In this report, 'Towards Greater Fairness in Taxation: A Model Taxpayer Charter', the Asia-Oceania Tax Consultants? Association (AOTCA), the Confédération Fiscale Européenne (CFE) and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) have collaborated on the development of a Model Taxpayer Charter. The provisions were derived from a survey of taxpayer rights and responsibilities in 41 countries, collectively representing over 80 per cent of world GDP. 0The overriding purposes of the Charter are to foster a relationship of mutual trust, respect and responsibility between taxpayers and the State, regarding taxpayers? obligations to the State; and, on behalf of the State as to the rights of taxpayers, to codify certain duties of the tax administration. Through these means, it is suggested that it will reduce the costs of compliance, increase the quality and efficacy of willing compliance, and ensure that all taxpayers are treated equally and without bias or preference.

While most would agree that taxation should be fair, views as to what constitutes a fair tax vary. Economists and political philosophers since the days of Adam Smith have recognized two broad concepts of fair taxation. One such principle is known as the benefit principle, under which taxes should be levied in proportion to the benefits received from the public sector. Under this principle, it is the government's job to view taxes as the prices that would prevail in an actual market for the government service. The second principle is known as the ability to pay principle. This principle focuses only on the tax side of the budget, and views taxation as imposing an aggregate cost that must be apportioned in a manner that taxes those with equal ability to pay equally, and imposes greater burdens on those with greater ability to pay. This book discusses the fairness and tax policies in the U.S., and provides the 2011 distribution of household income and federal taxes.

A groundbreaking history of why governments do—and don't—tax the rich In today's social climate of acknowledged and growing inequality, why are there not greater efforts to tax the rich? In this wide-ranging and provocative book, Kenneth Scheve and David Stasavage ask when and why countries tax their wealthiest citizens—and their answers may surprise you. Taxing the Rich draws on unparalleled evidence from twenty countries over the last two centuries to provide the broadest and most in-depth history of progressive taxation available. Scheve and Stasavage explore the intellectual and political debates surrounding the taxation of the wealthy while also providing the most detailed examination to date of when taxes have been levied against the rich and when they haven't. Fairness in debates about taxing the rich has depended on different views of what it means to treat people as equals and whether taxing the rich advances or undermines this norm. Scheve and Stasavage argue that governments don't tax the rich just because inequality is high or rising—they do it when people believe that such taxes compensate for the state unfairly privileging the wealthy. Progressive taxation saw its heyday in the twentieth century, when compensatory arguments for taxing the rich focused on unequal sacrifice in mass warfare. Today, as technology gives rise to wars of more limited mobilization, such arguments are no longer persuasive. Taxing the Rich shows how the future of tax reform will depend on whether political and economic conditions allow for new compensatory arguments to be made.

This book addresses sixteen different reform proposals that are urgently needed to correct the fault lines in the international tax system as it exists today, and which deprive both developing and developed countries of critical tax resources. It offers clear and concrete ideas on how the reforms can be achieved and why they are important for a more just and equitable global system to prevail. The key to reducing the tax gap and consequent human rights deficit in poor countries is global financial transparency. Such transparency is essential to curbing illicit financial flows that drain less developed countries of capital and tax revenues, and are an impediment to sustainable development. A major break-through for financial transparency is now within reach. The policy reforms outlined in this book not only advance tax justice but also protect human rights by curtailing illegal activity and making available more resources for development. While the reforms are realistic they require both political and an informed and engaged civil society that can put pressure on governments and policy makers to act.

"The Reformed Economics Institute"--cover.