File #2807: "2020_Book_EthicsAndTaxation.pdf"
Text
1|Preface|5
1|Contents|7
1|Editor and Contributors|9
1|Abbreviations|11
1|List of Figures|15
1|Overview of Case Law|16
1|1 Introduction: Why Ethics Matter in Taxation|21
2|References|37
1|Tax Policy and Design of Tax Law|40
1|2 The Moral Basis for Taxation|41
2|2.1 Introduction|41
2|2.2 Definitions—Morality and Tax|43
3|2.2.1 Morality|43
3|2.2.2 Tax|45
2|2.3 Property, Tax and ‘Theft’|46
3|2.3.1 Property Rights|46
3|2.3.2 The ‘Social Contract’ and Natural Rights|47
3|2.3.3 The Meaning of ‘Private Property’|48
3|2.3.4 Tax and ‘Theft’|50
2|2.4 The Moral Issues of Raising and Using Tax Revenue|54
2|2.5 Other Viewpoints|58
2|2.6 Concluding Remarks|59
2|References|60
1|3 Social Contract and Beyond: Sociability, Reciprocity and Tax Ethics|64
2|3.1 Introduction|65
2|3.2 Human Sociability, Law, Tax and Morality|66
2|3.3 Hobbes|69
3|3.3.1 Introduction: Hobbes’ Social Contract, and Its Context|69
3|3.3.2 Social Contract: Transition to Civil State and Justification of Obedience|71
3|3.3.3 Hobbes’ Moral Psychology|74
3|3.3.4 Various Relationships of Reciprocity|76
3|3.3.5 Hobbes: Conclusion|81
2|3.4 Spinoza|82
3|3.4.1 Introduction|82
3|3.4.2 Natural Law and State of Nature|83
3|3.4.3 Cooperation Comes Quite Naturally, the Social Contract Inverted|84
3|3.4.4 Egoism and Mutual Aid|86
3|3.4.5 Civil Laws as Self-legislation|87
3|3.4.6 Reciprocity Variations|90
3|3.4.7 Spinoza: Conclusion|92
2|3.5 Hume|93
3|3.5.1 Hume in Context|93
3|3.5.2 Hume’s State of Nature and Social Convention as the Main Ingredients for His Ethics|94
3|3.5.3 Hume’s Moral Psychology as Preamble on His Ethics|96
3|3.5.4 Hume’s Ethical Theory: An Overview|97
3|3.5.5 Hume and the Ethics of Taxation|98
3|3.5.6 Hume: Conclusion|99
2|3.6 Conclusion|100
2|References|102
1|4 Libertarian Perspectives on the Ethics of Taxation|108
2|4.1 Introduction|108
2|4.2 Nozick on Taxation|110
3|4.2.1 Taxation on Earnings from Labor and Forced Labor|110
3|4.2.2 The Principle of Fairness|115
2|4.3 Ayn Rand: Government Funding Without Compulsion|120
2|4.4 Rothbard: “Theft on a Grand and Colossal Scale”|124
2|References|127
1|5 Head, Proportional, or Progressive Taxation: An Evaluation Based on Jewish and Christian Ethics|131
2|5.1 Introduction|131
2|5.2 Theoretical Prologue|132
3|5.2.1 Head Taxes|132
3|5.2.2 Proportional Taxation|133
3|5.2.3 Progressive Taxation|133
2|5.3 The Hebrew Bible|137
3|5.3.1 God’s Ownership|137
3|5.3.2 The Temple Tax|138
3|5.3.3 The Tithe|139
3|5.3.4 The Sabbatical and Jubilee Redemptions|140
3|5.3.5 Prophetic Protests|142
3|5.3.6 Classical Judaism|145
2|5.4 The New Testament|146
3|5.4.1 Introduction|146
3|5.4.2 The Gospels|147
3|5.4.3 The Book of Acts|148
3|5.4.4 Obedience to Rulers|149
2|5.5 Later Traditions|150
3|5.5.1 Judaism|150
3|5.5.2 Roman Catholicism|151
3|5.5.3 Protestantism|154
2|5.6 Conclusion|156
2|References|158
1|6 Developing Moral Standards for Taxation|161
2|6.1 Introduction|161
2|6.2 Theories of Tax|163
3|6.2.1 Libertarianism|164
3|6.2.2 Utilitarianism|167
3|6.2.3 Political Liberalism|170
2|6.3 Forms of Tax|171
3|6.3.1 Income Tax|172
3|6.3.2 Property Tax|174
3|6.3.3 Wealth Transfer Tax|175
3|6.3.4 Sales Tax|176
2|6.4 Conclusions|177
2|References|178
1|7 Global Tax Justice: Who’s Involved?|180
2|7.1 Introduction|180
2|7.2 Global Tax Justice: A Very Brief Introduction|183
3|7.2.1 Internationalist and Cosmopolitan Perspectives|183
3|7.2.2 Methodology|184
2|7.3 The Limits of State Consent|186
3|7.3.1 State Consent and the Intergovernmental Model of Democratic States|186
3|7.3.2 Regulatory (Tax) Competition|187
3|7.3.3 International Cooperation Between States|189
3|7.3.4 Conclusion|191
2|7.4 Democratic Ordering Beyond the State|192
3|7.4.1 Introduction|192
3|7.4.2 The Politicization of Global Tax Governance|194
3|7.4.3 The Promises of the ‘All-Affected Principle’|195
2|7.5 Conclusion|197
2|References|198
1|Ethical Standards and Obligations for Tax Advisors and Taxpayers|203
1|8 Taxpayers’ Subjective Concepts of Taxes, Tax Evasion, and Tax Avoidance|204
2|8.1 Introduction|205
2|8.2 Social Representations|205
2|8.3 Attitudes|207
2|8.4 Attitudes Towards Honest and Dishonest Taxpayers|209
2|8.5 Attitudes Towards Tax Avoidance, Tax Evasion, and Tax Flight|211
2|8.6 Attitudes and Social Representations of Taxation, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion|213
2|8.7 Synopsis|214
2|References|215
1|9 Ethical Standards for Tax Planning by Corporations|219
2|9.1 Introduction|219
2|9.2 Tax Planning and Business Ethics|221
2|9.3 Corporate Social Responsibility|223
2|9.4 Good Tax Governance Under CSR|226
2|9.5 Ethical Decision-Making|229
2|9.6 Transparency: A Procedural Element of Good Tax Governance|233
2|9.7 Conclusions|237
2|References|238
1|10 Ethical Standards for Tax Advisers|244
2|10.1 Introduction and Context|244
2|10.2 Tax Avoidance in the 21st Century|245
2|10.3 Morals in Tax and Ethics in Tax|250
2|10.4 Codes of Ethical Conduct|252
2|10.5 Conclusions|255
2|References|257
1|Tax Law Enforcement|259
1|11 Taxpayer Rights and Protections in a Digital Global Environment|260
2|11.1 Introduction|260
2|11.2 Taxpayer Rights and a Legislative Rights Framework|262
2|11.3 Public Finance and Administration—The Principles and Compliance Framework|265
3|11.3.1 Equity and Fairness|266
3|11.3.2 Certainty and Simplicity|267
3|11.3.3 Efficiency|268
3|11.3.4 Neutrality|269
3|11.3.5 Effectiveness|269
2|11.4 An Integrated Rights Framework|272
2|11.5 What Are the Digital Developments to Which This Framework Should Apply?|274
3|11.5.1 Electronics and Systems|275
3|11.5.2 Artificial Intelligence and Tax Administration|278
3|11.5.3 Challenges|283
2|11.6 Taxpayer Rights: Are the Current Principles Sufficient?|284
3|11.6.1 Sovereignty, Constitutionalism and Inter-nation Equity|284
3|11.6.2 Consistency and Proportionality of Exceptions to Laws and Treaty Obligations|287
3|11.6.3 The Making and Operation of Laws|288
3|11.6.4 Administrative Interpretation and Exercise of Discretion|290
3|11.6.5 Privacy, Confidentiality and Security|292
3|11.6.6 Fairness, Accessibility and the User Experience|294
2|11.7 Conclusion|295
2|References|297
1|12 Is There Any International Fundamental Right Against an International General Anti-avoidance Rule?|304
2|12.1 Introduction|304
2|12.2 Tax Avoidance Definition and the Conflicting Justifications for GAARs. The Role of Proportionality in Balancing Different Principles at Stake in Tax Avoidance|305
3|12.2.1 Definition and Main Characteristics|305
3|12.2.2 Justifications for and Limits to Combating Tax Avoidance|306
3|12.2.3 The Role of Proportionality to Control Tax Avoidance by Balancing Rules and Principles|308
2|12.3 International Human Rights Instruments and Taxpayers’ Rights|311
2|12.4 International Courts Rulings on Tax Avoidance|313
3|12.4.1 The European Court of Human Rights. Tax Avoidance and Evasion as Legitimate Restrictions of Fundamental Rights?|314
3|12.4.2 The CJEU: Tax Avoidance and the Fundamental Freedoms|316
3|12.4.3 The WTO Agreements and Jurisprudence on Tax Avoidance and Evasion|321
2|12.5 The GAARs in the Anti-tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD), Multilateral Instrument and the Principle Purpose Test (PPT)|323
3|12.5.1 The Anti-tax Avoidance Directive|323
3|12.5.2 The Multilateral Instrument and the Principal Purpose Test|324
2|12.6 Conclusion|326
2|References|328
1|13 Countermeasures to Tax Fraud, Evasion and Avoidance: A Critical Review|331
2|13.1 Introduction|332
2|13.2 The Harmfulness of Fraud, Tax Evasion and Avoidance|333
2|13.3 Methods of Tax Fraud, Evasion and Avoidance|335
3|13.3.1 Methods of Corporate Tax Avoidance|335
3|13.3.2 Methods of Tax Evasion by Individuals|336
3|13.3.3 Description of VAT Fraud in the European Union|337
2|13.4 Estimates of Revenue Loss|338
2|13.5 Counter Measures to Fraud, Evasion and Avoidance|340
3|13.5.1 Creating Third Party Liability|340
3|13.5.2 Abuse of Law Doctrine in the European Union|343
3|13.5.3 Blacklisting|349
3|13.5.4 Public Shaming|351
3|13.5.5 Automatic Third-Party Reporting Requirements|355
2|13.6 Summary and Conclusions|361
2|References|363
1|14 Tax Rulings, State Aid and the Rule of Law|367
2|14.1 Introduction|367
2|14.2 Theoretical Background: What Is the Rule of Law?|370
2|14.3 What Is a Tax Ruling?|372
2|14.4 What Is State Aid?|375
2|14.5 Tax Rulings and State Aid|376
2|14.6 State Aid Investigations|377
3|14.6.1 EU Perspective|377
3|14.6.2 U.S. Perspective|379
2|14.7 Putting It All Together|381
2|14.8 Conclusions|383
2|References|384
1|15 Cross-Border Big Data Flows and Taxpayer Privacy|386
2|15.1 Introduction|386
2|15.2 Context: The Push for Automatic Exchange of Information|387
3|15.2.1 Technology Trends|388
3|15.2.2 Political Trends|390
3|15.2.3 Summary|392
2|15.3 Liberty and Privacy Interests|393
3|15.3.1 Taxation and Liberty|393
3|15.3.2 Taxpayer Privacy|394
3|15.3.3 Confidentiality and Trade Secrets|395
3|15.3.4 Problems with the Existing Legal Framework|396
3|15.3.5 Summary|397
2|15.4 Optimal Reforms|398
3|15.4.1 Multilateral Taxpayer Bill of Rights|398
3|15.4.2 Withholding Tax for Non-cooperative States|399
3|15.4.3 Global Financial Registry|400
2|15.5 Conclusions|401
2|References|402
1|16 The Ethical Tax Judge|404
2|16.1 The Importance of Judicial Competence in Adjudicating Cases Under Income Tax Law|404
2|16.2 Competent Statutory Interpretation Requires Some Understanding of Theories of Language|405
2|16.3 Competent Judging Requires Insight into the Higher-Order Objectives of Income Tax Law|409
2|16.4 Ascending the Hierarchy of Competence in Statutory Interpretation in Income Tax Law|411
2|16.5 Additional Justifications for Ascending the Hierarchy of Interpretive Approaches to Income Tax Law|414
2|References|417
1|Contents|7
1|Editor and Contributors|9
1|Abbreviations|11
1|List of Figures|15
1|Overview of Case Law|16
1|1 Introduction: Why Ethics Matter in Taxation|21
2|References|37
1|Tax Policy and Design of Tax Law|40
1|2 The Moral Basis for Taxation|41
2|2.1 Introduction|41
2|2.2 Definitions—Morality and Tax|43
3|2.2.1 Morality|43
3|2.2.2 Tax|45
2|2.3 Property, Tax and ‘Theft’|46
3|2.3.1 Property Rights|46
3|2.3.2 The ‘Social Contract’ and Natural Rights|47
3|2.3.3 The Meaning of ‘Private Property’|48
3|2.3.4 Tax and ‘Theft’|50
2|2.4 The Moral Issues of Raising and Using Tax Revenue|54
2|2.5 Other Viewpoints|58
2|2.6 Concluding Remarks|59
2|References|60
1|3 Social Contract and Beyond: Sociability, Reciprocity and Tax Ethics|64
2|3.1 Introduction|65
2|3.2 Human Sociability, Law, Tax and Morality|66
2|3.3 Hobbes|69
3|3.3.1 Introduction: Hobbes’ Social Contract, and Its Context|69
3|3.3.2 Social Contract: Transition to Civil State and Justification of Obedience|71
3|3.3.3 Hobbes’ Moral Psychology|74
3|3.3.4 Various Relationships of Reciprocity|76
3|3.3.5 Hobbes: Conclusion|81
2|3.4 Spinoza|82
3|3.4.1 Introduction|82
3|3.4.2 Natural Law and State of Nature|83
3|3.4.3 Cooperation Comes Quite Naturally, the Social Contract Inverted|84
3|3.4.4 Egoism and Mutual Aid|86
3|3.4.5 Civil Laws as Self-legislation|87
3|3.4.6 Reciprocity Variations|90
3|3.4.7 Spinoza: Conclusion|92
2|3.5 Hume|93
3|3.5.1 Hume in Context|93
3|3.5.2 Hume’s State of Nature and Social Convention as the Main Ingredients for His Ethics|94
3|3.5.3 Hume’s Moral Psychology as Preamble on His Ethics|96
3|3.5.4 Hume’s Ethical Theory: An Overview|97
3|3.5.5 Hume and the Ethics of Taxation|98
3|3.5.6 Hume: Conclusion|99
2|3.6 Conclusion|100
2|References|102
1|4 Libertarian Perspectives on the Ethics of Taxation|108
2|4.1 Introduction|108
2|4.2 Nozick on Taxation|110
3|4.2.1 Taxation on Earnings from Labor and Forced Labor|110
3|4.2.2 The Principle of Fairness|115
2|4.3 Ayn Rand: Government Funding Without Compulsion|120
2|4.4 Rothbard: “Theft on a Grand and Colossal Scale”|124
2|References|127
1|5 Head, Proportional, or Progressive Taxation: An Evaluation Based on Jewish and Christian Ethics|131
2|5.1 Introduction|131
2|5.2 Theoretical Prologue|132
3|5.2.1 Head Taxes|132
3|5.2.2 Proportional Taxation|133
3|5.2.3 Progressive Taxation|133
2|5.3 The Hebrew Bible|137
3|5.3.1 God’s Ownership|137
3|5.3.2 The Temple Tax|138
3|5.3.3 The Tithe|139
3|5.3.4 The Sabbatical and Jubilee Redemptions|140
3|5.3.5 Prophetic Protests|142
3|5.3.6 Classical Judaism|145
2|5.4 The New Testament|146
3|5.4.1 Introduction|146
3|5.4.2 The Gospels|147
3|5.4.3 The Book of Acts|148
3|5.4.4 Obedience to Rulers|149
2|5.5 Later Traditions|150
3|5.5.1 Judaism|150
3|5.5.2 Roman Catholicism|151
3|5.5.3 Protestantism|154
2|5.6 Conclusion|156
2|References|158
1|6 Developing Moral Standards for Taxation|161
2|6.1 Introduction|161
2|6.2 Theories of Tax|163
3|6.2.1 Libertarianism|164
3|6.2.2 Utilitarianism|167
3|6.2.3 Political Liberalism|170
2|6.3 Forms of Tax|171
3|6.3.1 Income Tax|172
3|6.3.2 Property Tax|174
3|6.3.3 Wealth Transfer Tax|175
3|6.3.4 Sales Tax|176
2|6.4 Conclusions|177
2|References|178
1|7 Global Tax Justice: Who’s Involved?|180
2|7.1 Introduction|180
2|7.2 Global Tax Justice: A Very Brief Introduction|183
3|7.2.1 Internationalist and Cosmopolitan Perspectives|183
3|7.2.2 Methodology|184
2|7.3 The Limits of State Consent|186
3|7.3.1 State Consent and the Intergovernmental Model of Democratic States|186
3|7.3.2 Regulatory (Tax) Competition|187
3|7.3.3 International Cooperation Between States|189
3|7.3.4 Conclusion|191
2|7.4 Democratic Ordering Beyond the State|192
3|7.4.1 Introduction|192
3|7.4.2 The Politicization of Global Tax Governance|194
3|7.4.3 The Promises of the ‘All-Affected Principle’|195
2|7.5 Conclusion|197
2|References|198
1|Ethical Standards and Obligations for Tax Advisors and Taxpayers|203
1|8 Taxpayers’ Subjective Concepts of Taxes, Tax Evasion, and Tax Avoidance|204
2|8.1 Introduction|205
2|8.2 Social Representations|205
2|8.3 Attitudes|207
2|8.4 Attitudes Towards Honest and Dishonest Taxpayers|209
2|8.5 Attitudes Towards Tax Avoidance, Tax Evasion, and Tax Flight|211
2|8.6 Attitudes and Social Representations of Taxation, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion|213
2|8.7 Synopsis|214
2|References|215
1|9 Ethical Standards for Tax Planning by Corporations|219
2|9.1 Introduction|219
2|9.2 Tax Planning and Business Ethics|221
2|9.3 Corporate Social Responsibility|223
2|9.4 Good Tax Governance Under CSR|226
2|9.5 Ethical Decision-Making|229
2|9.6 Transparency: A Procedural Element of Good Tax Governance|233
2|9.7 Conclusions|237
2|References|238
1|10 Ethical Standards for Tax Advisers|244
2|10.1 Introduction and Context|244
2|10.2 Tax Avoidance in the 21st Century|245
2|10.3 Morals in Tax and Ethics in Tax|250
2|10.4 Codes of Ethical Conduct|252
2|10.5 Conclusions|255
2|References|257
1|Tax Law Enforcement|259
1|11 Taxpayer Rights and Protections in a Digital Global Environment|260
2|11.1 Introduction|260
2|11.2 Taxpayer Rights and a Legislative Rights Framework|262
2|11.3 Public Finance and Administration—The Principles and Compliance Framework|265
3|11.3.1 Equity and Fairness|266
3|11.3.2 Certainty and Simplicity|267
3|11.3.3 Efficiency|268
3|11.3.4 Neutrality|269
3|11.3.5 Effectiveness|269
2|11.4 An Integrated Rights Framework|272
2|11.5 What Are the Digital Developments to Which This Framework Should Apply?|274
3|11.5.1 Electronics and Systems|275
3|11.5.2 Artificial Intelligence and Tax Administration|278
3|11.5.3 Challenges|283
2|11.6 Taxpayer Rights: Are the Current Principles Sufficient?|284
3|11.6.1 Sovereignty, Constitutionalism and Inter-nation Equity|284
3|11.6.2 Consistency and Proportionality of Exceptions to Laws and Treaty Obligations|287
3|11.6.3 The Making and Operation of Laws|288
3|11.6.4 Administrative Interpretation and Exercise of Discretion|290
3|11.6.5 Privacy, Confidentiality and Security|292
3|11.6.6 Fairness, Accessibility and the User Experience|294
2|11.7 Conclusion|295
2|References|297
1|12 Is There Any International Fundamental Right Against an International General Anti-avoidance Rule?|304
2|12.1 Introduction|304
2|12.2 Tax Avoidance Definition and the Conflicting Justifications for GAARs. The Role of Proportionality in Balancing Different Principles at Stake in Tax Avoidance|305
3|12.2.1 Definition and Main Characteristics|305
3|12.2.2 Justifications for and Limits to Combating Tax Avoidance|306
3|12.2.3 The Role of Proportionality to Control Tax Avoidance by Balancing Rules and Principles|308
2|12.3 International Human Rights Instruments and Taxpayers’ Rights|311
2|12.4 International Courts Rulings on Tax Avoidance|313
3|12.4.1 The European Court of Human Rights. Tax Avoidance and Evasion as Legitimate Restrictions of Fundamental Rights?|314
3|12.4.2 The CJEU: Tax Avoidance and the Fundamental Freedoms|316
3|12.4.3 The WTO Agreements and Jurisprudence on Tax Avoidance and Evasion|321
2|12.5 The GAARs in the Anti-tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD), Multilateral Instrument and the Principle Purpose Test (PPT)|323
3|12.5.1 The Anti-tax Avoidance Directive|323
3|12.5.2 The Multilateral Instrument and the Principal Purpose Test|324
2|12.6 Conclusion|326
2|References|328
1|13 Countermeasures to Tax Fraud, Evasion and Avoidance: A Critical Review|331
2|13.1 Introduction|332
2|13.2 The Harmfulness of Fraud, Tax Evasion and Avoidance|333
2|13.3 Methods of Tax Fraud, Evasion and Avoidance|335
3|13.3.1 Methods of Corporate Tax Avoidance|335
3|13.3.2 Methods of Tax Evasion by Individuals|336
3|13.3.3 Description of VAT Fraud in the European Union|337
2|13.4 Estimates of Revenue Loss|338
2|13.5 Counter Measures to Fraud, Evasion and Avoidance|340
3|13.5.1 Creating Third Party Liability|340
3|13.5.2 Abuse of Law Doctrine in the European Union|343
3|13.5.3 Blacklisting|349
3|13.5.4 Public Shaming|351
3|13.5.5 Automatic Third-Party Reporting Requirements|355
2|13.6 Summary and Conclusions|361
2|References|363
1|14 Tax Rulings, State Aid and the Rule of Law|367
2|14.1 Introduction|367
2|14.2 Theoretical Background: What Is the Rule of Law?|370
2|14.3 What Is a Tax Ruling?|372
2|14.4 What Is State Aid?|375
2|14.5 Tax Rulings and State Aid|376
2|14.6 State Aid Investigations|377
3|14.6.1 EU Perspective|377
3|14.6.2 U.S. Perspective|379
2|14.7 Putting It All Together|381
2|14.8 Conclusions|383
2|References|384
1|15 Cross-Border Big Data Flows and Taxpayer Privacy|386
2|15.1 Introduction|386
2|15.2 Context: The Push for Automatic Exchange of Information|387
3|15.2.1 Technology Trends|388
3|15.2.2 Political Trends|390
3|15.2.3 Summary|392
2|15.3 Liberty and Privacy Interests|393
3|15.3.1 Taxation and Liberty|393
3|15.3.2 Taxpayer Privacy|394
3|15.3.3 Confidentiality and Trade Secrets|395
3|15.3.4 Problems with the Existing Legal Framework|396
3|15.3.5 Summary|397
2|15.4 Optimal Reforms|398
3|15.4.1 Multilateral Taxpayer Bill of Rights|398
3|15.4.2 Withholding Tax for Non-cooperative States|399
3|15.4.3 Global Financial Registry|400
2|15.5 Conclusions|401
2|References|402
1|16 The Ethical Tax Judge|404
2|16.1 The Importance of Judicial Competence in Adjudicating Cases Under Income Tax Law|404
2|16.2 Competent Statutory Interpretation Requires Some Understanding of Theories of Language|405
2|16.3 Competent Judging Requires Insight into the Higher-Order Objectives of Income Tax Law|409
2|16.4 Ascending the Hierarchy of Competence in Statutory Interpretation in Income Tax Law|411
2|16.5 Additional Justifications for Ascending the Hierarchy of Interpretive Approaches to Income Tax Law|414
2|References|417