Fixing the social contract: A blueprint for individual tax reform

Abstract

In the face of population ageing and demographic decline, nowadays all countries compete for an increasingly valuable asset: human capital. Indeed, the drain of human capital from one country to another concerns not only highly-skilled individuals seeking job opportunities abroad, but also pensioners relocating to sunnier and more tax-friendly jurisdictions. Absent global action, the risk of uncoordinated and unilateral measures taken by countries to increase and protect their own tax base, with adverse effects both from the inter-nation and the intranation equity perspective, is very concrete. So far, however, neither the OECD nor the European Union have developed specific policies or measures in the domain of individual taxation. Arguing that scope of reform exists also in this field, the article explores various policies and measures as a blueprint for individual taxation reform, with the double aim to curb tax competition among countries and fix the crumbling social contract.