Taxpayers Rights

This book argues that it is timely and beneficial to articulate a Model of taxpayers' rights as a guide to best practice in tax administration. It first finds a rationale for a Model in legal and rights theory and concludes that a Model is necessary, timely and a realistic option in the context of current developments in tax administration. Next, it articulates the principles that should underlie any Model. These are drawn from traditional analysis of tax systems and refined to provide a standard approach and interpretation. A classification of taxpayers' rights in the context of the type of enforcement underlying the rights provides the basis for a detailed analysis of enforcement mechanisms. The analysis is conducted in the light of recent developments in the application of constitutional law and alternative dispute resolution theory. The lion's share of this work comprises a detailed analysis and articulation of the primary and secondary legal and administrative rights that should be available to taxpayers in conjunction with a comprehensive framework of principles of good governance and good practice. A wide-ranging comparative analysis and synthesis of the substantial available literature in both law and other disciplines provides support for the articulation of a Model of taxpayers' rights.

This report provides a detailed description and analysis of the different legal provisions in twenty-two OECD countries relating to taxpayers' rights and the compliance powers of tax authorities. The accompanying tables present a comparison of country practices in 1989 and identify major reforms introduced in recent years.

In the United States, it is quite common to lay claim to the benefits of society by appealing to "taxpayer citizenship--the idea that, as taxpayers, we deserve access to certain social services like a public education. Tracing the genealogy of this concept, Camille Walsh shows how tax policy and taxpayer identity were built on the foundations of white supremacy and intertwined with ideas of whiteness. From the origins of unequal public school funding after the Civil War through school desegregation cases from Brown v. Board of Education to San Antonio v. Rodriguez in the 1970s, this study spans over a century of racial injustice, dramatic courtroom clashes, and white supremacist backlash to collective justice claims. Incorporating letters from everyday individuals as well as the private notes of Supreme Court justices as they deliberated, Walsh reveals how the idea of a "taxpayer" identity contributed to the contemporary crises of public education, racial disparity, and income inequality.