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This Working Paper traces the discursive history of the principles of benefit and legitimacy of taxation from the late eighteenth century to the present day. Drawing on the work of scholars from Adam Smith through Richard Musgrave to public choice theorists, it is observed that successful tax states - especially democratic states - seem to depend on both an acceptance by taxpayers of benefits derived under government and a fiscal constitution that limits taxing power. The benefit theory in the context of legitimate government has strengths that are lost if a purely technocratic, narrow economic analysis of public goods is taken. However, both benefit and legitimacy of government are important concepts in the current era of globalisation and fiscal authority, which pose significant challenges to democratic governments. The author argues for a renewed focus on principles of benefit and legitimacy of taxation to fund successful democratic tax states in the global era.

In a global era, tax administrators must extend their reach beyond the borders of the nation state. They must cooperate actively with administrators from other countries and work to build transnational institutions and networks that give them the capacity to enforce national tax laws in respect of multinational and mobile capital and labour. This article discusses a range of trends indicating that national tax administrators are, finally, beginning to achieve the levels of transnational tax cooperation required to maintain national tax sovereignty. The article then explores the important question of legitimacy of these transnational networks, which will be crucial for their sustainability and effectiveness in the long term.Full-text Paper.

Outlines the issues canvassed in the discussion paper issued by the Federal Treasury: "Native Title, Indigenous Economic Development and Tax"; issues cover uncertainty in current tax law; tax treatment of compensation payments; income tax exemptions; proposed option of establishing an Indigenous Community Fund.

This text is designed to assist those involved in estate planning to effectively manage the tax liabilities associated with death. It explains how income tax laws apply to various transactions and transfers including property, superannuation, life insurance and social security.

This book is the first collection of independent legal scholarship exploring the relationship between tax, law and the quest for human development. While acknowledging fully the challenge of tax competition in a global economy, this book rejects 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. New approaches to economic development suggest we must abandon - or significantly downplay - the dominant normative approaches to tax policy, replacing these with contextualized, diverse, partial and incremental tax law reform approaches that take seriously the legal, social and political context. The innovative scholars who contribute to this book examine the role of law in national and international tax regimes across a range of topical tax issues, from the perspective of countries including China, Brazil, South Africa, India and the United States. Chapters discuss the reform of tax laws that are central to economic globalization, including tax incentives for foreign direct investment, their relationship with tax treaties and other international tax law, the problem of how to address fundamental equity concerns, and institutions of budgeting, tax law making and administration in a global era.

Transparency has attracted unprecedented attention in national and global debates about taxation in recent years. It has been adopted as a goal by international organizations, governments, non-government organizations (NGOs), academic commentators, media and citizens across the political spectrum. There has been a particular focus on transparency to enforce taxation of multinational enterprises and high wealth individuals, with a specific goal of addressing avoidance and evasion in tax havens. The pursuit of transparency in taxation is consistent with broader trends, as John Braithwaite and Peter Drahos observed nearly two decades ago that transparency was the "most" striking emergent principle” in global regulation. However, who is transparent, concerning what data, process, or outcomes, why transparency is the goal and how it is intended to achieve the stated regulatory outcome, differ depending on the context. The paper explores the meaning and uses of transparency in a fiscal context, where it started as transparency of governments and budgets to the people, but more recently has shifted to focus on the transparency of taxpayers to governments, between governments, and even to the public. The paper asks, what does tax transparency achieve, when is it justified, how does it serve human rights and what are its costs?

Kobetsky, O'Connell and Stewart's Income Tax is an established tax book, which has received very positive reviews in leading law journals. The book is designed to explain the principles of Australian taxation law in plain English. The book provides students with concise extracts and other materials to illustrate the application of the income tax principles.All chapters in the fifth edition of this established text have been fully revised to include the latest developments in taxation law. Three chapters have been completely rewritten: see the chapters on anti-avoidance, international taxation and tax administration.