Interrogating the Relationship Between “Legally Defensible” Tax Planning and Social Justice
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Description
This chapter assesses where the ethical lines should be drawn around what constitutes “legally defensible tax planning,” given social justice imperatives. Because tax minimization by wealthy individuals and profitable corporations does not involve blatant fraud, one cannot simply call for “good corporate tax behavior” and criticize the ethics of those tax professionals who aid and abet the fraud. The tax-reducing strategies of super-rich individuals and highly profitable corporations commonly qualify as what will be called “legally defensible.” This term, however, covers tax planning that may vary across a range in at least three important dimensions: likelihood of legal correctness; consistency with legislative or regulatory intent; and ordinary course of business versus carefully contrived.
Source Publication
Tax, Inequality, and Human Rights
Source Editors/Authors
Philip Alston, Nikki Reisch
Publication Date
2019
Recommended Citation
Shaviro, Daniel N., "Interrogating the Relationship Between “Legally Defensible” Tax Planning and Social Justice" (2019). Faculty Chapters. 1748.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/1748
