Belastingheffing over kapitaalinkomen bij natuurlijke personen: Een onderzoek naar de mogelijkheden tot het invoeren van een vermogensaanwasbelasting

Belastingheffing over kapitaalinkomen werkt in theorie verstorend op de spaarbeslissing van een individu. De mate waarin kan evenwel niet zodanig worden vastgesteld dat gesteld kan worden dat kapitaalinkomen niet moet worden belast. Voornamelijk vanwege de grensoverschrijdende complicaties verdient een inkomstenbelasting de voorkeur boven een bestedingsbelasting. Van de verschillende soorten inkomstenbelasting verdient een vermogensaanwasbelasting uiteindelijk de voorkeur. Deze voldoet aan het draagkrachtbeginsel en verschillende soorten kapitaalinkomen worden neutraal behandeld. Bij een bepaald aantal vermogensbestanddelen bestaan echter praktische uitvoeringsproblemen. Om die reden dient voor die vermogensbestanddelen aan belastingplichtigen de mogelijkheid te worden gegeven gebruik te maken van een vermogenswinstbelastingoptie. Als men daarvan gebruik maakt, hebben belastingplichtigen daarvan voordeel. Dit voordeel dient geneutraliseerd te worden door he! t liquiditeitsvoordeel weg te nemen middels een compensatiemechanisme. De gelijkheid in fiscale behandeling van individuen en inkomsten uit verschillende vermogensbestanddelen blijft dan gehandhaafd. kapitaalinkomen moet worden belast naar een laag tarief van bijvoorbeeld 25% of 30%

Topsport als motor voor nationale trots?

Does elite sporting success have a lasting impact on national pride? .Like many other countries, the Dutch government increased investments in elite sports in the last decennium, partly driven by the ambition to organize the Olympic Games in 2028 in the Netherlands. One of the most important legitimations for this ambition is that elite sports events and national performances should foster national pride, social cohesion and international prestige. In this article we present and discuss the results of a study on the relation between Dutch international sport performances and the development of national pride. The outcome is based on 27 longitudinal measurements among the adult Dutch population in the years 2008-2010 in which European and world Championships men’s soccer and a summer and winter Olympic Games took place. The results support the common belief that international sporting success of Dutch athletes contribute to the testimony and expression of national pride and belonging. But the extent to which national pride can be increased by national sporting success seems to be rather limited. The data show that national performances in international sport events may lead to small, short term eruptions in feelings of national sporting pride and wellbeing, especially among athletes, men and non-immigrants. The results especially indicate, however, that national pride is a rather stable characteristic of national identification that cannot easily be increased by improving national sporting success and winning more Olympic medals.</jats:p

Cyclically adjusted budget balances: an alternative approach

Estimates of cyclically-adjusted budget balances, correcting actual government budget balances for business cycle fluctuations, are produced by many institutions, including the European Commission, the IMF and the OECD. This paper presents an alternative approach for the cyclical adjustment of budget balances. The approach is based on a disaggregated method for the calculation of the cyclical component of the budget balance. In this approach, the effects of changes in the structure of demand and national income on government revenue and expenditure are captured. Cases where the various macroeconomic bases are in different phases of the cycle or exhibit fluctuations of different magnitude are taken into account in this way. The computation of the cyclical components of these macroeconomic bases is based on the Hodrick-Prescott filter and takes into account the latest evidence presented in the literature about the properties of this filter. The paper also presents new estimates of the elasticities of individual budget items with respect to the relevant macroeconomic variables. The method is used within the ESCB for the estimation of cyclically adjusted budget balances of the EU countries JEL Classification: E32, E60

Process, politics and participation: Experiences with strategies for local capacity building

This seminar report is about the Sinpa programme. Therefore a brief explanation of the objectives and project history is provided in this chapter to serve as background information for what is to follow. Objectives of the SINPA programme The overall goal of the SINPA programme is to help implement National Plans of Action and the Habitat Agenda by building sustainable local capacity for effective planning and management of urban development. More concretely, the programme aims to assist local government and its partners in capacity building for action in the broad areas of housing, local environmental management and participative planning processes and partnerships relating to these subjects. It especially focuses on the challenges of improving access to services and better environment for the urban poor, with particular regard to gender issues. The broad objectives of the programme are: • to stimulate the development of local capacity building strategies; • to stimulate selected local and national capacity building institutions to become more responsive to needs and to enhance quality of performance; • to stimulate urban stakeholders to learn from relevant past and ongoing experience with implementing urban development policy and projects; • to improve understanding and communication of experience relevant to needs of city development in the linked areas of housing, environmental management, participative planning and partnerships. SINPA aims to achieve these objectives by helping to bring local development partners and capacity building institutions together so as to improve capacity in a manner that will be sustainable locally. The programme is structured in a core programme, which provides co-ordination, information inputs, linkage and dissemination, and three country programmes that are developed locally in response to local issues. The country programmes are being implemented in secondary cities in Bangladesh, Bolivia and Zambia. The SINPA programme adopts a proces

Cyclically adjusted budget balances: an alternative approach

Estimates of cyclically-adjusted budget balances, correcting actual government budget balances for business cycle fluctuations, are produced by many institutions, including the European Commission, the IMF and the OECD. This paper presents an alternative approach for the cyclical adjustment of budget balances. The approach is based on a disaggregated method for the calculation of the cyclical component of the budget balance. In this approach, the effects of changes in the structure of demand and national income on government revenue and expenditure are captured. Cases where the various macroeconomic bases are in different phases of the cycle or exhibit fluctuations of different magnitude are taken into account in this way. The computation of the cyclical components of these macroeconomic bases is based on the Hodrick-Prescott filter and takes into account the latest evidence presented in the literature about the properties of this filter. The paper also presents new estimates of the elasticities of individual budget items with respect to the relevant macroeconomic variables. The method is used within the ESCB for the estimation of cyclically adjusted budget balances of the EU countrie

Test Arrangement of Small-scale Shear Tests of Composite Slabs

AbstractComposite slab consists of the layer of concrete above the trapezoidal sheeting. The sheeting serves as a lost formwork as well as a tension bearing member after the hardening of concrete. The interaction between the sheeting and the concrete is necessary for composite action and can be ensured by prepressed embossments in the sheeting. According to nowadays codes, full scale bending tests are required in the design of the new sheeting of this type of composite slabs. An alternative longitudinal shear tests of a small part of the slab have already been derived by many authors. However, the testing arrangement is not unified. The results of the shear tests can be influenced by the magnitude and the way of application of the clamping force, the loading speed, the interface conditions and others. This paper presents a proposal of the testing arrangement and the recommendations for the testing procedure of small-scale shear tests. The recommendations are posted based on the results of several series of performed laboratory tests