The Transformation of International Tax

Abstract

The recession of 2008 precipitated a political crisis that motivated an unprecedented international project to curb corporate tax dodging. This Article argues, contrary to dominant scholarly views, that this effort transformed international tax — changing its participants, agenda and institutions, norms, and even its legal forms. Perhaps most important, efforts to close corporate tax loopholes opened a rift over the resulting revenues that threatens a hundred-year-old tax treaty framework. This Article identifies and critically evaluates these changes from the perspectives of revenue, inclusivity, legitimacy and accountability, innovation, and durability.

Keywords: BEPS, corporate tax avoidance, full tax, single tax, OECD, tax competition, fiscal fail-safes, tax, soft law, Inclusive Framework, OECD acquis