Critical perspectives on taxation

Boden, Rebecca; Killian, Sheila; Mulligan, Emer; Oats, Lynne

doi:10.1016/j.cpa.2010.05.003

Cited by 34 publications

(31 citation statements)

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“…In-house tax professionals may work in the shadows of their organizations, but they are not isolated -indeed their level of professional interaction and influence within the field and wider environment is significant, and is inextricably linked to the highly specialised nature of their expertise. The institution of tax affects us all as citizens, often in ways that are not fully understood (Boden et al, 2010;Gracia & Oats, 2012;Oats, 2012) particularly in the context of taxing the profits of large organizations. The process by which tax revenue is extracted from multinational companies has increased in complexity significantly in recent decades, in line with MNEs' growing power and mobility (Scott, 2010) as well as the fierce competition between nations to secure tax revenues from those corporate operations conducted within their jurisdictional boundaries.…”

Section: Empirical Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the context of large, multinational organisations (henceforth MNEs), these professionals are an elite group of knowledge specialists who engage as individuals and collectively in institutional work across three levels of practice, within their organisations, between organisations and within the wider environment. We uncover the hidden power of tax professionals in practice; in shaping tax policy, which in turn has an important and significant role in fundamentally shaping society (Covaleski et al, 2005;Boden et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tax professionals at work in Silicon Valley

Mulligan

Oats²

2016

Accounting, Organizations and Society

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This paper analyses a previously unexamined but nonetheless important facet of modern society -the nature and impact of the relationship between in-house tax professionals in large multinational organizations, and the external business, tax and regulatory environments within which they operate. Drawing on face-to-face interviews conducted with senior tax executives in US multinational enterprises (MNEs), we uncover the social reality of the world in which MNEs' tax executives operate, and find that these tax professionals are a powerful, elite group of knowledge experts who can significantly shape tax law and practices. We analyze the activities of these experts who, although working largely in the shadows of their organizations, are very much engaged in constructing and shaping the wider institutional environment. From a theoretical perspective that brings together institutional work and the endogeneity of law, we find these elite professionals engaging in subtle and diffuse exercise of power at a micro level within their organizations, a meso level between organizations within the field and at a macro level within the wider external environment. This has important implications for our broader understanding of the tax and regulatory environments which corporate actors inhabit.

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Section: Empirical Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tax professionals at work in Silicon Valley

Mulligan

Oats²

2016

Accounting, Organizations and Society

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“…The imposition of taxes in modern states is an important point of interaction between the state and its citizens (Boden et al, 2010;Martin et al, 2009). Indeed, Campbell (2009 describes tax revenues as the "life blood of the modern state".…”

Section: The Tax Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Focusing on this intra-field boundary exchange allows us to investigate how regulation emerges as a social process within the tax field. The tax field is a specialised and important area of accounting practice, and is of considerable importance to wider society (Boden et al, 2010;Martin et al, 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Boundary work and tax regulation: A Bourdieusian view

Gracia

Oats

2012

Accounting, Organizations and Society

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Boundaries are ubiquitous in modern social life, and the work of creating and maintaining boundaries is particularly evident within regulatory fields. Through the analysis of a recent critical incident in the tax field (Arctic Systems) with which the accounting profession is intimately associated, this paper uses a Bourdieusian lens to unravel the relational complexities of the regulation of tax avoidance at the complex and fuzzy boundary between acceptable and unacceptable tax practice. We develop an alternative, relational interpretation of tax regulation and contribute to a more nuanced understanding of regulatory practice within the tax field that also raises questions about regulatory practice more widely. We conclude by highlighting how a move towards 'relational' regulation might contribute to improved understanding of regulatory processes and practices.

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“…Despite this, taxation policy is frequently neglected in wider policy analysis. Boden et al (2010) locate taxation policy within an understanding of the operation of power and political choices, and position tax matters as an aspect of the social contract between the state and citizens. Figure 1 outlines a number of human rights principles, while Figure 1 in the 'Note from the Guest Editor' in this special issue, by Murphy, outlines the full range of human rights principles and O'Connell, also in this issue, outlines how such principles can be applied to policy proofing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maximising available resources: Equality and human rights proofing Irish fiscal policy

Murphy

2017

Administration

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The paper examines various rationales for applying equality and human rights proofing mechanisms to fiscal policy. The principle of using available resources to the maximum to progressively realise human rights, and not to erode the revenue capacity of developing nations to do likewise, is at the heart of emerging human rights norms. To date, Irish budgetary processes and major policy statements such as the Commission on Taxation or the draft outline National Plan on Business and Human Rights Strategy have not engaged with the principles of maximising available resources or extraterritoriality. Proofing fiscal policy is also relevant from the perspective of fiscal welfare where taxation instruments, traditionally used as a revenue-gathering mechanism, are increasingly used as distributional mechanisms to achieve policy outcomes in pensions, health, housing and employment, with important equality and distributive dimensions, particularly from gender, age and socioeconomic perspectives. A number of practical institutional mechanisms and evaluative questions can guide equality and human rights proofing of fiscal policy, but commitments to maximise resources to realise rights also need to be promoted through a public discourse which sees taxation as potential investment in society rather than a burden or cost on the economy.

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Critical perspectives on taxation

Cited by 34 publications

References 1 publication

Tax professionals at work in Silicon Valley

Tax professionals at work in Silicon Valley

Boundary work and tax regulation: A Bourdieusian view

Maximising available resources: Equality and human rights proofing Irish fiscal policy

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