Sep 15th 2017, 20:37

FAIR AND UNFAIR TAXATION:
A PLETHORA OF INTERNATIONAL TAX ISSUES EXAMINED IN THIS BOOK

An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers
and Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”

A couple of hundred years ago, the American statesman, diplomat, writer, scientist and inventor, Benjamin Franklin opined rather amusingly that there are only two things in life that are inevitable: death and taxes. And now, his likeness graces the US one-hundred-dollar bill! Whether he or his readers quite realised it or not, he could only be referring to systems of taxation that, for all their annoyances and flaws, are fundamentally fair and in which everyone is expected to pay taxes.

Such is not the case in many parts of the world, as this newly published title from Intersentia dismally reminds us. Its three joint editors have produced a compilation of carefully researched articles from twenty-four expert contributors (including the editors themselves) which examine various aspects of mainly unfair taxation in the attempt to theorise possible solutions. The results of this endeavour range from the interesting to the startling.

Referring to the book’s title ‘Building Trust in Taxation’, its contributors reveal that where there is no trust in a taxation system, there is little or no taxation… therefore few sources of finance for the public good… therefore bribery and corruption (which inevitably replace tax) … and therefore endemic and abject poverty. In any number of areas, corrupt practices supplant taxation.

This phenomenon – and we think you could call it that – is studied in detail, particularly in the chapter written by Katharina Gangl, Erich Kirchler, Christian Lorenz and Benno Torgler on ‘non-filers’ in a developing nation; ‘non-filers’ being those who don’t pay taxes and don’t file tax returns either.

This is a serious matter which affects the economy of a nation and even such matters as public safety. There are a number of nations in this category -- mainly developing countries -- and the nation scrutinized as an example is Pakistan. Here, as the authors have apparently discovered via empirical evidence, only about one per cent of the population file tax returns.

Tax avoidance -- and often evasion -- is (to a much lesser extent) a problem in developed countries too; certain big corporates being the main culprits, engendering much resentment, which one hopes, will lead to reform. The matters of Starbucks, Amazon and Google, for example, are discussed in the first chapter. The basic thesis here is that if taxpayers are confident that their taxation system is fair, exemplifies good governance and is free of corruption, they are more willing to pay taxes. Read this book and you may be convinced that Adam Smith’s dictum that taxation is liberty, was right.

Generally, the book’s international contributors propose a number of solutions to unequal tax policies which range from the practical to the almost utopian. One advocates ‘pushing toward a multipolar world’ of ‘autonomous regional blocs’ which would presumably ‘de-concentrate’ political power to create a ‘multilateral democratic order’ in which individuals, rather than oligarchies, would have a greater say in the formation of tax policies.

Much thought backed by research is provided in this book on taxation in general and its underlying principles. From policy makers to lawyers, readers from a wide range of backgrounds and professions will find it a convincing and useful read

The publication date is stated as at 2017.