Globalized Tax Evasion and Corruption: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Abstract

This paper examines two classic crimes of the powerful, corruption and corporate tax evasion. It argues that tax avoidance/evasion is a type of corruption. Both are committed primarily by individuals and organizations with some combination of cultural, political and economic power, and this power means both sets of acts are difficult to trace, prosecute and punish. The paper begins with an analysis of corruption, as a behaviour, a label, and finally a set of legally proscribed acts. The focus then shifts to one type of corruption, corporate/elite tax evasion and avoidance. The goal of this article is to document the harm done by tax avoidance/evasion and assess possible remedies, while recognizing that “reforms” targeting the most powerful elites and corporations in the modern world will be heavily resisted at all stages of the legal process.