ANNOUNCMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS

WORKSHOP ON TAX COMPETITION AND TAX AVOIDANCE:  
IMPLICATIONS FOR GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT
University OF Essex, UK, 1st - 2nd July 2004

The greater mobility of capital arising from the combination of contradictory policies of nation states, relaxed exchange control regimes, technological change and the rise of tax havens have given increased tax competition, forcing sovereign states to lower their tax rates on income earned within their borders by foreign investors in order to attract direct and portfolio investment.  Tax competition and tax avoidance is undermining personal and corporate income taxes, which in the majority of sovereign states remains the principal source of government revenue.

The response to these competitive pressures has typically involved a first stage of shifting the tax burden from (mobile) capital to (less mobile) labour and onto consumption, and, secondly, when further taxation of labour becomes politically and economically untenable, cuts to the level and quality of publicly provided services.  This process is leading to fiscal crises in many developed and developing countries, threatening economic growth prospects, social stability and undermining the ability of democratic states to determine the desirable level of
public service provision.

This Workshop will bring together researchers, academics and opinion formers to facilitate research through open-minded debate and discussion, and to generate ideas and proposals to inform and shape the political initiatives.

The purpose of the Workshop - the second in a series organised by the Association for Accountancy & Business Affairs (AABA) in association with the University of Essex and Tax Justice Network (TJN) - is to: take stock of the recent developments and of current research into international tax policy; evaluate the current position of recent multilateral initiatives to counter harmful tax practices; consider new forms of taxes that might be both more socially just and economically efficient. Papers on any area of tax competition and tax avoidance are welcome, but especially those relating to the role of intermediaries, accountants, lawyers, bankers; developing and marketing corporate tax avoidance schemes; transfer pricing policies; taxation treaties; models for measuring tax avoidance and competition; the role of new NGOs; consequences of developing countries, tax havens and developed economies; new ways of raising tax revenues. Slected papers will be considered for  publication in Accounting Forum and Accounting Business and the Public Interest. Further details of the workshop are on the AABA website at https://aabaglobal.org.uk/taxworkshop04.html

Papers should be submitted to any member of the organising committee consisting of:

John Christensen (christensen@menas.co.uk), Richard Murphy (rjm@fulcrum-uk.com), Ronen Palan  ([palan@boltblue.com]), Sol Picciotto (s.picciotto@lancs.ac.uk), Prem Sikka (prems@essex.ac.uk)

The residential cost of the workshop with one-night accommodation, breakfast and dinner if £65. Non-residential cost of the workshop is £40. Further information is available on https://aabaglobal.org.uk/taxworkshop04.html