IREF was founded in 2002 by representants of the civil society coming from the academic and business world and willing to establish an efficient platform to investigate fiscal and taxation questions.
As a matter of fact, taxation may be considered as a many-faceted issue and existing studies are mostly incomplete if not biased. The need to explore systematically and completely the question was obvious to IREF founding members.
It can be asserted that this need has also an emergency aspect. Tax studies can no longer ignore the globalisation process and the consequences of this evolution on the magnitude of tax competition. Tax authorities are currently under the strain of two opposite forces: centralisation and harmonization on one hand, devolution and competition on the other hand.
In order to achieve its goals, IREF has chosen to call for external skills. As a consequence, the first IREF project was to gather a team of economists and to invite each of them to establish a report on the taxation system of their own countries or regions. The goal of such a project was not to present another statistical listing, but to cast a new light on the advantages and weaknesses of each of these fiscal systems.
These first reports, freely available online, expose tax statistics but furthermore present analysis on the nature of the tax authorities’ competences. As a result, IREF reports make it possible to find answers to the following questions: who does establish the tax rates and the tax bases? To whom fall the power to decide of the spending of the fiscal revenue? Do the taxpayers have any appeal options? How important is the fiscal devolution and the tax competition?
Eager to cross knowledge from economics, statistics, law studies and politics, IREF seeks to create a starting place for thoughts and proposals about taxation policy. Such a source will be all the more insightful that it will hinge on high-quality contributions. Consequently, the research direction will be very pleased to take under consideration your own contribution proposals.
