Model-Based Simulation of Legal Requirements: Experience from Tax Policy Simulation

Ghanem Soltana, Mehrdad Sabetzadeh, Lionel C. Briand

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Using models for expressing legal requirements is now commonplace in Requirements Engineering. Models of legal requirements, on the one hand, facilitate communication between software engineers and legal experts, and on the other hand, provide a basis for systematic and automated analysis. The most prevalent application of legal requirements models is for checking the compliance of software systems with laws and regulations. In this experience paper, we explore a complementary application of legal requirements models, namely simulation. We observe that, in domains such as taxation, the same models that underlie legal compliance analysis bring important added value by enabling simulation. Concretely, this paper reports on the model-based simulation of selected legal requirements (policies) derived from Luxembourg's Income Tax Law. The simulation scenario considered in the paper is aimed at analyzing the impact of a current tax law reform proposal in Luxembourg. We describe our approach for simulation along with empirical results demonstrating the feasibility and accuracy of the approach. We further present lessons learned from the experience.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - 2016 IEEE 24th International Requirements Engineering Conference, RE 2016
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages303-312
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9781509041213
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Dec 2016
Externally publishedYes
Event24th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference, RE 2016 - Beijing, China
Duration: 12 Sep 201616 Sep 2016

Publication series

NameProceedings - 2016 IEEE 24th International Requirements Engineering Conference, RE 2016

Conference

Conference24th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference, RE 2016
Country/TerritoryChina
CityBeijing
Period12/09/1616/09/16

Keywords

  • Legal Requirements
  • Modeling
  • Simulation

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