The connection between competitiveness and international taxation

Resource Information

The work The connection between competitiveness and international taxation represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Continuing Resources.

Label

The connection between competitiveness and international taxation

Creator

• Knoll, M.S

Subject

• international tax law
• tax competition
• tax policy

Language

eng

Summary

This article describes how the term competitiveness is used in in the context of discussions of international tax policy. Although the term "competitiveness" has been invoked for decades in debates about economic policy and has been applied to a wide range of issues, it continues to attract the ire of economists. In the context of international taxation, however, competitiveness is not generally used as a justification for punitive tax policies. In debates over international taxation, the term "competitiveness" is generally used in two distinct ways. The first is in terms of the ability of companies from different nations to compete against one another to acquire assets in a specific location. The second is in terms of the ability of a nation to attract capital. Moreover, although economists have long appreciated the value to a state of attracting investment and the role of regulatory arbitrage, until recently the economics profession did not appreciate the welfare consequences of ownership. Competitiveness may be a dangerous obsession and the hot button issue in debates about international tax policy, but it need not be an incoherent concept. There is no need to choose between engaging in economic analysis and talking about competitiveness. By carefully defining what is meant by competitiveness and by thoroughly examining how international taxation affects a well-defined conception of competitiveness, the connection between taxation and competitiveness can be rigorously studied. International tax policies could then be formulated after giving proper consideration to the impact of alternative policies on competitiveness

Citation source

In: Tax law review. - New York. - Vol. 65 (2012),

Geographic coverage

North America

Language note

English