Tax Uniformity as a Requirement of Justice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21572169 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Charles Delmotte (0000-0003-0158-993X, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 59-83 |
| Publication date | 2020-02-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0841-8209 • E-ISSN: 2056-4260 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/cjlj.2019.30 |
| OpenAlex | W2973222951 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 21 |
Barbara Fried takes the view that uniform taxation—that is, a single rate applicable to all income levels—cannot be defended on any grounds of justice. She goes further by saying that, of all possible rate structures, it might be “the hardest one”? to ground in “a”? theory of fairness. Using the contractarian-constitutional perspective advanced by John Rawls and James Buchanan, this article argues that tax uniformity can be seen as a requirement of justice. After modelling how the political world realistically decides to distribute tax shares (self-interested parties act under a majority constraint), I show how the uniformity principle could emerge from the constitutional contract. In other words, rational individuals would choose uniformity as a procedural constraint under a “veil of uncertainty”?; that is, with limited knowledge regarding their positions under the future application of the rule. Moreover, I elucidate how the uniformity requirement integrates generalized criteria of fairness and efficiency into fiscal politics as it precludes fiscal exploitation and constrains majorities, and their most influential subgroups, to opt for policies in the direction of the Pareto frontier, and as such promotes outcomes acceptable to all participants
Economic Justice · Economics · Law and economics · Mathematical economics · Microeconomics · Operations management · Pareto principle · Political science · Politics · Public economics · Computer Science · Corporate Taxation and Avoidance · Law · Legal and Constitutional Studies · Mathematics · Taxation and Compliance Studies
The power to tax
Politics by Principle, Not Interest
The Constitution of Liberty
The Calculus of Consent
Rules, Games, and Common-Pool Resources
A Theory of Justice
Sovereign Virtue
Rational choice and the original position
The Limits of Liberty
Politics as a Peculiar Business
The Road to Serfdom
The Idea of Justice
| Citations per year | 0.83 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2020 - 2022 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |