Taxation in a Small Country: Review of Sven-Olof Lodin's 'The Making of Tax Law - The Development of Swedish Taxation'

Abstract:     
Imagine that a single person had been responsible for all US tax reforms enacted from 1969 to 2010. Such was the position of Seven-Olof Lodin, the former President of the International Fiscal Association. For over 40 years, Professor Lodin was the most influential voice in Swedish tax policy. This was not in an official governmental capacity, but rather as a member of over twenty Government Commissions and working parties on taxation, which were responsible for all the major changes in Swedish tax law in recent decades, including the “Tax Reform of the Century” in 1991.

In this insightful and important book, Prof. Lodin describes in detail how the Swedish tax system evolved from 1948 to 2010. As a result, the reader gains a deep understanding of the Swedish political process and how it led to tax policy changes. Prof. Lodin also provides interesting descriptions of all the major political players.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 4

working papers series