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Tax law

Tax law or revenue law is an area of legal study in which public or sanctioned authorities, such as federal, state and municipal governments (as in the case of the US) use a body of rules and procedures (laws) to assess and collect taxes in a legal context. The rates and merits of the various taxes, imposed by the authorities, are attained via the political process inherent in these bodies of power, and not directly attributable to the actual domain of tax law itself.[1]

"Tax code" redirects here. For the alphanumeric code used in the UK, see Tax code (PAYE).

Tax law is part of public law. It covers the application of existing tax laws on individuals, entities and corporations, in areas where tax revenue is derived or levied, e.g. income tax, estate tax, business tax, employment/payroll tax, property tax, gift tax and exports/imports tax.[1][2] There have been some arguments that consumer law is a better way to engage in large-scale redistribution than tax law because it does not necessitate legislation and can be more efficient, given the complexities of tax law.[3]: 213 

Taxes can fail to raise sufficient revenue to cover government spending.

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Taxes are generally complex and can be viewed as benefitting high income earners more than they do to lower income earners (in the payment of relatively less tax).[5]

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Tax evasion and avoidance occur, leading to reduced government revenue.

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Taxes can produce poor desired outcomes (lower productivity and provide less incentive for businesses to grow).

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Taxes can curb economic growth through inefficiency, e.g. corporate taxes/hurdles that could impede smaller entities to grow.

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Taxation can be viewed as disproportionate, as in the case of the taxation of versus labor income, in which investors generally pay less tax on investment income vs workers who proportionally pay more on their wages.[7][5]

capital gains

Taxes can remain questionable in achieving desired goals, such the which is primarily intended to promote environmentally friendly activities via economic incentives.[8]

Ecotax

Education[edit]

Australia[edit]

Tax law education is a specialisation of accountants, tax agents, and lawyers. Accountants are required by either CPA Australia to complete a course in law of taxation and law of financial services. There is a legal obligation to complete taxation law and commercial law for registration as a tax agent with the Tax Practitioner's Board. Law students are not typically required to complete a unit in tax law, but may opt to take it as an elective in Australian universities.

Taxation in South Africa

Taxation in Tanzania

Corporate law

Corporate tax

Media related to Tax law at Wikimedia Commons