Tax In History: The 1923 Report and the International Tax Revolution

Abstract

The centennial of the four economists’ Report on Double Taxation (1923) (League of Nations, Economic and Financial Commission, Report on Double Taxation Submitted to the Financial Committee by Professors Bruins, Einaudi, Seligman and Sir Josiah Stamp, E.F.S.73. F.19 (League of Nations 1923) (the Report).) provides a good opportunity to reflect on the extent the international tax regime (ITR) that was founded on the Report has changed in the past decade. While on the surface the changes brought about by the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project seem radical enough to consider them an ‘international tax revolution’, this article will argue that the principles developed in the Report are still influential a hundred years later. League of Nations 1923 report, double taxation, BEPS, Pillar One, Pillar Two, Edwin Seligman