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This article provides some preliminary thoughts on tax policy and the COVID-19 crisis. In the first part, it discusses fiscal measures available to policymakers in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The role of taxation will evolve over the different phases of the pandemic: measures have already been adopted to respond to the crisis in the short-term, but questions remain as to the types of measures that should be adopted in the medium and longer-term. In the second part, this article discusses the current and possible future effects of the pandemic on international tax policy.

This paper is a draft chapter of a forthcoming book on the taxation of international business profit by the authors of this paper, to be published by Oxford University Press. The group has been meeting regularly for five years, to identify and discuss the key problems of the existing international tax system, and to develop potential options for reform. The book will study two proposals for reform in depth. One is the destination-based cash flow tax – a draft chapter on this proposal has already been released. The second proposal – for a form of residual profit allocation - is presented here. This paper is largely self-standing and can be read without necessarily reading the rest of the book, although it does refer in places to arguments set out in other draft chapters.

It is now widely taken as axiomatic that the existing international corporate tax system is based on the principle that corporate profits are taxed where value is created (the “value creation principle”). There also appears to be widespread agreement, at least amongst policymakers, that the system should be based on this principle. This policy paper disputes both these descriptive and normative claims.

This paper presents, analyses, and further develops the idea of a destination-based cash-flow tax (DBCFT). Its purpose is expositional: to describe the DBCFT, how it might work, what its effects would be and some of the challenges that its implementation would face. The paper starts by introducing the basic mechanics of the DBCFT before evaluating it against five criteria: economic efficiency, robustness to avoidance and evasion, ease of administration, fairness and stability. It does so both for the case of universal adoption by all countries and the more plausible case of unilateral adoption. The paper then looks closely at the application of DBCFT treatment to the financial sector, which is a familiar problem under the VAT but has been little considered under the DBCFT. Finally, the paper sets out some core implementation issues, and how they might be addressed. It also compares the implementation of a DBCFT with the economically equivalent reform option that introduces a broad-based, uniform rate VAT (or achieves the same effect through an existing VAT), and reduces taxes on payroll by the same proportion.

To operate efficiently and effectively revenue authorities require discretion, but processes must be in place to keep discretion in check. This delicate balancing act takes place against the background of a more general constitutional framework. This chapter outlines the unique features of the UK constitution that form the background to the way in which the discretion of the UK revenue authorities (HMRC) is assessed and controlled. It then discusses a limited, yet crucial, set of discretions vested in HMRC. The chapter focuses particularly on the use of non-statutory guidance. It discusses the operation of judicial review, and in particular, the doctrine of legitimate expectations, in the context of such guidance.