Introduction: tax, law and development

This book is the first collection of independent academic scholarship exploring the relationship between tax, law and development.The innovative legal scholars who contribute to this book examine the role of law in national and international tax regimes and the uses of tax law in the universal quest for human development, across a range of topical tax issues.The book includes discussion of tax issues from the perspective of China, Brazil, South Africa, India and other developing countries.Contributors engage critically with economic, political, social and institutional approaches to tax, law and development.They discuss substantive tax laws that are central to economic globalization, such as tax incentives for foreign direct investment, and overarching themes, including tax equity in a global context and the processes of transnational tax law and administration.The editors have chosen to emphasize independence and a critical and pluralistic approach in the choice of essays.Nevertheless, the chapters are organized around four themes, each of which is discussed below.First, the chapters in this book require us to acknowledge fully the unavoidable challenge of tax competition in a global economy.We must confront the tragic choices faced, in particular by developing countries, but in general by all countries, as a result of this challenge.It is the authors' view that we cannot avoid the challenge of tax competition by calls to end taxation of mobile capital even if this may be perceived to be a theoretical economic inevitability due to the difficulty of collection in an uncooperative environment.What is needed are new solutions, and perhaps solutions that can alter the environment itself as suggested by many of the essays in this book.At the same time, the arm's length rules for assessing tax on global business which are the prevailing norms are inadequate to the task.It is also foolish to assume that it will be possible to eliminate all tax havens, as if these were static or finite in number, or the only cause of global tax dilemmas.