The Tiley Trilogy and US Anti-Avoidance Law

12 eJournal of Tax Research 74 (2014)

Case Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2014-16

14 Pages Posted: 9 Jul 2014

See all articles by Erik M. Jensen

Erik M. Jensen

Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Date Written: 2014

Abstract

This article examines an influential set of articles, written by Professor John Tiley in the late 1980s, about anti-avoidance doctrines developed by US courts. The trilogy of articles was written for a British audience, as part of Tiley’s efforts to resist importation of US doctrines (“bleeding chunks of alien doctrine,” as he put it) into the UK, but his ideas remain relevant to tax theorists in all countries, including the US. The article also examines the work of the Aaronson Committee, of which Tiley was a member, which successfully recommended in 2011 that the UK adopt a general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR). Did Tiley’s resistance to anti-avoidance doctrines lessen over the decades, or did the recommendations of the Aaronson Committee avoid the problems that Tiley had seen in the US doctrines of the 1980s? The article concludes, not surprisingly, that the latter was largely the case.

Keywords: Professor John Tiley, Anti-avoidance doctrines (U.S.), Substance over form doctrine, Business purpose doctrine, Step transaction doctrine, Taxation, Aaronson Committee

JEL Classification: K34

Suggested Citation

Jensen, Erik M., The Tiley Trilogy and US Anti-Avoidance Law (2014). 12 eJournal of Tax Research 74 (2014), Case Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2014-16, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2460039

Erik M. Jensen (Contact Author)

Case Western Reserve University School of Law ( email )

11075 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106-7148
United States
216-368-3613 (Phone)
216-368-2086 (Fax)

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
97
Abstract Views
876
Rank
489,057
PlumX Metrics