Private regulatory approaches and international tax policy

This chapter discusses the prospects of certification schemes for tax, such as the Fair Tax Mark (FTM). It begins with a reflection on some important features and problems of tax policy, which informs a subsequent analysis of the nature and limits of certification schemes more generally. The analysis presented here suggests that we should not be too sanguine about the prospects of FTM (or any other tax certification schemes), and that such issues ought to be addressed by nation-states and international instruments. However, it has been questionable whether sufficient political support exists in some domestic jurisdictions, particularly in Switzerland and the European Union (especially Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands), to address the issues at stake. The chapter concludes that the characteristics of the tax policy problems examined do not make them amenable to action through private governance regimes.