This article considers the implications of the tax salience literature for the United Kingdom. First, the different categories, and definitions, of tax salience that have developed in the literature are reviewed, and some of the prescriptive implications of these terms are introduced. Tax salience refers, essentially, to the capacity of taxpayers to understand legislation. Thus, the potential reasons behind tax complexity and the potential beneficiaries of it are addressed. The article considers the contribution that the tax salience literature may make to existing analyses in the United Kingdom, particularly, in the (1) debate surrounding principles-based legislation and (2) context of newly formed government offices devoted, to some extent, to considering the role and value of salience. It is suggested that it is worth heeding the admonitions of Schenk, Gamage and Shanske, and others, that ‘salience’ is a layered term that should be employed with specific reference to political, economic and legal contexts. It is also acknowledged that the conclusions of some portions of the tax salience literature that legislative clarity should be included only within a list of priorities for legislative drafting, and not necessarily at the top of that list, is evocative of existing analyses of ‘principles-based drafting’ in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and elsewhere. Neither salience nor principles-based drafting have the potential, on their own, to ‘fix’ the problem of tax complexity. The article, however, considers the implications of either raising or lowering salience on the list of desirable factors in drafting, in the particular context of fostering trust between taxpayers and the state.
Tax policy frequently targets the choices that women face in many aspects of their lives. Decisions regarding working away from home, having children, marrying, registering a partnership or cohabiting with a partner all entail tax consequences. The end of the twentieth century saw progress in women's legal and social equality, but many governments began to increase their reliance on the tax system as a means of influencing the choices that women make. The juxtaposition of this instrumentalist deployment of tax with persisting economic inequality for women is the starting point for this book. Employing a range of theoretical approaches, and grounding its investigations in sociological theory and cultural philosophy, it provides the foundation for a comparative, contextual consideration of the issues that arise at the intersection of women, tax policy and the law.
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