OOF™ Origin Open Foundation™

Independent Methodological Authority

Architecture Ecosystem: Structured Reality Standards™
Architecture Family: TREGA™ — Tax-Relevant Event Governance Architecture™
Parent Standard: TRVAS — Tax-Relevant Value Association Standard
Module: VACM — Value Change Association Module
Operational Layer: Value Change Association Governance Layer
Category: Governance & Enforcement
Subcategory: Tax-Relevant Event Governance
Type: Core Module
Governed Space: Value Change Association
Origin ID: TREGA-TRVAS-VACM-003
Version: 1.0
Status: Canonical · Open Standard
Effective Date: 1 September 2026
AI-Readable: Yes
Authority: OOF®
Protection: MIP® — Methodological Intellectual Property
Canonical Language: UCL — Universal Canonical Language

Canonical Definition

The Value Change Association Module (VACM) governs how governed
changes affecting value are materially associated with a specific
Tax-Relevant Event through the Governed Value References
established by VARM.

VACM determines whether a governed Value Change legitimately
belongs to the event, how that relationship is qualified, and how
multiple, partial, direct, indirect, sequential, or conflicting
Value Change Associations are represented.

VACM does not determine whether value actually changed, how the
change occurred within the Value Lifecycle, or what economic,
accounting, legal, or tax consequence follows from that change.

VFM® remains authoritative for the underlying Value Change.

Its principal task is:

Governed Value Reference + Governed Value Change

↓

Governed
Event–Value Change Association

The foundational distinction is:

Value Change Association ≠ Value Change Governance.

Operational Role

Events frequently coincide with changes in value.

Value may be: created; increased; decreased; transferred;
transformed; consumed; developed; degraded; impaired; nullified;
restored; or otherwise materially changed.

But temporal proximity between an event and a Value Change does
not establish that the event and change belong together.

VACM provides the governance mechanism for determining whether an
already-governed Value Change is materially associated with the
event.

It therefore protects TREGA™ from making a common methodological
error:

observing a Value Change and automatically attributing that
change to the event.

Internal Module Flow

TRVAS operates through:

VAIM — Value Association Identification

↓

VARM — Value Reference

↓

VACM — Value Change Association

↓

VASM — Value State
Association

↓

VATM — Value Association Traceability

↓

Governed
Value-Associated Event

VACM receives the Governed Value Reference Set from VARM together
with relevant governed Value Change information.

Its output proceeds to VASM.

Operational Transition

The canonical VACM transition is:

Governed Value Reference Set + Governed Value Change Information

↓

Value Change Association Governance

↓

Governed Value Change
Association Set

VACM associates change with the event.

It does not create the Value Change.

Operational Space

VACM governs: Event–Value Change Association; Value Change
relevance; change-association basis; direct and indirect
association; partial association; multiple Value Changes;
sequential Value Changes; concurrent Value Changes; positive and
negative changes; transfer-related changes;
transformation-related changes; consumption-related changes;
machine-generated changes; association materiality; association
qualification; association uncertainty; association conflict;
association correction; and Value Change Association readiness
for downstream TRVAS governance.

Operational Scope

VACM may operate across Value Changes associated with: commercial
events; payments; banking; digital assets; goods; services;
rights; resources; energy; computational capacity; industrial
production; marketplaces; blockchain systems; AI-agent activity;
autonomous systems; machine-to-machine activity; infrastructure
operations; and other governed economic or operational
environments.

The form of value does not determine the validity of the
association.

Governed Value Change

A Governed Value Change is an upstream governance result
describing a material change affecting a governed value.

VACM may consume such a result.

It does not recreate it.

The architecture boundary is explicit:

VFM® governs what changed in the value. VACM governs whether that
governed change belongs to the event. Event–Value Change
Association

An Event–Value Change Association represents a sufficiently
governed relationship between: a Governed Tax-Relevant Event; a
Governed Value Reference; and a Governed Value Change.

The existence of all three does not automatically establish the
relationship.

Event + Value + Change ≠ Established Value Change Association by
default.

The association itself requires governance.

Association Basis

VACM shall preserve the basis supporting the relationship between
the event and the Value Change.

The basis may derive from operational, transactional, temporal,
participant-related, system-generated, contractual, technical, or
other legitimate governed information.

The existence of one indicator does not automatically establish
the association.

Association Evidence ≠ Association Determination by default.

Direct Value Change Association

A Value Change may occur directly through the governed event.

For example, an event may directly transfer, consume, transform,
increase, or decrease a governed value.

Where sufficient support exists, VACM may establish a Direct
Value Change Association.

However:

Direct Value Change Association ≠ Taxable Event Determination.

Indirect Value Change Association

A Value Change may be materially related through intermediate
operations.

For example:

Governed Event

↓

Platform Operation

↓

Settlement Process

↓

Governed Value Change

The presence of an intermediary does not automatically invalidate
the relationship.

Indirect Association ≠ Irrelevant Change by default.

VACM shall preserve the actual association structure where
sufficiently supported.

Partial Value Change Association

Only part of a governed Value Change may belong to the event.

For example, one settlement may cover several events, or one
resource-consumption record may aggregate several operations.

VACM shall support partial association without forcing the entire
change onto one event.

Partial Association ≠ Complete Value Change Association.

Multiple Value Changes

One event may legitimately be associated with multiple Value
Changes.

For example:

Event

↓

Payment Change + Asset Change + Service Value Change +
Resource Consumption Change

Therefore:

One Event ≠ One Value Change by default.

VACM shall preserve materially distinct changes.

One Value Change Across Multiple Events

A single governed Value Change may also relate to several events.

For example, one settlement may resolve several transactions.

VACM shall permit qualified multi-event association where
operational reality supports it.

One Value Change ≠ One Event by default.

TRERLS remains authoritative for relationships among the events
themselves.

Sequential Value Changes

An event may be associated with Value Changes occurring in a
governed sequence.

For example:

Authorization

↓

Reservation

↓

Transfer

↓

Settlement

↓

Refund

VACM may preserve the association sequence where materially
relevant.

However:

Sequential Value Changes ≠ Separate Events by default.

Whether separate events exist belongs to Event Formation,
Boundary, and Relationship governance.

Concurrent Value Changes

Several Value Changes may occur simultaneously or within the same
operational stage.

VACM shall support concurrent associations without forcing an
artificial sequence.

Concurrent Value Changes ≠ Same Value Change.

Value Increase Association

An event may be associated with an increase in governed value.

VACM may establish the association where the increase is already
governed upstream.

It does not determine the amount, cause, legal recognition, or
tax consequence of the increase.

Value Increase Association ≠ Taxable Gain.

Value Decrease Association

An event may be associated with a reduction in governed value.

VACM may preserve this relationship without determining whether
the decrease constitutes an expense, loss, deduction, impairment,
or other legal or accounting category.

Value Decrease Association ≠ Tax Deduction.

Value Transfer Association

A governed event may be associated with movement or transfer of
value.

VACM may establish the relationship between the event and the
governed transfer result.

However:

Value Transfer Association ≠ Ownership Transfer Determination.

Ownership remains outside VACM.

Value Transformation Association

Value may change form while remaining part of a governed
lifecycle.

An event may be associated with such transformation.

VACM may represent the association without determining whether
the transformed value constitutes a new asset, legal object,
accounting item, or taxable category.

Value Transformation Association ≠ Legal Reclassification.

Value Consumption Association

Events may consume value such as: energy; materials;
computational capacity; machine time; service capacity;
infrastructure resources; or other productive inputs.

VACM may associate a governed consumption change with the event.

Value Consumption ≠ Deductible Cost by default.

Value Creation and Development Association

An event may contribute to emergence or development of value.

Where VFM® has governed the relevant result, VACM may associate
that change with the event.

VACM does not determine Value Origin or Value Development itself.

Value Development Association ≠ Value Ownership.

Value Degradation and Nullification
Association

An event may contribute to degradation, impairment, destruction,
or nullification of value.

VACM may associate the governed result with the event without
determining responsibility or liability.

Value Degradation Association ≠ Liability Determination.

HALIA™ remains authoritative for harm and liability where
applicable.

Value Restoration Association

An event may restore previously degraded or nullified value.

VACM may preserve this relationship where the restoration result
is governed upstream.

Value Restoration Association ≠ Legal
Compensation Determination. Reversal

A Value Change may later be reversed.

A payment may be reversed.

A digital-asset transfer may be returned.

A resource allocation may be cancelled.

VACM shall preserve the relationship between the original and
reversal-associated changes without assuming that the original
event never occurred.

Value Change Reversal ≠ Historical
Erasure. Refund

A refund may be associated with an earlier governed event or may
itself participate in a separate event structure.

VACM shall not automatically collapse the refund into the
original Value Change.

Refund ≠ Original Value Change Erasure.

Whether the refund constitutes part of the same event or another
related event belongs to the appropriate TREGA™ governance
layers. Correction

A Value Change Association may later be shown to be incorrect.

VACM shall support governed correction while preserving
reconstructability.

Association Correction ≠ Historical Erasure.

Value Change Timing

A Value Change may occur, be recorded, recognized, settled, or
observed at times different from the governed Event Timing.

VACM shall not redefine Event Timing from a Value Change
timestamp.

Value Change Timestamp ≠ Event Time by default.

TRETS remains authoritative for Event Timing.

Value Change Location

A Value Change may be recorded or technically executed in a
location different from the governed Event Location.

For example, a digital transfer may be processed through
infrastructure in several countries.

Therefore:

Value Change Location ≠ Event Location by default.

TRELS remains authoritative for Event Location.

Value Change and Participation

A participant may be associated with a Value Change.

That relationship does not automatically establish ownership,
entitlement, responsibility, or taxpayer status.

Participant Associated with Value Change ≠ Value Owner.

Participant Associated with Value Change ≠ Taxpayer.

TREPS remains authoritative for Event Participation.

Value Change and Ownership

VACM does not determine whether ownership changes because value
changes or transfers.

Value Change ≠ Ownership Change by default.

OBIDENITY® remains authoritative for ownership governance where
applicable.

Value Change and Accountability

The association of a Value Change with an event does not
establish which participant caused or is accountable for that
change.

Value Change Association ≠ Accountability Determination.

AGA™ remains authoritative for accountability governance.

Value Change and Liability

A negative Value Change may represent loss, degradation,
destruction, or impairment.

VACM does not determine who is liable.

Negative Value Change ≠ Liability by default.

HALIA™ remains authoritative where applicable.

Value Change and Taxation

A governed Value Change may later be important to taxation.

However, VACM does not determine whether the change constitutes:
taxable income; taxable gain; deductible loss; taxable
consideration; taxable benefit; realization; disposal;
acquisition; taxable transfer; customs value; or another
jurisdiction-specific tax concept.

Therefore:

Governed Value Change Association ≠ Taxable Value Change.

A jurisdiction may later apply its own legal rules to the
governed event-value structure.

Multi-Jurisdiction Governance

The same governed Value Change Association may support different
interpretations across jurisdictions.

The model is:

One Governed Value Change Association

↓

Multiple Jurisdictional Evaluations

Jurisdiction A may treat the change as taxable.

Jurisdiction B may classify it differently.

Jurisdiction C may not recognize a taxable consequence.

TREGA™ preserves one governed operational reality while allowing
legal interpretation to remain jurisdiction-specific.

Machine and Autonomous Value Changes

AI agents, robots, software systems, and autonomous machines may
initiate or produce Value Changes without contemporaneous human
execution.

Examples include: autonomous asset transfer; resource
consumption; energy allocation; computational exchange;
machine-generated production; autonomous procurement; service
execution; or digital settlement.

VACM shall support association of such governed changes with the
event.

Machine-Generated Value Change ≠ Human Value Change by default.

Likewise:

Autonomous Value Change ≠ Autonomous Tax Liability.

Association Materiality

VACM shall determine whether the relationship between the
governed Value Change and event is sufficiently material to
require association.

Materiality concerns the event-change relationship.

It does not determine legal, accounting, audit, or tax
materiality.

Association Materiality ≠ Tax Materiality.

Association Confidence

A Value Change Association may possess different levels of
support.

VACM may represent the association as:

Established · Qualified · Partial ·
Ambiguous · Conflicted · Unresolved

A downstream need for a deterministic value shall not override
governance uncertainty.

Association Uncertainty

It may be unclear whether the event caused, contributed to,
coincided with, or merely preceded a Value Change.

VACM shall preserve that uncertainty.

Temporal Proximity ≠ Value Change Association.

and:

Association Uncertainty ≠ Permission to Assume Causation.

VACM governs association, not universal causality.

Association Conflict

Different sources may disagree about whether a Value Change
belongs to the event.

VACM shall preserve materially relevant conflict until
sufficiently resolved.

Association Conflict ≠ Permission for Convenient Attribution.

Governance States

VACM may represent states including:

Change Association Ready

Change Association Under Governance

Direct Change Association

Indirect Change Association

Partial Change Association

Multi-Change Association

Sequential Change Association

Concurrent Change Association

Change Association Qualified

Change Association Ambiguous

Change Association Conflicted

Change Association Unresolved

Governed Value Change Association
Established

These states describe Event–Value Change Association only.

Governance Requirements

VACM implementations shall ensure that: Value Changes are
associated only through governed Value References; upstream
governed Value Changes are consumed without being redefined;
direct and indirect associations can be distinguished; partial
association can be represented; multiple Value Changes can belong
to one event; one Value Change can relate to multiple events
where legitimate; sequential and concurrent changes can be
represented; increases and decreases remain distinct from tax
conclusions; transfers remain distinct from ownership
determination; transformations remain distinct from legal
reclassification; consumption remains distinct from
deductibility; degradation remains distinct from liability;
restoration remains distinct from compensation; reversals do not
erase historical changes; refunds do not automatically erase
original Value Changes; corrections remain traceable; Value
Change timestamps do not redefine Event Timing; Value Change
location does not redefine Event Location; participant
association does not establish ownership or taxpayer status;
accountability and liability remain separate; uncertainty remains
visible; conflict remains visible; VFM® ownership of Value Change
governance remains preserved; and tax determination remains
downstream.

Governance Logic

IF VARM establishes a Governed Value Reference and a relevant
governed Value Change exists, THEN VACM shall evaluate whether
the change materially belongs to the governed event.

IF the association is sufficiently supported, THEN a Governed
Value Change Association may be established.

IF only part of a Value Change belongs to the event, THEN partial
association shall be preserved rather than assigning the complete
change.

IF multiple Value Changes belong to the event, THEN materially
distinct associations shall remain separately governable.

IF one Value Change relates to several events, THEN exclusivity
shall not be assumed.

IF a reversal, refund, or correction occurs, THEN historical
Value Change Association shall remain reconstructable.

IF the association remains uncertain or conflicted, THEN the
corresponding governance state shall remain visible.

IF information indicates a possible Event Formation, Event
Boundary, Event Timing, or Event Relationship issue, THEN VACM
shall refer the issue to the appropriate TREGA™ layer rather than
redefining those spaces.

IF Value Change Association is sufficiently governed, THEN the
result shall proceed to VASM for Value State Association
governance.

Minimum Implementation Framework

A minimum VACM implementation should support:

Governed Event Reference The governed event to which the Value
Change may be associated.

Governed Value Reference The VARM-governed value reference.

Governed Value Change Reference The upstream governed Value
Change being associated.

Change Association Identifier The stable identifier for the
Event–Value Change Association.

Change Type Reference The relevant upstream governed change
classification where available.

Association Basis The basis supporting the relationship between
event and change.

Association Directness Direct, indirect, or otherwise qualified.

Association Extent Complete, partial, or otherwise qualified.

Sequence State Whether the change forms part of a materially
relevant sequence.

Concurrency State Whether the change occurs concurrently with
another associated change.

Reversal Reference Any materially relevant reversal relationship.

Refund Reference Any materially relevant refund relationship.

Correction Reference Any governed correction affecting the
association.

Association Confidence The qualified confidence attached to the
association.

Ambiguity State Whether the association remains ambiguous.

Conflict State Whether materially conflicting associations exist.

Traceability Reference The information required to reconstruct
the association.

Governance State The current VACM state.

Handoff State Whether the result is ready for VASM.

Governance Outputs

VACM may produce: Governed Direct Value Change Association;
Governed Indirect Value Change Association; Governed Partial
Value Change Association; Governed Multi-Change Association
Structure; Governed Sequential Value Change Association; Governed
Concurrent Value Change Association; Value Transfer Association;
Value Transformation Association; Value Consumption Association;
Value Development Association; Value Degradation Association;
Value Restoration Association; Value Change Reversal
Relationship; Value Change Association Correction; Value Change
Association Confidence State; Value Change Association Ambiguity
State; Value Change Association Conflict State; and the principal
output: Governed Value Change Association Set.

Critical Distinctions

Value Change Association ≠ Value Change Governance.

VFM® governs what changed in value. VACM governs whether that
governed change belongs to the event.

Event + Value + Change ≠ Established Value Change Association by
default.

Association Evidence ≠ Association Determination by default.

Direct Value Change Association ≠ Taxable Event Determination.

Indirect Association ≠ Irrelevant Change by default.

Partial Association ≠ Complete Value Change Association.

One Event ≠ One Value Change by default.

One Value Change ≠ One Event by default.

Sequential Value Changes ≠ Separate Events by default.

Concurrent Value Changes ≠ Same Value Change.

Value Increase Association ≠ Taxable Gain.

Value Decrease Association ≠ Tax Deduction.

Value Transfer Association ≠ Ownership Transfer Determination.

Value Transformation Association ≠ Legal Reclassification.

Value Consumption ≠ Deductible Cost by default.

Value Development Association ≠ Value Ownership.

Value Degradation Association ≠ Liability Determination.

Value Restoration Association ≠ Legal Compensation Determination.

Value Change Reversal ≠ Historical Erasure.

Value Change Timestamp ≠ Event Time by default.

Value Change Location ≠ Event Location by default.

Value Change ≠ Ownership Change by default.

Value Change Association ≠ Accountability Determination.

Governed Value Change Association ≠ Taxable Value Change.

Temporal Proximity ≠ Value Change Association.

Enterprise Application

VACM enables businesses, banks, digital platforms, blockchain
infrastructures, ERP systems, AI agents, and machine systems to
connect governed Value Changes to the correct event without
turning operational change into premature legal or tax
conclusions.

The operational path is:

VARM — Governed Value Reference Set

↓

Governed Value Change
Information

↓

VACM — Governed Value Change Association Set

↓

VASM
— Value State Association

↓

VATM — Value Association Traceability

↓

Governed Value-Associated Event

This enables downstream systems to understand not merely that
value changed, but which governed event the change materially
belongs to. Use Case 1 — Cross-Border Commerce with Settlement,
Refund, and Multiple Value Changes

A multinational marketplace processes a commercial event
involving goods, platform services, payment processing,
logistics, and currency conversion.

The customer payment creates several operational records. The
merchant later receives settlement after platform fees are
deducted. A partial refund subsequently occurs.

VFM® governs the relevant Value Changes.

VACM determines which of those governed changes materially belong
to the event, distinguishes direct, partial, sequential, and
refund-related associations, and preserves the original change
history.

It does not determine whether the settlement constitutes taxable
income, whether the refund creates a deduction, or which
jurisdiction may tax any resulting amount.

The result is a governed Event–Value Change structure suitable
for subsequent tax analysis without rewriting operational value
reality. Use Case 2 — Autonomous Infrastructure and Digital-Asset
Settlement

An autonomous industrial system obtains computational capacity
and energy from distributed providers.

AI agents coordinate allocation, machine systems consume
resources, and settlement occurs through digital assets.

Several governed Value Changes occur: resource consumption,
service-value change, energy consumption, digital-asset transfer,
and potentially later settlement adjustments.

VACM associates the relevant governed Value Changes with the
event while keeping the underlying Value Lifecycle under VFM®.

It does not treat the blockchain transfer as the complete
economic change, attribute ownership from wallet movement, or
determine whether any change is taxable.

The resulting association structure allows different
jurisdictions to evaluate the same governed operational reality
according to their own tax rules.

Canonical Boundary

VACM owns the association of already-governed Value Changes with
a specific Tax-Relevant Event, including directness,
indirectness, partial association, multiple changes, sequence,
concurrency, reversals, refunds, correction, qualification,
uncertainty, conflict, and association-specific traceability.

VACM does not own Value Change creation or determination, the
Value Lifecycle, Value Reference establishment, Value State
governance, Value State Association, complete Value Association
traceability, Event Formation, Event Boundary, Event Timing,
Event Location, Event Participation, Event Relationships,
ownership, entitlement, accountability, liability, taxable value,
Tax Base, Tax Liability, or another jurisdiction-specific tax
conclusion.

Its governance ends when relevant governed Value Changes are
sufficiently associated with the event for Value State
Association governance.

Canonical Handoff

VARM — Governed Value Reference Set

↓

VACM — Governed Value
Change Association Set

↓

VASM — Value State Association
Governance

Canonical Closing Statement

VACM connects governed Value Change to governed Event Reality
without taking ownership of the Value Change itself.

A change in value may be real without belonging to the event, and
a change belonging to the event may have different legal
consequences across jurisdictions.

Value Change Association ≠ Value Change Governance.

Governed Value Change Association ≠ Taxable Value Change.