These are the papers from the ninth Cambridge Tax Law History Conference, held in July 2018. In the usual manner, these papers have been selected from an oversupply of proposals for their interest and relevance, and scrutinised and edited to the highest standard for inclusion in this prestigious series.
The papers fall within five basic themes. Four papers focus on tax theory: Bentham; social contract and tax governance; Schumpeter's 'thunder of history'; and the resurgence of the benefits theory. Three involve the history of UK specific interpretational issues: management expenses; anti-avoidance jurisprudence; and identification of professionals. A further three concern specific forms of UK tax on road travel, land and capital gains. One paper considers the formation of HMRC and another explains aspects of nineteenth-century taxation by reference to Jane Austen characters. Four consider aspects of international taxation: development of EU corporate tax policy; history of Dutch tax planning; the important 1942 Canada-US tax treaty; and the 1928 UN model tax treaties on tax evasion. Also included are papers on the effects of WWI on New Zealand income tax and development of anti-tax avoidance rules in China.
Solutions in tax tend to repeat themselves in cyclical fashion, and therefore studying the past can suggest remedies for current ills... it makes more sense to study the tax history rather than re-inventing the wheel. The Harris et al. volume and the entire series that it is part of are major contributions to this endeavor. Otherwise, we are indeed doomed to repeat the history we have forgotten.
