H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and RevenueReturn

There is no clear boundary between local fees and taxes, which creates a number of problems but also opportunities for research. Where a local charge has the attributes of a tax, it is appropriate to examine its functions and to check whether these functions are being fulfilled. In the Czech Republic, local taxes are levied according to the relevant law on the basis of a general binding decree. The collection usually entails problems that the municipality has to solve, which also applies to local taxes in the tourism sector.  The aim of this article is to identify the problems associated with the collection of local fees under the Local Fees Act and to outline solutions to these problems. The actual research was conducted using a guided interview method in a selected economically weak region with a significant contribution of tourism to the regional economy. The identified problems related to the lack of a uniform system of fee collection, the lack of a uniform incentive system for fee collection and the ambiguity of the interpretation of the Local Fees Act became the basis for outlining solutions to them based on the results of the research.

The paper, based on primary research and evaluation of data from the Financial Administration of the Czech Republic, evaluates housing support in the form of tax deduction of mortgage interest from the tax base in the Czech Republic. Research has shown that this support undermines horizontal and vertical tax fairness and excludes assistance to taxpayers with incomes below the taxable amount. Housing support is not conceptual and lacks control and feedback mechanisms. However, distributional effects need to be taken into account when considering tax reforms, especially for indebted and cash-strapped households. However, we do not recommend completely canceling the tax deduction, which would limit household budgets and young families' access to their own housing. Younger taxpayers mainly use the tax deduction, and the abolition of the tax deduction would increase housing costs for these taxpayers.

The paper focuses on tax relief individuals that are used to support other desirable public policy. They may represent hidden subsidies in the tax system, reducing tax revenue and complications in the administration. Analysis of tax reliefs is complicated because their uniform definition does not exist. They can mean deductions from the tax base (tax allowances), the tax relief or the tax credit, which reduce the actual tax liability. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the scope of use of tax reliefs, which are granted to individuals in the Czech Republic, in the form of non-taxable portion of the tax. Methodically, the research relies on the evaluation of secondary statistical data of the Czech Republic Financial Management and is based on aggregated data from tax returns filed for the years 2005 - 2014, which are statistically processed further.

Research, development and innovation is considered to be a main driver of economic development. Innovation policy becomes therefore one of the most important public policies. There exists general agreement that the best way to support innovation is to aim at the regional level while realizing innovation policy. Proximity enables regional actors to create tacit knowledge ensuring powerful competitive advantages for both firms and regions. At the same time, the concept of regional innovation systems is the most promising way to support innovation and knowledge transfer in the region. The paper presents the case of Tampere innovation system as an example of good practice for the South Moravian Region. Although it is only possible to learn limitedly from other regions it the case of innovation policy (because of regional specifics), an analysis of Tampere innovation system can provide useful information. The paper argues that the most important strength of Tampere innovation system is an intensive cooperation between actors of innovation process based on long-lasting trust.

Tax relief is used more all less in all countries within the structure of personal income tax. They are focused on supporting desirable public policies and can be an inexpensive administrative tool. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of the tax deduction as a donation for individuals by income group graded according to the tax bases. Assess whether the tax relief performs the function for which it was established and whether it is one of the important factors affecting the philanthropy of individuals in the country. Methodically, the research relies on static analysis of secondary data from the years 2005 - 2013, provided by the financial administration of the country. This data is further processed statistically, using the average values and regression analysis. Research suggests that deductible donation as a tax-free portion of the tax is inadequate, it does not have strong incentive effect and does not significantly affect taxpayers either. If the state wants to achieve long-term sustainability and altruistic behaviours will have to choose other means.

The article deals with the research of tax literacy of university students on the School of Business Administration in Karvina. Tax legislation significantly affects the business and social environment in the Czech Republic. Hence the School of Business Administration in Karvina provides its students with key information on field of taxation and fiscal policy. Specificity of teaching taxes and tax policy consists in linking academic education with vocational qualification. The aim of the research is to identify and verify the extent to which teaching subjects, dealing with tax issues, affects the level of students' knowledge in connection with a chosen type of studies. The research focuses on the tax knowledge of students from Bachelor and Follow-up Masters degree programmes, both full-time and part-time forms of studies. The questionnaire is aimed at verifying the basic tax literacy of students. To determine whether there is a significant difference in students' knowledge the chi-square test has been used.

Increasing globalization and the European Union enlargement have an influence not only on human culture or politics but mainly on the economies of the countries in which integration is at different levels of their development. This paper deals with the convergence of taxation in the European Union. The paper proposes to evaluate and quantify the impact of the single shares of the taxes and tax competition on the effective tax burden convergence in the EU 28 countries between the years 1965 - 2011. The panel regression model reports a statistically significant positive impact of all residuum on tax convergence in the European Union. The most important determinants of tax convergence are tax competition and property taxes. All models meet diagnostic tests and are econometrically robust. Results can be considered as relevant with sufficient information capability.

The scrappage scheme became one of the most discussed instruments within the aggregate demand stimulation during the world economic crisis 2008-2009. The aim of this paper is to suggest an equation using the available data to estimate the efficiency of the scrappage premium. The initial part of the paper introduces the history of the scrappage premium (since 1970s) and also important papers dealing with the previous schemes. The survey of significant texts focusing on the demand modelling is a base for our suggestion of the automobile demand equation. The suggested equation contents four independent variables: disposable income, car price index, price index of the basic complement (which means fuel) and a dummy variable recording a (non)implementation of the scrappage scheme.

The acticle is focused on corporate income tax. The aim of the article is to determine tax rates for comparing corporate tax burden as several methods and rates can be used for comparison of corporate tax burden. Statutory corporate income tax rates are not the right indicator for the comparison of the real economic tax burden so effective corporate tax rate are often used for these purpose. Effective corporate income tax rates can be based on three different methods: macro backward looking, micro backward looking or micro forward looking. Differences between the approaches are used due to differences in data and varying degrees of data aggregation. Following tax rates are mostly used for decisions about asset allocation: average tax rate, effective marginal tax rate EMTR or average effective tax rate EATR. EATR seems to be the most accurate rate for compaing the corporate tax burden due to its complexity.