An Introduction to Taxation

Taxes. Why do we pay them? What benefits do they bring? What damage do they cause? And how could they work better? Here, author Eamonn Butler provides a jargon-free guide to taxation, its history, its aims and purposes, and its impact on individuals and economies. He invokes the work of pioneering economist Adam Smith, who defined the basic principles of good tax policy – fairness, certainty, convenience and efficiency. And he observes that taxation regularly falls short of these aims – the...