About

What is the purpose of this blog?

My previous blog went comatose after six month. The reason for that was the lack of passion regarding taxation. It was meant to be a blog about taxation, which I studied at university, and I thought that it would be a nice idea to blog about the tax stuff I learn. I also thought that it would help me to understand the topic better through the writing process and I wanted to share the excitement I had. That, however, didn’t go well. I realized that my passion for taxation was not really as intense as I thought  and I started finding excuses for not writing, even though I received great feedback from friends and my readers (I guess there were 10 at max.). But I didn’t want to give up my blogging journey, so I decided to widen the scope of the blog and write about taxation, personal finance and magic.

The purpose of this blog is to provide you some insight into topics I am passionate about, which are taxation, personal finance and magic. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for visiting.

Why the name “substance over form”?

“Substance over Form” is an anti-avoidance doctrine under which the legal form of an arrangement or transaction is ignored, tax being levied in accordance with the economic substance (from the IBFD International Tax Glossary). For example, a company is not allowed to deduct the interest payments to a creditor, because the loan (form) is actually an equity contribution (substance). Therefore, the interest payments are treated as dividend payments and thus, not deductible. The legal documents might state that this is a loan. However, the economic substance says that it is a dividend.

In other words, “substance over form” says that it is not important how things appear to be, but rather what they actually are. Although, I learned this concept during my studies in international taxation, I believe that the idea can be applied to all areas of life. We encounter “forms” almost everyday and try to derive the “substance” therefrom. Here are some examples:

However, the “form” does not explain the “substance” and the assumption that the “form” is the “substance” is deceiving us from the reality. When you start assuming that the form is the substance, the previous examples will become:

As you can see, the wordings reverse and it becomes that the “form” starts defining the “substance”. However, this mental connection between “form” and “substance” is not necessarily correct. You probably didn’t agree to some of the statements above, right? Maybe the book cover? Was it the muscle statement? It doesn’t matter. How much “substance” is derived from “form” is a personal matter and involves subjective opinion. What is a “great cover”, “smart person” or “luxury car”? You name it. What is important, however, is that “form” should not define “substance”. That’s why this blog is named substance over form.

Who am I?

My name is Ken and I am a guy currently living in Germany.

This is what I want:

This is what I don’t want:

Disclaimer

This website is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and all content herein should not be mistaken for professional tax or financial advice. It is highly recommended that you seek advice from a professional for serious tax or financial advice regarding your own situation. If you have questions about magic, feel free to contact me.
Substanceoverform.com does not guarantee the source, originality, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any statement, information, data, finding, interpretation, advice, opinion, or view presented. Further, these posts are not updated for changes in tax laws or magic spells. The posts should not be relied upon for any purpose whatsoever.