National Tax Policy in Europe To Be or Not to Be [Hardcover]

The book is dedicated to the question of how much room for national tax policy Member States of the European Union will be able to maintain in the future. It focuses on the possibilities Member States have and the limits they face, such as the need to finance the welfare state or limits of European and International Law. The research question is looked at from different angles. Economic as well as legal aspects are included.

European taxes have long been debated for their potential role as barriers to increased investment and welfare. The discussion has often circulated around the size of the tax bases and the magnitude of the tax rate. In this book we argue that in the taxation context the European Union (EU) is at a cross-road facing strong forces pushing it into two polar positions. One of these is the scenario with all welfare provided by the national regime and financed by taxes collected entirely by national authorities. The other extreme is the situation where all welfare is - fered at an EU level financed entirely by taxes collected at that level. The two forces pressing the tax situation into one of these two poles are spelt tax compe- tion and welfare arbitrage. The research question addressed in this book covers the existence of a potential steady state in between these to poles. Our basic - pothesis is that their might be such a steady state due to the immobility of some tax bases and where the taxation of these bases have no externalities affecting - vestment. We argue that the very complex tax structures of Europe and the tax - certainty facing investors in Europe need to be addressed in a comprehensive way.The Role of National Tax Policies in the European Union.- Corporate Income Tax Competition and the Scope for National Tax Policy in the Enlarged Europe.- Free Factor Mobility and Fiscal Competition: Can the National Welfare State Survive in a United Europe?.- Fiscal Competition and Activist Social Policy.- An Optional Common Consl#ž