This liber amicorum honours Professor Leif Muten on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The representation in this volume of 27 well-known authors from all over the world is testimony to the important role of Leif Muten in the international tax community. His scholarly interests are well represented among the contributions, which cover a wide range of issues in law and economics. Key issues examined include international tax problems such as the permanent establishment concept in electronic commerce, multilateral tax treaties, international tax avoidance and limitation of treaty benefits. Certain contributions focus specifically on EC tax matters, such as the implications for income taxation of restrictions on free movement and the principle of non-discrimination, and the problem of tax harmonisation in the context of monetary union. The discussion of basic income tax issues ranges from equity in taxation to corporate income tax issues, while economists on the panel explore ideas such as definitions of tax and charge, the utopia of neutral taxation, and the relationship between income taxation and inflation. In addition, as an appropriate reflection of the many years Professor Muten has served the International Monetary Fund, there are articles on comparative tax law issues and on countries in transition. The scope of the collected essays and the calibre of the contributors make the book a fitting tribute to the work of Professor Muten, and render the book of great interest to anyone interested in theoretical and practical tax problems.

This book has been written as a preparatory work for the seminar on Scandina vian taxation of the XXXIII Congress of the International Fiscal Association in Copenhagen, 1979. I wish to warmly thank professor Thclger Nielsen Copenhagen acting professor Olof Olsson, Helsingfors, and jur. dr. Fredrik Zimmer, Oslo, who have supplied the sections on the development of Danish, Finnish and Norwegian tax law, which have been included in the book. This valuable material, together with the corres ponding Swedish information, has formed the basis for the analysis of trends, which appears in part II of the book. I also want to extend my thanks to Peter Melz, Bachelor of economy, for help with the statistical material, to David Gerber, Attorney at law, New York, for translating parts of the book into English and to Ulla Lindqvist for typing the manuscript. Stockholm, April 1979 Gustaf Lindencrona 5 Table of Contents PART I. TRENDS IN SCANDINAVIAN TAXATION 1965 -1977 9 1. Explanations 19 19 Tables 1 - 14 19 Table 15 PART II. SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE SCANDINAVIAN 21 DEVELOPMENT 1. The Common Scandinavian Background 21 2. Extension of the Tax Base 22 Denmark 22 Finland 24 Norway 25 Sweden 27 3. Integration of Corporation Tax and Income Tax 28 Denmark 28 Finland 29 Norway 29 Sweden 30 4. The Progress of Separate Taxation 30 Denmark 31 Finland 32 Norway 32 Sweden 33 5.