Winning the Tax Wars: Tax Competition and Cooperation

Winning the Tax Wars, an invaluable book, shows how the globalization of trade, the digitization of the economy, tax competition between sovereign states, the erosion of the tax base, and the transfer of profits have all revealed the weaknesses of a traditional tax system that has reached its limits, and how numerous states and groups of states have joined efforts in creating a new international tax system designed to restore fairness and stability in the levying of taxes worldwide. Increased competition among governments for revenues and investment has led to a “tax war,” with some countries’ rates and policies potentially conflicting with international projects such as base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). Over the past few decades, the concentration of wealth and property in the hands of a few has been facilitated by tax evasion, tax avoidance, and above all by tax competition. Fortunately, a determined move toward international cooperation among tax authorities is gathering its forces for the battle.

What’s in this book:

Stemming from a 2016 conference initiated by the Canadian nonprofit organization TaxCOOP, convened by the World Bank and bringing together well-known taxation experts from prominent international organizations, the book presents outstanding contributions highlighting the impacts of tax competition and viable solutions. Among the issues and topics covered are the following:

• electronic commerce and electronic money;
• transfer pricing;
• derivatives and hedge funds;
• protecting tax whistle-blowers;
• offshore tax investigations;
• possibility of an international tax court;
• impact of tax competition in developing countries;
• carbon pricing;
• tobacco taxation; and
• effective taxation of the ultra-wealthy and their financial capital.

The objective of this book is to present the impacts of tax competition and the possible solutions that can be explored. The book across the chapters presents how tax wars will be waged through negotiations between states, the firm persuasion of global financial elites, interstate collaboration, and the conclusion of multilateral agreements and treaties.

How this will help you:

Collectively, the contributions take a giant step toward reinforcing the power of sovereign states in sectors such as the environment, education, and health. As an authoritative guide to increasing the level of transparency and accountability of private and public economic actors and restoring citizens’ trust in the fairness of our global governance systems, this peerless volume with very high-level expertise of the contributors and editors will be warmly welcomed by tax lawyers, taxation authorities, and interested academics worldwide.