Lines of research

This line of research is driven by Anouk Decuypere en Kimberly Van Sande.

The first research line of Antwerp Tax Academy is dedicated to research on three critical factors that are necessary for an effective tax system: tax fairness, trust, and tax compliance. These factors play a crucial role in building a positive relationship between taxpayers and the government, and are essential for the overall welfare of society. This line of research aims to deepen knowledge by developing studies on tax fairness, trust, and tax compliance, as well as their interconnection. Understanding these factors can help improve the design of tax policies, enhance taxpayer compliance, and ultimately contribute to the overall welfare of society.

• Tax fairness is a normative principle that refers to the principles of non-discrimination and equality, ability to pay, intergenerational fairness, legitimate decision-making, inter-nation equity and principles of good administration. The perception of tax fairness is driven by these principles, as well as individual differences, such as social context and self-serving bias. We aim to investigate what tax fairness is, how fairness perceptions develop, and how perceptions of tax fairness influence taxpayer compliance, tax evasion, and other forms of tax behavior. Additionally, the legal system’s role, including fundamental taxpayers’ rights such as the right to property, in facilitating and contributing to tax fairness will also be explored.

• Trust is a critical factor in the relationship between taxpayers and the government. The level of trust reflects the confidence that taxpayers have in the government’s ability to manage public affairs and use tax revenue effectively. We aim to better understand how trust develops in the tax context and how the legal system, including fundamental taxpayers’ rights, can facilitate and contribute to trust in governments and tax administrations.

• Tax compliance is essential for the functioning of the tax system, and it is influenced by various factors, including tax fairness, social norms, and trust. We aim to better understand (voluntary) tax compliance, determinants of tax compliance, and how the legal system, including fundamental taxpayers’ rights such as the right to privacy and data protection, can facilitate and contribute to tax compliance.

The impact of digital developments on tax fairness, trust and tax compliance are also studied. This research interfaces with ATA's second line of research. This concerns, for example, the influence of the digital economy on international tax law and inter-nation equity or the influence of the use of digital tools and artificial intelligence by tax administrations on principles of good governance and perceptions of fairness.

Through our research, we also aim to identify the role of different stakeholders, such as tax administrations, taxpayers, tax advisors and other third parties, in shaping the perception of tax fairness, developing trust-based relations and influencing taxpayer behavior. We aim to explore the differences in perceptions and behavior across different groups.

This line of research is driven by Sylvie De Raedt en Alessia Tomo en David Hadwick.  

New technologies and digitization have a fundamental impact on our society. This evolution brings tax opportunities as well as challenges with it.

On the one hand, new technologies (data mining, blockchain, internet of things, etc.) provide opportunities for the tax administration in terms of efficiency, as a means of better enforcement of tax obligations. This increased efficiency can help businesses to have more confidence in a well-organized government, to reduce the administrative burden, to increase transparency and to improve compliance. But, privacy considerations and, more generally, the legal protection of the taxpayer must also be taken into account.

On the other hand, digitization leads to a new economic reality (e.g. new forms of working and new business models), which is not sufficiently taken into account by current regulation. It is important that, even in this new economic reality, companies pay a fair share of taxes according to where value is created. Furthermore, digitization presents new risks of aggressive tax planning and competition between Member States to attract investment. Belgium does not escape this either and, as a small, open economy, even effectively participates in this fierce competition.

The regulatory framework must be adapted to this evolution in order to continue to meet the requirements of equality, ability to pay and efficiency. This is a challenge as value creation in the digital economy is less linked to physical presence than to intangible assets inherent in digitization (intellectual property rights, artificial intelligence).

The adaptation of international, European and Belgian corporate taxation to these global developments is central to this line of research.

This line of research is driven by Tarcisio Diniz Magalhaes, Gerlinde Verbist en Sharon Waeytens.

Many governments, firms, consumers, and workers around the world acknowledge that we are on the brink of societal and environmental collapse due to the ongoing, human-initiated climate crisis of global scope. At the same time, political leaders agree that tax law and policy play a key role in pursuing sustainable development goals (SDGs), while business leaders have begun to adjust their companies’ tax functions in order to comply with economic, social, and governance (ESG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards. Considering the four dimensions of sustainability, this line of research aims to investigate how tax systems could or should: 

1. ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY: regulate the use of nonrenewable natural resources and human activity that harms ecosystems and the planet; 

2. ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY: facilitate the green transition towards a climate-neutral, resource-efficient, and possibly post-growth economy; 

3. SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY: address persistent poverty and rising inequality; 

4. INTERGENERATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY: ensure the wellbeing of future generations.

This line of research is driven by Bruno Peeters en Karl Pauwels.

Given the pressure of the financial crisis and the subsequent economic crisis, there seems to be an increased need in the EU and especially in the Eurozone for further fiscal and budgetary integration. This observation prompts questions about Member States' ceding fiscal sovereignty in favour of the EU or the Eurozone.

Should the strengthening of the economic and monetary union within the European Union, and especially in the Eurozone, actually lead to increased participation at European level when Member States exercise their own fiscal powers? And if so, to what extent are those Member States willing to allow this deeper involvement in Europe and how does all this relate to the so-called principle of subsidiarity?

 Does a monetary union also imply that Member States will (eventually) have less national fiscal sovereignty and that a European tax will be introduced?

Finally, the evolution towards more regional autonomy in the EU Member States raises questions about the opportunities and limits linked to the division of fiscal powers among multiple levels of governance and the way in which administrative empowerment processes can be finalised optimally when it comes to taxes.