TY - JOUR

T1 - Indeterminacy, complexity, technocracy and the reform of international corporate taxation

AU - Picciotto, Sol

N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Social and Legal Studies, 24 (2), 2015, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2015 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Social and Legal Studies page: http://sls.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/

PY - 2015/6

Y1 - 2015/6

N2 - Recent public concerns and publicity about the extent of tax avoidance by some of the largest and most respected transnational corporations (TNCs) have prompted numerous parliamentary inquiries and intergovernmental initiatives. Among the questions raised during hearings in the UK House of Lords in 2013 were whether such avoidance could be more effectively prevented either by a reduction in the complexity of the rules, or by a more aggressive interpretation of those rules by tax authorities. These questions raised issues concerning the complexity and interpretation of law, which received interestingly different responses from the academics to whom they were posed, and they merit closer examination, which is the aim of this paper. It begins by discussing some types of complexity, and then considers how these are rooted in the indeterminacy of legal language, and the sociology and politics of the interpretive communities concerned. The main part applies this analysis to the historical development of international tax rules, seen in the context of these current pressures and initiatives for reform of international corporate taxation.

AB - Recent public concerns and publicity about the extent of tax avoidance by some of the largest and most respected transnational corporations (TNCs) have prompted numerous parliamentary inquiries and intergovernmental initiatives. Among the questions raised during hearings in the UK House of Lords in 2013 were whether such avoidance could be more effectively prevented either by a reduction in the complexity of the rules, or by a more aggressive interpretation of those rules by tax authorities. These questions raised issues concerning the complexity and interpretation of law, which received interestingly different responses from the academics to whom they were posed, and they merit closer examination, which is the aim of this paper. It begins by discussing some types of complexity, and then considers how these are rooted in the indeterminacy of legal language, and the sociology and politics of the interpretive communities concerned. The main part applies this analysis to the historical development of international tax rules, seen in the context of these current pressures and initiatives for reform of international corporate taxation.

KW - tax avoidance

KW - multinationals

KW - regulation

U2 - 10.1177/0964663915572942

DO - 10.1177/0964663915572942

M3 - Journal article

VL - 24

SP - 165

EP - 184

JO - Social and Legal Studies

JF - Social and Legal Studies

SN - 0964-6639

IS - 2

ER -