This book surveys recent developments in public economics by taking as a case-study the proposals for a basic income/flat tax scheme. It discusses various approaches to taxation and presents a framework for a system that would affect both personal income and the social security system, replacing the one by a flat-rate income tax and the other by a guaranteed income. This idea has generated wide interest in a number of countries, and is being actively discussed by several political parties. This book explains how these changes would benefit a wide variety of social groups, leading to a greater redistribution of income. At the same time, it also raises the question of whether a single reform can meet the very different objectives of different supporters. The author reviews different areas of public economics in which there has been active research in recent years- namely the theory of optimum taxation, public choice theory, general equilibrium analysis of incidence, numerical tax- benefit modelling, and econometric studies of work incentives-and asks how these contribute to our understanding of this particular policy reform. He also indicates the promising directions for future research. The author does not argue for or against the basic income/flat tax proposal, but believes it should be on the agenda for any serious discussion of tax and social security reform for the twenty-first century.

I believe that in the near future, the issue of taxation will become more widely discussed at all levels of government and this will include the possibility of a land value tax (LVT). At the same time, the majority of ordinary taxpayers, who may be otherwise very well informed, have probably never heard of it. This book is therefore an educational book aimed at filling this gap in our knowledge. It is aimed at those people who have no particular knowledge of economics or taxation but who wish to know what LVT is and how it works. The book is based on the information and data that I have collected over many years for my website: http://landvaluetaxguide.com The contemporary formulation of LVT owes its origin in the publication, in 1879, of Progress and Poverty by the American economic philosopher, Henry George. His book gave rise to a worldwide movement that reached its peak with reformist governments in the first decade of the 20th century. LVT thereafter became overshadowed by the preference of governments for the income tax and also by the organised opposition of vested interests, who saw it as a threat to their source of unearned income. But, in recent years, many economists, academics and politicians have begun to see the failures of the current neoclassical/neoliberal economic system and are seriously reconsidering LVT as an alternative. For a list of LVT supporters over recent years refer to: http://landvaluetaxguide.com/category/supporters/ The book comprises an introduction, thirteen chapters and three appendices with supplementary information. References are collected in several pages of endnotes and the text is fully indexed. I present the case for taxation in general as a 'good' not the 'necessary evil' that many people appear to believe. But it has to be accepted that there are good and bad taxes - measured in accordance with the degree of benefit or harm they may give rise to in their application. This book is an explanation of why LVT may be seen as a beneficial tax. I suggest that we would better understand taxes if we viewed them more as contributions towards the proper functioning of society. In the explanation I make use of diagrams, which take the reader step by step through the evolution of a society from simple beginnings to the development of a complex city, how land values arise in this process, and why they become a proper basis for a system of taxation. I suggest that throughout history there have always been the same three problems that beset the tax collector: identification, measurement and avoidance. The book shows how a land value tax would be effective in resolving these three issues that remain problems to this day. I examine the issue of private landownership and I suggest that this has historically been the basis of much economic injustice. In England, it began with the Norman conquest and became consolidated and legitimised over the centuries, so that now the concept is virtually sacrosanct. The title of the book is taken from John of Gaunt's 'sceptre'd isle' speech, in Shakespeare's Richard II, in which he laments the king's selling of land leases to finance his campaign in Ireland.

Im Buch werden Sanierungsstrategien fur Kapitalgesellschaften vorgestellt. Das deutsche Steuerrecht kennt kein eigenes Sanierungssteuerrecht, sondern nur partielle Regelungen, die Unternehmenssanierungen in besonderem Masse wurdigen. Sanierende sind mit einer hochkomplexen Entscheidungssituation konfrontiert, die unter steuerlichen Aspekten mit erheblicher Rechtsunsicherheit verbunden ist. Der Autor untersucht die steuerlichen Rahmenbedingungen aus Verlustverrechnungsbeschrankungen, der Besteuerung von Sanierungsgewinnen und der Nichtberucksichtigung von Gewinnminderungen unter Berucksichtigung der nationalen und europaischen Rechtsprechung. Er analysiert und systematisiert typische Sanierungsinstrumente und zeigt ertragsteuerliche Optimierungsstrategien auf.