Burden of proof in tax disputes could rest either on the taxpayer or on the tax authority or sometimes both could bear the burden of proof. For instance under the United States and Canadian tax laws the primary burden of producing adequate evidence to rebut the assessment or decision of the tax authority rests on the tax payer. On the other hand countries like Sweden, Netherlands and Spain in their tax laws share the burden of proof in tax disputes between the tax payer and the tax authority. Hence in these counties the burden of proof in tax disputes is shared between the litigating parties.  As such the tax inspector must deduce evidence for a profit adjustment and on the other the tax payer must substantiate an exemption or deduction alleged. To the contrary tax laws in Denmark, France and Finland locate the burden of proving the accuracy of the tax decisions made according to estimation on the tax authority.  Similarly in Hungary the tax authority is obliged to prove the bad faith of the tax payer when prohibiting the deduction on VAT. This shows that there are possibilities where by tax authorities could bear the burden of proof in tax disputes.

Ethiopia is host to the Second Largest refugee population in Africa. With over 905,000 refugees, the majority originating from South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea,  Yemen, Sudan, and others. Most of Ethiopia's refugees are in Gambella Regional State, Tigray Regional State, Somali Regional State,  Addis Ababa, Afar Regional State, and Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State. Most of the host regions are the least developed regions in the country, characterized by harsh weather conditions, poor infrastructure, extremely low capacity, high levels of poverty and poor development indicators.

Introduction

The outbreak of CODIV-19 has caused employment crisis worldwide as the virus is claiming thousands of lives and sickening a millions. The virus is causing global economic, social, health, and economic disruptions. The International Labour Organization has an estimate that up to 25 million jobs could be lost worldwide. In addition to the possible unemployment crisis, the safety and health of workers are at risk. Following the declaration of the virus as a Public Emergence of  International Concern  and pandemic by World Health Organization, countries are taking different measures including partial or full lockdown. Ethiopia is not an exception to this crisis, and the same measures are being taken by the government.

In the first part, I discussed some issues under the draft proclamation. This includes arbitrability of administrative contract, competency-competency, separability doctrine, pauper proceeding, appeal and the standard to challenge the arbitrators. In this part, I will briefly discuss the court's role in arbitration proceedings, the New York Convention, and the nature and impartiality of the Center as envisaged under the draft proclamation.

ዓለማችን ላይ የፈረንጆቹ 2020 የተወሳሰቡ ችግሮችን ይዞባት መጥቷል፡፡ ከቻይና ውሃን በትንሹ ተነስቶ በወራት ውስጥ ዓለምን ካዳረሰው የኮሮና ቫይረስ የሚስተካከል ችግር ግን ይመጣል ብሎ የገመተ አልነበረም፡፡ ይህ ቫይረስ በቀጥታ በሰው ልጆች ጤና እና ህይዎት ላይ እያሰከተለ ከሚገኘው ኪሳራ እና ውድመት በሚስተካከል ደረጃ ማህበራዊ እና ኢኮኖሚያዊ ችግሮችንም እያስከተለ ይገኛል፡፡ ከአሜሪካ ስቶክ ማርኬት እስከ ኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ፤ ከአውሮፓዊያኑ የንግድ ልውውጦች እስከ ኢትዮጵያ የአበባ ንግድ፤ ከካናድ የጥራጣሬ ግብይት እስከ አዲስ አበባ የአትክልት ተራ ንግድ ድረስ ብዙ መመስቃቀሎችን እያስከተለ ይገኛል፡፡ በዚህ መመሰቃቀል ውስጥ ብዙ አካላት ተጎጂ የሚሆኑ ቢሆንም በተለያዩ ሁኔታዎች ላይ ተቀጥረው እንደሚሰሩ ሰራተኞች ግን የችግሩ ቀጥተኛ ገፈት ቀማሽ አይገኝም፡፡ በተለይ ከአሜሪካ የቅጥር ገባያ እየሰማን እንዳለነው ብዙ ድርጅቶች ሰራተኞቻቸውን እየቀነሱ እያጋጠማቸው ያለውን የገንዘብ እጥረት በማቃለል ላይ ይገኛሉ፡፡ ይህ በሀገሪቱ የሚገኘውን የሥራ አጥ ቁጥር ወደ ስላሳ በመቶ እያደረሰው ይገኛል፡፡ ይህ ችግር ወደ ኢትዮጵያ መከሰቱ የማይቀር ነው፡፡ ብዙ የግል ድርጅቶች ስራቸውን ሙሉ ለሙሉ እያቆሙ በሚገኝበት በዚህ ጊዜ የሠራተኛን የደሞዝ ወጪ ያለምንም ችግር የመሸፈን አቅም ይኖራቸዋል ተብሎ አይጠበቅም፡፡ 

Due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Ethiopia, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced the government’s decision to close schools and the banning of all sports events and large public gatherings for the next fifteen days. The decision was made after the government has confirmed a total of five cases on Monday, March 16, 2020. Going forward, the government is expected to take measures, which will have an adverse effect on the constitutional and legislative rights of health professionals, customs officers and the general public. In this article, I will discuss some of the possible limitations on the rights of these people and possible measures that the government is entitled to take in case of disobedience.

When we come to commercial dispute which arise out of not respecting contractual obligations by one or more parties, settlement of dispute through court come in the for front. However, the existing Ethiopian court system is extremely sluggish, rigid and expensive. On the contrary arbitration is praised for its speedy proceeding, flexible process, confidentiality of the proceeding, finality of dispute which ultimately saves time and money. Although there are some critics against the heart of the system, arbitration stands out as one of the most popular means of dispute settlement mechanism.

Introduction

The century we are living in is the age of information and communication technology. Increased use of these electronic communications improve the efficiency of commercial activities, enhances trade connections and allows new access opportunities for previously remote parties and markets, thus playing a fundamental role in promoting trade and economic development, both domestically and internationally.

The House of Peoples Representatives has approved the infamous Excise Tax Proclamation (The Proclamation) last Thursday, February 13, 2020. Within hours from the approval of the proclamation, Ministry of Revenues have written a letter to manufacturers of excisable goods stating that the proclamation will be implemented starting from February 14, 2020, which in effect violates both the FDRE Constitution and Negarit Gazeta Establishment Proclamation. The proclamation has not yet been published in the Negarit Gazeta and there are notorious discrepancies between the Amharic and English versions. In addition, with no transition time given to the manufacturers, they are forced to prepare manual invoices, which separately shows the amount of excise tax payable in the transaction as the new law requires the amount of excise tax should be separately shown in the invoice.

ለአንድ ሀገር ሰላም፣ ዲሞክራሲ፣ የሕግ የበላይነትና ፍትሕ መረጋገጥ እንዲሁም ሰብዓዊ መብቶች መከበር በሕግ አግባብ የተቋቋሙ ገለልተኛ፣ ነፃ፣ ተጠያቂነት ያለባቸው እና በሕዝብ ዘንድ አመኔታን ያተረፉ ፍርድ ቤቶች ሚና የጎላ እንደሆነ አያጠያይቅም፡፡ ያለሕግ እና ያለፍርድ ቤቶች ሰላም፣ ዲሞክራሲ፣ የሕግ የበላይነትና ፍትሕ በአንድ ሀገር ውስጥ ይኖራል ብሎ መገመት አይቻልም፡፡