Statutory General Anti-Avoidance Rules of Income Tax Law and Comparable Judicial Rules of the Common Law and the Civil Law
TAXATION ISSUES: EXISTING AND EMERGING, pp. 101-134, Andrew Maples, Adrian Sawyer, eds., The Centre for Commercial and Corporate Law Inc, University of Canterbury, 2011
Victoria University of Wellington Legal Research Paper No. 20/2012
35 Pages Posted: 26 Mar 2012 Last revised: 29 Mar 2015
Date Written: July 21, 2006
Abstract
This paper comprises a transcript of the oral addresses and discussion at a colloquium that compared the general anti-avoidance rule of income tax law with the civil law doctrine of Rechtsmissbrauch (abuse of law) and similar doctrines in eight jurisdictions: Germany, Croatia, New Zealand, Australia, the European Union, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. The speakers addressed the statutory and judge made approaches of each jurisdiction to tax avoidance, illustrating the different approaches of common law and civil law jurisdictions. The addresses were followed by discussion with members of the audience on issues raised during the speakers’ addresses and avoidance issues in general. The colloquium concluded with an envoi to draw together the various approaches to avoidance and to see some approaches to avoidance and to see some of the issues that remain in the future for those seeking to prevent avoidance.
Keywords: Income tax law, common law anti-avoidance rules, civil law anti-avoidance rules, Rechtsmissbrauch
JEL Classification: K33, K34
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation