The Cambridge Tax Discussion Group is a PhD student run meeting group with weekly discussions of wide-ranging tax-related topics. We have been meeting weekly during term-time since 2015 and hope to continue with engaging topics that are tax or tangentially tax-related topics! We are friendly, open to all and interdisciplinary. We sincerely hope you will join us on our next online meeting which will be on Thursday 2 July at 17:00 (British Summer Time). See our “Meetings” page for updated talks, links and previous topics covered.

This week’s talk can also be found on talks.cam along with an assortment of university-wide talks: http://www.talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/149806

This week, Professor Henry Ordower, from Saint Louis University, will be discussing tax fairness in an international context, under the title: “Taxing Capital Appreciation for Fairer Taxation, Constitutions and a Comprehensive Tax Base”. Further details are below.

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday.

May Hen-Smith and Guy Mulley Co-convenors, Cambridge Tax Discussion Group

ABSTRACT

The presentation will start with a brief exploration of the realization question in the pending constitutional challenge to the peculiar US transition tax (IRC 965) and then contextualize the historical issue of realization and income and the comprehensive tax base. I will consider some of the justifications for a realization requirement and preferential treatment of capital gain and contrast them with some economic drawbacks to a realization-based system. The presentation will move to mark to market (with its trade-offs to overcome objections), the gradual abandonment of realization in the US and conclude by considering distributional fairness under a realization-based

BIOGRAPHY

Henry Ordower is Professor of Law at the Center for International and Comparative Law at Saint Louis University. His recent research has focussed on issues of tax distribution and the growing disparity of wealth between individuals. In addition to his academic research and teaching, he runs a tax consulting practice and he provides expert testimony in complex tax litigation matters. An avid traveller and linguist, Professor Ordower has visited more than 100 countries.

This week we have an exciting talk by Rasmus Christensen on the politics of tax governance. We sincerely hope you will join us online on Thursday, 18th of June at 15:00-16:00 (British Summer Time). See our “Meetings” page for updated talks, links and previous topics covered. Please e-mail May at hmh46@cam.ac.uk or Guy at gevm2@cam.ac.uk for link asssistance.

This week’s talk can also be found on talks.cam along with an assortment of university-wide talks: http://www.talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/149563

“The new politics of global tax governance: What the past tells us about the future of international taxation”

Abstract

The past decade has revealed that systemic change is underway in the foundations of global tax politics, entangled with changes in global politics at large. States are more aggressive in cracking down on tax havens, and cooperating more effectively through multilateralism. Global power is shifting towards large emerging markets. Media attention and focus on inequality has fueled unprecedented discontent with international tax rules. And the digital economy is ripping historical alliances apart, creating new battles lines in global tax negotiations.

Description: Based on a recently published paper (with Martin Hearson), in this talk I set out how these global trends indicate a radical departure from the stable past of international tax, and how they are shaping ongoing discussions to change the system, at the OECD and beyond. As the international tax system stands at a historical crossroads, finding new balances – on inclusiveness, coherence, and legitimacy – will be key to developing a sustainable international tax system for the future.

Rasmus Corlin Christensen is a political economist at Copenhagen Business School and a research associate at the International Centre for Tax and Development. His research focuses on processes of change in the politics and professional practice of international taxation. He has been recognized as an influential individual in the global tax world, being named to the International Tax Review´s “Global Tax 50” in 2017. You can find him at phdskat.org or @phdskat

The Cambridge Tax Discussion Group is a PhD student run meeting group with weekly discussions of wide-ranging tax-related topics. We have been meeting weekly during term-time since 2015 and hope to continue with engaging topics that are tax or tangentially tax-related topics! We are friendly, open to all and interdisciplinary. We sincerely hope you will join us on our next online meeting which will be on Thursday 11 June at 17:00 (British Summer Time). See our “Meetings” page for updated talks, links and previous topics covered.

This week’s talk can also be found on talks.cam along with an assortment of university-wide talks: http://www.talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/148804

This week, Dr Alexis Brassey, from the University of Cambridge, and Professor Henry Ordower, from Saint Louis University, will be discussing tax fairness in an international context, under the title “The Village Of Billionaires: An Examination Of The Paradox Of Relative Poverty”. Further details are below.

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday.

May Hen-Smith and Guy Mulley Co-convenors, Cambridge Tax Discussion Group

ABSTRACT

Tax justice and principles underpinning the international tax regime are in vogue. The idea that companies and individuals need to pay their “fair share”, not just in the domestic sense but also the international sense, is now a mainstream position. This paper explores the problems relating to what might constitute a “fair share” by setting out what is meant when this expression is used. A reasonable assumption is to consider taxation as the means by which the state funds public services and in some jurisdictions, contributes to greater equality within society. Those goals, however, give rise to competing claims. This is especially the case when considering international tax challenges, for example those faced by the OECD ’s 2019 work plan. This paper, in examining competing claims for tax revenues, considers the specic categories of relative as opposed to absolute poverty. If one accepts that taxation is to fund public services, the question arises, at least in international tax, which jurisdiction’s public services? If the motivation for raising tax is to tackle inequality, what has the greater claim, international inequality or national inequality? It is in answering these questions that we need to address the issue of which is more pressing, relative as opposed to absolute poverty? The contention in this paper is that there is a far stronger moral claim for tax to be redistributed on an international basis rather than on a nation basis. Further, this paper contends that purported moral claims which seek to address inequality within national borders are merely political demands made to further the economic interests of particular groups who themselves are amongst the most economically privileged, when viewed on an international spectrum. The article is designed for those progressive or communitarians who strongly advocate for redistribution within national boundaries. It is not designed to appeal to those of a libertarian perspective.

BIOGRAPHIES

Dr Alexis Brassey is a Solicitor and a Visiting Fellow of the Centre for Tax Law at the University of Cambridge. He holds an MA in Philosophy, an LLM in Corporate Law and a PhD in Psychology, as well as a PhD in Law. His research in Tax Law encompasses tax avoidance, constitutional law, tax fairness and jurisprudence. He has also worked in investment banking.

Henry Ordower is Professor of Law at the Center for International and Comparative Law at Saint Louis University. His recent research has focussed on issues of tax distribution and the growing disparity of wealth between individuals. In addition to his academic research and teaching, he runs a tax consulting practice and he provides expert testimony in complex tax litigation matters. An avid traveller and linguist, Professor Ordower has visited more than 100 countries.

This week we are leading with another excellent topic with leading tax expert, Professor Allison Christians, on the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, Pillar 1 project. This term, the Cambridge Tax Discussion Group will be going digital due to University closures. The online talk which is open to all, will take place Thursday June 4th at 9:00 EDT (2pm BST). E-mail hmh46@cam.ac.uk or gevm2@cam.ac.uk for link or find additional information on Cam Talks here: http://www.talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/148267

Abstract: The OECD continues its mandate to reallocate the global profits of certain digital economy firms for tax purposes. Combining the OECD’s own impact analysis with independent research, it is now possible to draw a very rough sketch of how Pillar 1 would accomplish this, and therefore to see how firms and nations are likely to fare under the OECD Secretariat’s preferred approach. Even so, it is not clear that there will be enough time for all Inclusive Framework members to move from rough sketch to policy certainty in time to make decisions about whether the Secretariat’s approach constitutes a mutually beneficial consensus. In this presentation I will walk through the technical specs of Pillar 1 with an example to demonstrate its policy implication

Refer to paper here

Biography