The fundamental rules for the classification of goods into a customs tariff which complies with the Harmonized System for the Description and Coding of Goods (HS) are according to General Rule 1, the six general rules of classification, the terms of headings and the notes (and according to...

The present paper deals with the question how to tax multinational corporate groups in order to reduce inequality. Since inequality is abstract, it is necessary to interpret it, which implies referring to ethical concepts and theories. Ethical concepts argue that companies should generally be...

Among academics and policymakers, it is generally agreed that implicit tax subsidies for maritime fuels — which are currently granted around the world — are inefficient, but that their abolishment requires a unanimous international agreement. Such an agreement is deemed indispensable because...

Some countries are undertaking, and others considering, self-examination rules to detect whether proposed tax reforms might have a negative impact on tax policy or economic outcomes in less affluent countries. The impetus for this kind of analysis is a loosely articulated idea that states may...

Much has been said and written about the ‘fiscal behaviour' of multinationals. A tax code of conduct is often mentioned as a 'catch-all solution' for stimulating 'acceptable fiscal behaviour'. Stakeholders increasingly demand fiscal accountability to obtain verifiable and validated credible...

Although arguments exist that fiscal disputes should remain beyond private adjudication, implicating as they do the sovereign prerogative of revenue raising, the practice proves very much to the contrary. Arbitration of tax-related disputes proves very much a reality despite doctrinal...

Justice Edmonds' judicial output was large, but it did not prevent him from presenting several extra-judicial speeches and papers every year. These represent an impressive body of work: both scholarly and practical. In these writings, Edmonds J analyses the Australian tax system and advocates...

Increasingly linked by regional and global ties, national economies depend more than ever on international investments and trade. While trade and investment have become international, however, taxation has remained national, preserving and strengthening one of the few remaining barriers to...

Over the last ten years, legal scholars have begun to use what they describe as "case studies" in an effort to develop better theories about how governments can or should impose taxation on international activities. The attributes and function of case studies, while well-studied and documented...

This article, which is based on the inaugral address given at the IBFD Tax Lecture Series in Beijing, China, examines the basic foundations and nature of income tax law before going on to offer a unifying theory of taxation law. Income tax law is notoriously complex for a range of reasons. One...