Taxing Culture
Towards a Theory of Tax Collection Law
Socio-Legal Studies Series

The introduction of self-assessment for income tax collection in the late 1990s marked a striking moment of cultural convergence between the UK and the US. This book analyses the socio-political factors leading to and resulting from this fundamental change in the relationship between taxpayers and the Inland Revenue, using perspectives in comparative law and the new outlooks of modern tax and cultural theory. It will be of interest to those studying theories of compliance, cultural legal studies, and law and society.

Contents: Introduction; Ideology and Starting point, E.R.A. Seligman; Tax collection and enforcement in the modern US; Self-assessment and historical context; Self-assessment and incomprehensible tax laws; The Ramsay principle; Systems at work; Self-assessment: aftermath, and towards a theory of tax collection law; Bibliography; Index.

Ann Mumford