Richard T. Ainsworth

Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Adjunct Professor

BBA, Boston College
JD, Suffolk University
LLM in Taxation, Boston University

Biography

Professor Ainsworth, who has taught in BU Law’s tax program since 2005, is a comparative tax law specialist. His teaching and scholarship interests are in comparative transfer pricing, comparative VAT, and comparative income tax. He brings extensive transfer pricing and VAT experience to the role of director. He has published over 100 articles on various tax topics, and is considered a national expert on sales suppression in both the retail sales tax and the value added tax. He writes extensively on missing trader intra-community fraud (MTIC).

Recently on matters of VAT fraud, he advised both the US Attorney’s Office In the Matter of: the Extradition of Samir Azizi, No. 5:14-xr-90282-PSG (D. N.D. CA, filed March 20, 2015) and the defense team In the Matter of: the Extradition of Mohammad Safdar Gohir, No. 2:14-mj-314-CWH (D. NV, filed May 4, 2014). Professor Ainsworth, who has served as a senior litigation attorney with the Office of Chief Counsel (IRS) on transfer pricing cases, frequently advises US-based multinational corporations on transfer pricing and valuation issues. At ADP/Taxware, he became internationally recognized as an expert on sales suppression frauds. He is responsible for the adoption of anti-Zapper legislation in at least 25 States, and has helped design the fraud prevention technologies utilized in Rwanda and other members of the East African Community. Much of the analysis and terminology in this area of law (Zapper, Phantom-ware, Sales Suppression as a Service – SSaaS, and the Digital Invoice Customs Exchange – DICE) trace back to papers he published. He has testified and drafted legislative changes to address technology-based fraud in the US, EU, and East Africa.

Professor Ainsworth previously served as deputy director of the international tax program at Harvard Law School, where he was also a lecturer. In addition to teaching law at BU and Harvard, he has been an adjunct professor of public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law’s Graduate Tax Program, a visiting professor of American Tax Law at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, and a Fulbright professor of taxation at Kobe and Osaka Universities in Japan. Professor Ainsworth has lectured on technical and tax modernization issues for the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, United Nations Development Program, US Treasury, and Japanese International Cooperation Agency. He earned a BBA from Boston College, a JD from Suffolk University, and an LLM in Taxation from Boston University School of Law. At various times Director Ainsworth teaches a mix of the following courses: US Transfer Pricing (TX 951), Comparative International Transfer Pricing (TX 947), EU VAT (TX 952); Comparative VAT (TX 908), Comparative Income Taxation (TX 957), Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) (TX 983). In addition he directs the Seminar on Current Developments & Issues in Taxation – Tax Thesis (TX 982) both residentially and online.

Profile Types
Faculty, Graduate Tax LLM, Lecturers & Adjunct Professors, and Part-Time Faculty
Areas of Interest
Tax Law
Profiles
Richard Thompson Ainsworth

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Publications

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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Musaad Alwohaibi, Andrew Leahey, Yujin Li & Haseena Rahman, Afghanistan's New VAT, Part 1: Invoice Matching or a Unitary Digital Invoice 100 Tax NotesInternational (2020)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth & Xiuyuan (Tony) Hu, A Proposal for Taxing Cryptocurrency In the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic 98 Tax Notes International (2020)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Robert Chicoine, Andrew Leahey & Sunder Gee, Washington’s 'Cutting-Edge' Technology Solution to Combating Sales Tax Fraud: Real-Time Data (Now), Real-Time Remittance in the Future 94 Tax Notes (2019)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Data First – Tax Next: How Fiji’s Technology Can Improve New Zealand’s ‘Netflix Tax’ (Part 4) 96 Tax Notes (2019)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth & Chang Che, Data First – Tax Next: How Fiji’s Technology Can Improve New Zealand’s 'Netflix Tax' (Electronic Marketplaces) Part 3 95 Tax Notes (2019)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Data First – Tax Next: How Fiji’s Technology Can Improve New Zealand’s 'Netflix Tax' (Part 2) 94 Tax Notes (2019)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Data First – Tax Next: How Fiji’s Technology Can Improve New Zealand’s 'Netflix Tax' (Part 1) 94 Tax Notes (2019)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth & Robert Chicoine, Zappers, Phantomware and Other Sales Suppression Software in the State of Washington 87 State Tax Notes (2018)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth & Robert Chicoine, Basic (Non-Technical) Requirements – Electronic Monitoring Agreement for Zappers, Phantomware, and Other Sales Suppression Devices Appendix A 87 State Tax Notes (2018)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Musaad Alwohaibi, Mike Cheetham & Camille Tirand, A VATCoin Solution to MTIC Fraud: Past Efforts, Present Technology, And the EU’s 2017 Proposal 89 Tax Notes (2018)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth & Robert Chicoine, The Technology Requirements of the First Electronic Monitoring Agreement in US for Zappers, Phantomware, and Other Sales Suppression Devices 86 State Tax Notes (2017)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth & Ville Viitasaari, Payroll Tax & the Blockchain 85 Tax Notes (2017)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Trump & VAT: NAFTA, Trade Barriers & Retaliatory Tariffs 85 Tax Notes (2017)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth & Musaad Alwohaibi, Blockchain, Bitcoin, and VAT in the GCC: The Missing Trader Example (2017)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth & Musaad Alwohaibi, GCC VAT: The Intra-Gulf Trade Problem 84 Tax Notes (2016)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth & Andrew Shact, Blockchain (Distributed Ledger Technology) Solves VAT Fraud 83 Tax Notes (2016)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Sales Suppression: The International Dimension 65 American University Law Review (2016)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, VAT Fraud Mutation, Part 3: "Pull" Missing Trader Fraud and Deutsche Bank 81 Tax Notes International (2016)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, VAT Fraud Mutation, Part 2: CITIBank as a Transition 81 Tax Notes International (2016)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, VAT Fraud Mutation, Part 1: "Push" Missing Trade Fraud and Dosanjh 81 Tax Notes International (2016)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, VAT Fraud and Terrorist Funding - The Azizi Extradition Allegations Part II 79 Tax Notes (2015)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, VAT Fraud and Terrorist Funding -- The Azizi Extradition Allegations Part I 79 Tax Notes (2015)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Phishing & VAT Fraud in CO2 Permits: DICE in the EU-ETS Now; DICE in Power Tomorrow 77 Tax Notes (2015)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, A Perfect Storm in the EU VAT: Kittel, 'R' and MARC 66 Tax Notes (2012)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Refund Fraud? - Real-Time Solution! Digital Security Borrowed from the VAT (Brazil, Quebec, & Belgium) 66 Tax Notes (2012)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, VAT Experimentation -- New York & Illinois (2012)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth & Andrew Shact, Transfer Pricing: The CUP -- Case Studies: Australia, US, UK, Norway and Canada 66 Tax Notes (2012)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Black Swans: Recapitulative Statements/VIES (VAT) & Use Tax Reciprocity (RST) 66 Tax Notes (2012)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Refund Fraud? Real-Time Solution! 134 Tax Notes (2012)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth & Andrew Shact, Transfer Pricing: Data Dumps and Comparability - US, UK, Canadian, and Australian Case Studies 65 Tax Notes (2012)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, German VAT Compliance - Moving One Step Closer to Automated Third-Party Solutions 64 Tax Notes (2011)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth & Andrew Shact, Transfer Pricing & Business Restructurings: Intangibles, Synergies, and Shelters 63 Tax Notes (2011)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, New York Adopts a VAT 61 Tax Notes (2011)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, VAT Fraud as a Policy Stimulus - Is the US Watching? VAT Withholding, RTvat, and the Mittler Model 62 Tax Notes (2011)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Will Cutting the Payroll Tax Increase Jobs? (Empirical Evidence from the EU VAT) 61 Tax Notes (2011)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, VAT Fraud: MTIC & MTEC - The Tradable Services Problem 61 Tax Notes (2011)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Transfer Pricing, Business Restructurings and Intangibles - Case Studies: UPS v. Commissioner; DSG Retail Ltd. v. HMRC 60 Tax Notes (2010)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Pennsylvania's Sales and Use Tax: Has Nearly $1 Billion Been 'Zapped' Away in Fraud? 8 Pittsburgh Tax Review (2010)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, VoIP MTIC - The Italian Job (Operazione 'Phuncards-Broker') 58 Tax Notes (2010)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, MTIC (VAT FRAUD) in VoIP - Market Size $3.3b Tax Notes (2010)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Virtual Intermediaries: Consumption Tax Problems in Japan, Europe, and the United States - The Case of the Virtual Travel Agent 57 Tax Notes (2010)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, CO2 MTIC Fraud -- Technologically Exploiting the EU VAT (Again) 57 Tax Notes International (2010)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Quebec's Sales Recording Module (SRM): Fighting the Zapper, Phantomware, and Tax Fraud with Technology 57 Canadian Tax Journal (2010)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Tax Fraud in the Sales Tax: Zappers -- What are They? How Can Puerto Rico Block Them? 79 Revista Juridica de la Universidad de Puerto Rico (2010)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, The Morphing of MTIC Fraud: VAT Fraud Infects Tradable CO2 Permits 55 Tax Notes (2009)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Use and Enjoyment of Intangible Services: The German, Austrian, Danish and Estonian VAT Derogations 54 Tax Notes (2009)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Use and Enjoyment of Intangible Services: The Czech Republic's VAT Derogation 53 Tax Notes (2009)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Zappers and Phantom-Ware at the FTA: Are They Listening Now? 49 Tax Notes (2008)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Zappers & Phantom-Ware: A Global Demand for Tax Fraud Technology 50 Tax Notes (2008)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Zappers: Tax Fraud, Technology and Terrorist Funding 61 The Tax Lawyer: The State and Local Tax Edition (2008)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, IT-APAs: Harmonizing Inconsistent Transfer Pricing Rules in Income Tax - Customs - VAT 34 Rutgers Computer & Technology Law Journal (2007)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, UK Car-Flipping: The VAT Fraud Market-Place and Certified Solutions 47 Tax Notes (2007)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth & Hiroki Akioka, Digital Consumption Tax (D-CT) (2007)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Biometrics: Solving the Regressivity of Vats and Rsts with 'Smart Card' Technology 7 Florida Tax Review (2006)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Carousel Fraud in the EU: A Digital Vat Solution 42 Tax Notes (2006)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, The Digital Vat (D-Vat) 25 Virginia Tax Review (2006)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Digital Vat and Development: D-Vat and D-Velopment 39 Tax Notes (2005)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, The One-Stop-Shop in Vat and Rst: Common Approaches to Eu-Us Consumption Tax Problems 37 Tax Notes (2005)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, A Comparative Assessment of EU, UK, French, Australian and Japanese Responses to Auditor Independence: The Case of Non-Audit Tax Services 1 Tax Notes (2004)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, What Sarbanes-Oxley Really Means for Tax Services 15 International Tax Review (2004)
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  • Richard Thompson Ainsworth, Negative Foreign Commerce Clause: An Analysis of the Reserved Unitary Tax Issue in Container Corporation of America v. California Franchise Tax Board 8 Boston University Journal of Tax Law (1990)
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