Legal Considerations of Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance

Abstract:     
The study of fiscal non-compliance – in particular, that of tax evasion – is quite extensive in the literature of economics. Lawyers do not show much interest in fiscal anomalies. An exception for this is perhaps tax avoidance which is usually interpreted as the problem of the form and substance. Apart from the modest interest in irregularities in fiscal law, the legal theories of obedience, or disobedience, and coherence have grown significantly, thanks to the precept of William Ross on prima facie duties or the concept introduced later by John Rawls on the reflective equilibrium. This paper is an attempt to apply the categories explored by legal philosophy to the developments of fiscal law.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 46

Keywords: tax evasion, tax avoidance, prima facie duties, reflective equilibrium

JEL Classification: K34

Accepted Paper Series