1. Drafting Tax Laws Prof. Dr. Geerten M.M. Michielse
Technical Assistance Advisor, IMF
Georgetown University Law Center
Washington, DC

2. IMF (Organigram)
IMF - September 2002

3. IMF-Organization Area Departments Functional Departments
Service Departments
IMF - September 2002

4. IMF (Area Departments)
African
Asia and Pacific
European I (Central and Western)
European II (Eastern + former SU)
Middle Eastern
Western Hemisphere
IMF - September 2002

5. IMF (Functional Departments)
Fiscal Affairs
IMF Institute
International Capital Markets
Legal
Monetary and Exchange Affairs
Policy Development and Review
Research
IMF - September 2002

6. Fiscal Affairs Department
Immediate Office
Expenditure Policy
Fiscal Operations (I + II)
Fiscal Policy and Surveillance
Public Expenditure Management (I + II)
Revenue Administration (I + II)
Tax Policy
IMF - September 2002

7. Legal Front Office Anti-Money Laundering
Law Reform / Technical Assistance
Country (A + B)
Banking
Administrative Law
IMF - September 2002

8. How Do We Get TA-Requests?
PRGF (poverty reduction and growth facility) by Area Department
Government Initiative (sometimes after “Tax Policy” advise) by Fiscal Affairs Department
Surveillance
IMF - September 2002

9. What Types of Missions Do We Do?
Legal Drafting (80%)
Tax Policy (15%)
Tax Administration (4%)
Budget Law (1%)
IMF - September 2002

10. What Experts Do We Use? IMF staff (USA) Headquarter-based Expert (NLD)
External Experts (mostly Universities)
Australians
USA, Canadian
Europeans (BEL, DUI, FRA, POR, SWE)
IMF - September 2002

11. What Tax Laws Do We Draft?
Value Added Tax
Sales Tax
Income Tax
Profit Tax / Corporate Income Tax
Tax Administration
Stamp Duty
Customs
IMF - September 2002

12. What Countries Do We Work With?
Industrial or Advanced Economies
OECD countries
Emerging Market Economies
South-East Asian ‘Tigers’, South America, EU “wanna be’s”
Transition Economies
Former Soviet Republics
Developing Economies
Africa, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos
IMF - September 2002

13. What Legal Systems Do We Encounter?
Common Law Systems
British and American
Civil Law Systems
European and South American
Islamic Systems
Middle Eastern, Indonesia, Malaysia
Former Soviet Union Systems
IMF - September 2002

14. Are There Any Model Tax Laws Available?
Basic World Tax Code (US-based)
Taxastan Income Tax Code (former SU countries)
Commonwealth of Symmetrical (common law-based)
République Francophone (civil law-based)
Fantasia VAT
Utopia (implementation Merger Directive)
IMF - September 2002

15. Some Drafting Examples
Implementation of EU-Directives
Drafting VAT + Regulations
Drafting Tax Administration Code
IMF - September 2002

16. Typical Issues in Drafting Implementation Provisions for EU-Directives
Parent-Subsidiary Directive
CZE/LTU: credit for w/h against CIT
EST: distribution tax ‘in lieu of’ CIT
Merger Directive
Valuation issues due to FTC systems
HUN/LVA: accounting rules
IMF - September 2002

17. Typical Issues in Drafting VAT in Developing Countries
Cash Refunds as result of Imputation Credit
6-months carry forward requirement
Only cash refunds for export
Threshold
Equalization Tax for small businesses
IMF - September 2002

18. Typical Issues in Drafting a Tax Administration Code
Self-assessment of tax liability
Payment procedures
(absence of banking system)
Collection & Enforcement
Penalty system
usually too high for minor violations and too low for serious violations)
Appeal procedures
IMF - September 2002