designed to provide venture capital for small expanding companies, and income (in the form of dividend distributions) and/or capital gains for investors. VCTs are a form of publicly traded private equity, comparable to investment trusts in the UK or business development companies in the United St

Trading basics

Wealth inequality in the United States

The inequality of wealth (i.e., inequality in the distribution of assets) has substantially increased in the United States since the late 1980s. Wealth commonly includes the values of any homes, automobiles, personal valuables, businesses, savings, and investments, less any associated debts.