The concept of fairness does not have a globally agreed-upon definition in international tax discourse. This leads to various interpretations from different stakeholders. Due to the lack of an agreed-upon understanding of fairness, the dominant actor’s ideological position might influence others’ understanding of fairness. This Chapter focuses on the fairness used in the OECD, EU, and UN discourses and how their conceptions shape the tax policy discourse. This Chapter follows a deconstructive contextualization of fairness by focusing on the hidden dynamics and hierarchies in the discourses. The outcome of the discourse analysis shows that the OECD, the EU, and the UN primarily follow fairness in an economic sense. The dominance of the economic sense of fairness indicates the influence of OECD’s ideological position. The dominance of the OECD not only shapes the approach of the EU and the UN, but also directly and indirectly (through the EU and the UN) influences general tax policy discourse, as all three organizations have a considerable influence on shaping international tax policy. Accordingly, the potential impacts of the dominant actors in shaping global tax governance should be considered. Otherwise, the global interests in tax governance might be overlooked.

错误:搜索内容不能为空,请输入英文关键词
错误:关键词超出字数限制,请精简
高级检索

Hidden Dynamics and Hierarchies in Tax Policy: A Critical Assessment of Fairness in OECD, EU, and UN

  • Ezgi Arik

摘要

The concept of fairness does not have a globally agreed-upon definition in international tax discourse. This leads to various interpretations from different stakeholders. Due to the lack of an agreed-upon understanding of fairness, the dominant actor’s ideological position might influence others’ understanding of fairness. This Chapter focuses on the fairness used in the OECD, EU, and UN discourses and how their conceptions shape the tax policy discourse. This Chapter follows a deconstructive contextualization of fairness by focusing on the hidden dynamics and hierarchies in the discourses. The outcome of the discourse analysis shows that the OECD, the EU, and the UN primarily follow fairness in an economic sense. The dominance of the economic sense of fairness indicates the influence of OECD’s ideological position. The dominance of the OECD not only shapes the approach of the EU and the UN, but also directly and indirectly (through the EU and the UN) influences general tax policy discourse, as all three organizations have a considerable influence on shaping international tax policy. Accordingly, the potential impacts of the dominant actors in shaping global tax governance should be considered. Otherwise, the global interests in tax governance might be overlooked.