Some Controversial Questions in the Theory of Taxation

Abstract

From the economic point of view, the activities of governments and local authorities are a link in the chain of man’s endeavour to satisfy his needs. To cover the cost of such activity by taxes means converting private property into public property and so more aptly serving the satisfaction of certain general needs. Like any other economic activity, this collective activity, too, must be guided by economic principles. Modern public finance and fiscal theories attempt to define those principles and to show their relations with the principles governing the private economy.