Tax, Inequality, and Human Rights edited by Philip ALSTON and Nikki REISCH. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. 600 pp. Hardcover: £107.50. doi:10.1093/oso/9780190882228.001.0001

Abstract

Except death and taxes, nothing in this world is certain. Applying Benjamin Franklin ’ s quote to the modern welfare state democracies, the present book argues that, in addition to taxes, other oft-ignored certainties lead to inequalities, and there is growing concern for the preservation of human rights both at the domestic as well as the international level.The book under review, Tax, Inequality, and Human Rights, edited by Philip Alston and Nikki Reisch, is a compilation of twenty-five chapters contributed to by prominent tax and human rights experts who analysed the roots of “ human rights and tax laws ” under six parts, identifying the overlaps and contradictions to highlight how both can address the increasing disparities in social, economic, and political spheres.