In the public debate on taxation, fairness has become a prominent issue over the past few years. In the 1950s legal philosophers have developed a definition of the principle of fairness which focuses on the relationships between tax payers and the expectations they have of each other. It is this...

For a long time, married women were treated differently from married men in the Dutch personal income tax Act (PITA). The PITA reflected the political, religious and legal situation, but at the same time was often behind on developments in those areas. Currently, there is a strong pressure in...

An increasing fraction of donations is channeled through donation intermediaries. These entities serve multiple purposes, one of which seems to be providing donors with greater certainty: that the donation reaches its intended goal, and that the donor may be sure to get a tax benefit. We...

On 14 September 2006, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) gave its decision in Case C-386/04: Centro di Musicologia Walter Stauffer versus Finanzamt München für Körperschaften. This decision will have an important impact on the way European governments deal with charities in other EU member...

Since the end of the 20th century, ex-post evaluation of tax legislation has consistently been part of the agenda of the Dutch government. In 2005, the 2001 Income tax Act was evaluated. In addition, several tax expenditures are evaluated each year. Tax expenditures can be a controversial aspect...

In the public debate on taxation, fairness has become a dominant issue over the past few years. In recent communications, the European Commission refers to ‘fairness’ as well and uses it as a benchmark. Legal philosophers have developed a definition of the principle of fairness which focuses...

Historically, the private initiative has always been of great significance for the arts. Emperors, kings and wealthy citizens were important patrons of the arts. In most European countries the government took over from the private initiative after World War II. However, the private initiative...

Paper prepared for the 2015 European Association of Tax Law Professors (EATLP) congress. This paper will be included in R. Seer, Surcharges and Penalties in Tax Law, IBFD (expected publication in 2016). The paper discusses tax penalties and surcharges in the Netherlands. It gives an overview of...

For at least the last decade, governments throughout Europe have been interested in creating new tax incentives for the arts. Tax incentives for films have spread all over Europe, the French example of payment of inheritance tax with works of art has been followed by many European countries and...