|
Ten reasons why...
Global Tax Harmonization must be stopped
The European Commission has proposed measures for tax harmonization in order to end what it terms as "harmful tax competition." We give gives ten reasons why these moves should be stopped.
- More capital would be taken away from productive investment and instead spent by governments which do not create wealth.
- Tax harmonization drives taxes up; tax competition drives them down.
- Cutting tax rates in less developed countries would no longer act as a spur to overseas investors.
- Less developed countries would be prevented from lowering taxes to attract investment from wealthy foreign investors.
- Less money would move across borders and trade between nations could stagnate.
- Less money would be directed to areas of high unemployment.
- People would find their right to confidentiality infringed as governments snooped on their finances.
- People can break up a commercial cartel through the price mechanism; people can only break a tax cartel through the ballot box.
- An international agreement may even bind future governments and so could undermine democracy itself.
- Politicians running efficient low tax economies should not have to act as tax collectors for greedy foreign politicians.
These ten reasons are based on an original article by John Blundell Director of the
Institute of Economic Affairs.
Adrian Pepper is the editor of this series. If you have any comments or would like to submit your own list, please email him at: adrian@gbri.org.
Click here for previous articles in this series.
|
|
