Risk-Mining the Public Exchequer

Authors

  • David Quentin School of Business and Management, Queen Mary University of London, London, U.K.

Abstract

Tax avoidance is commonly theorised on the hypothesis that, in any specific instance of it, its effectiveness or ineffectiveness is determinate, whereas in the vast majority of instances it succeeds by default without being subject to forensic scrutiny. This article offers a new theory of tax avoidance which treats indeterminacy of outcome, as at implementation, as being of its essence. It proceeds from existing tax industry discourse regarding tax risk management, and shows (using the case study of Amazon’s former UK/Luxembourg tax structuring) how tax avoidance is a discrete category of tax risk management with a determinate institutional genealogy. It proceeds to consider how (on a systemic level) such behaviour yields unwarranted financial transfers out of the public exchequer, and does so notwithstanding the adequacy of tax risk mitigation in any given instance. It concludes with comments on the utility of the theory.

References

CASES CITED

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Cosmetic Warriors Ltd & Anor v amazon.co.uk Ltd & Anor [2014] EWHC 181 (Ch)

Duke of Westminster v Commissioners of Inland Revenue 19 TC 490

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Peterson Farms Inc v C&M Farming Ltd [2004] 1 Lloyd’s rep 603

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LEGISLATION CITED

Part 7 Finance Act 2004

Schedule 43C Finance Act 2013

Part 4 Finance Act 2014

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Quentin, D. (2014, August). Risk-mining the public exchequer. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20170624063115/http://www.davidquentin.co.uk/Risk-Mining_The_Public_Exchequer.pdf

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Volume 3.2 of JOTA - Quentin Cover

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Published

06-12-2017

How to Cite

Quentin, D. (2017). Risk-Mining the Public Exchequer. Journal of Tax Administration, 3(2), 22–35. Retrieved from https://jota.website/jota/article/view/105