Hong Kong's tax system is one of the world's most successful. This article looks at what might be learned from it. The main lessons are (1) that it is possible to structure a combination of very light taxes and very low public spending so that it enjoys very broad public support; (2) that it is...

This paper examines the approach that the New Zealand Supreme Court, which was established in 2004, has taken to the problem of tax avoidance. In particular, it examines Ben Nevis Ltd v Commissioner of Inland Revenue (which concerned the General Anti-Avoidance Rule – or GAAR – contained in...

The aim of this paper is twofold – first, to present a selective overview of the work undertaken in connection with the series of tax history conferences initiated in 2002 by the late Professor John Tiley and hosted by the University of Cambridge; and, secondly, to examine Joseph Schumpeter's...

This article examines the law governing the tax consequences of withdrawals of trading stock, and the difference in approach between the House of Lords and the Hong Kong Court of First Instance. The author proposes a middle ground, according to which a trader who takes an item of trading stock...

According to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, the aim of the tax avoidance scheme in Cullen Group Ltd v Commissioner of Inland Revenue [2019] NZHC 404 was to reduce the taxpayer company's liability to tax by $51.5 million. She assessed it to tax on that basis; and Palmer J, in the High Court...

New Zealand currently charges some classes of capital gains to income tax, but there is no tax on capital gains as such. The Tax Working Group recently established by the government has however recommended that there should be such a tax. That is, it has recommended that New Zealand should, like...

The World Health Organisation recently recommended that governments should impose a tax on sugary drinks as a means of combating the obesity epidemic. This article examines the merits of this proposal and also suggests how, if such a tax were to be introduced, it might work. The article...

When setting public policies on retirement incomes, governments should focus on objectives they have a unique capacity to influence. Only governments can reliably eliminate poverty in old age, level the tax and regulatory playing fields for financial service providers/savers and gather...

In other developed jurisdictions, tax on income from employment is typically collected by means of PAYE (Pay-As-You-Earn). That is, the employer is required to withhold the tax from payments to the employee; remit it to the government; and pay to the employee only the balance. In Hong Kong,...

In 2011 a Committee comprising representatives of the New Zealand Law Society, the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and an organisation called the Corporate Taxpayers Group published a Report proposing that the General Anti-Avoidance Rule or GAAR contained in ss BG 1 and GA 1 of...