Ukraine
National taxes, duties and obligatory payments established by the Supreme Rada of Ukraine and collected throughout the territory of Ukraine, and the order of their including into a budget of certain level is determined according to the tax legislation in force and the Law of Ukraine On State budget of Ukraine for the appropriate year. Today there are 20 national taxes, duties and obligatory payments and 16 local taxes and duties:
Value-added tax. Excise duty. Enterprise profit tax. Individual income tax. Duty. State duty. Real-estate tax. Rental payments.
Tax on owners of transportation means.
Fee for geological prospecting works carried out at the State budget's expense. Fee for special use of natural resources. Payment for environmental pollution.
Fee for Action Task Fund for elimination of the aftermath of the Chernobyl catastrophe and social protection of the population. Fee for compulsory social insurance. Fee for compulsory state pension insurance. Payment for trade patent for some kinds of business activity. Flat agricultural tax (fixed). Local taxes and duties in Ukraine are the following:
Advertising tax. Hotel rates. Payment for parking. Market payment.
Fee for authorization to an apartment. Resort fee.
Payment for participation on the races in hippodromes. Fee for use of a local symbolism. Payment for shooting films or making TV-surveys. Payment for holding local auctions, competitive sales and lotteries. Fee for travel by road abroad through sub boarder territories of regions (oblasts): Payment for permission of placing objects of trade and services. Local taxes, duties and fees, the way they are collected and the order of payment are established by rural, settlement, municipal councils according to the list and within limited rates sizes established by laws of Ukraine, except for the Fee for travel by road abroad through sub boarder territories of regions (oblasts) that is defined by region (oblast) councils.
TAXATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
Taxation in the United Kingdom may involve payments to a minimum of two different levels of government: the central government and local government. Central government revenues come primarily from income tax, National Insurance contributions, value added tax, corporation tax and fuel duty.
Local government revenues come primarily from grants from central government funds, business rates in England and Wales, Council Tax and increasingly from fees and charges such as those from on-street parking. Income tax forms the bulk of revenues collected by the government.
The second largest source of government revenue is National Insurance Contributions. The third largest source of government revenues is value added tax (VAT), and the fourth-largest is corporation tax.
Double taxation of income and gains may be avoided by an applicable double tax treaty - the UK has one of the largest networks of treaties of any country.
The Tax Year in the UK, which applies to income tax and other personal taxes, runs from 6 April in one year to 5 April the next (for income tax purposes).
The tax year is sometimes also called the Fiscal Year. The Financial Year, used mainly for corporation tax purposes, runs from 1 April to 31 March. Financial Year 2008 runs from 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009, as Financial Years are named according to the calendar year in which they start.
Income tax forms the bulk of revenues collected by the government. Each person has an income tax personal allowance, and income up to this amount in each tax year is free of tax for everyone.
Inheritance tax is levied on "transfers of value", meaning: the estates of deceased persons; gifts made within seven years of death; "lifetime chargeable transfers", meaning transfers into certain types of trust.
One of the largest source of government revenues is value added tax (VAT), charged at the standard rate of 17.5% on supplies of goods and services. It is therefore a tax on consumer expenditure. Certain goods and services are exempt from VAT, and others are subject to VAT at a lower rate of 5% (the reduced rate, such as domestic gas supplies) or 0% ("zero-rated", such as most food and children's clothing). Exemptions are intended to relieve the tax burden on essentials while placing the full tax on luxuries.
Excise duties are charged on, amongst other things, motor fuel, alcohol, tobacco, betting and vehicles.
The next largest source of government revenues is corporation tax, charged on the profits and chargeable gains of companies. The main rate is 30%, which is levied on taxable income above Ј1.5m.
TAXATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Taxation in the United States is a complex system which may involve payment to at least four different levels of government and many methods of taxation.
United States taxation includes local government, possibly including one or more of municipal, township, district and county governments. It also includes regional entities such as school and utility, and transit districts as well as including state and federal government.
The federal government is now financed primarily by personal and corporate income taxes. While it was originally funded via tariffs upon imported goods, tariffs now represent only a minor portion of federal revenues.
There are also non-tax fees to recompense agencies for services or to fill specific-trust funds such as the fee placed upon airline tickets for airport expansion and air traffic control. Often the receipts intended to be placed in "trust" funds are used for other puiposes, with the government posting an IOU ('I owe you') in the form of a federal bond or other accounting instrument, then spending the money on unrelated current expenditures.
The federal government collects several specific taxes in addition to the general income tax. Social Security and Medicare are large social support programs which are funded by taxes on personal earned income. Estate taxes are levied on inheritance. Net long-term capital gains as well as certain types of qualified dividend income are taxed preferentially.
Federal excise taxes are applied to specific items such as motor fuels, tires, telephone usage, tobacco products, and alcoholic beverages. Excise taxes are often, but not always, allocated to special funds related to the object or activity taxed.
The Federal tax law is administered primarily by the Internal Revenue Service, a bureau of the Treasury. The U.S. tax code is known as the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The Code's complexity generally arises from two factors: the use of the tax code for purposes other than raising revenue, and the feedback process of amending the code.
While the main intent of the law is to provide revenue for the federal government, the tax code is frequently used for public policy reasons i.e., to achieve social, economic, and political goals.
Because the government uses the tax code as an instrument of social policy, the code as a whole appears to some critics1 to lack a coherent organizing principle. The purported lack of a coherent organizing principle arguably has become magnified over time, due to the interplay between successive legislative amendments and regulatory changes to the law and the private sector responses to those amendments and changes.
As of 2010, there are about 138 million taxpayers in the United States. The National Bureau of Economic Research has concluded that the combined federal, state, and local government average marginal tax rate for most workers to be about 40% of income.
TAX SYSTEMS OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES
Each country in the world has its own tax system. Short review of the foreign tax systems will help us to understant the way it works. For example, taxes in the Netherlands are divided into different types: a) taxes on income, profits and net wealth -income tax, salaries tax, dividend tax, corporation tax, net wealth tax, inheritance tax; b) taxes which increase prices - import duty, value added tax, excise duty; c) taxes on legal transactions - transfer tax, insurance tax, capital duty, motor vehicle tax, tax on private cars and motorcycles, environmental taxes; d) other important taxes and levies - social security contributions, municipal tax, property tax.
Income tax is a tax on the annual income of individuals, which is levied at a progressive rate. Personal circumstances are, however, taken into account and certain expenses arc deductible. There is a personal allowance dependent on individual circumstances.
Corporation tax is levied on the taxable profit of companies, both private and public. Foundations may also be liable for corporation tax. An important feature is the participation exemption which ensures that corporation tax is levied only once on the profit obtained within a group.
Net wealth tax is levied on the total net wealth - assets less liabilities - of individuals. In principle, this includes all property and possessions, e.g. one's own home, shares, bonds, savings and also the capital invested in one's own business. The Inheritance Tax Act provides for two forms: inheritance tax and gift tax. In general, these taxes are payable by the recipient.
Import duty is levied on imported goods. It usually amounts to a percentage of the value of the goods concerned. Various rates are used, these being determined at EU level. Import duty is levied on goods imported from countries outside the EU.
Value added tax (VAT) is a general consumer tax included in the price paid by consumers for goods and services. Consumers pay this tax indirectly and enterprises remit it to the Tax and Customs Administration. All enterprises, with a few exceptions, pay VAT.
Excise duty is levied on certain consumer goods: petrol and other mineral oils, tobacco products, alcohol and alcoholic beverages. A special consumer tax is levied on nonalcoholic beverages. Like VAT, excise duty is included in the price paid by consumers for these goods. The tax is remitted by the manufacturers and importers of the goods concerned.
As well as paying tax everyone pays social security contributions on income. The contributions are deducted or levied at the same time as salaries tax and income tax. Employers deduct these contributions from wages or salaries while the self-employed must remit income tax and social security contributions themselves. There are also employed person insurance schemes for people with a paid job.
In addition to the taxes levied by the State, there are several municipal taxes. The most important is property tax, which is paid by both users and owners on the value of property.