Challenges of the Knowledge Society (May 2012)
FISCAL POLICY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE CURRENT FINANCIAL CRISIS
Abstract
Fiscal policies in the current era are the sovereign right of states to collect and administer taxes on national territory. In this respect, the European Union, which is an association of independent states, did not created an European tax - although many politicians proposing it - and within the Union is found important differences between the tax systems of member states. Due to historical and national different traditions, the EU member states have heterogeneous tax systems and revenue sharing systems because of different conceptions of public policies relative to the role of state in social and economic respective community’s life. The financing of public spending is usually considered the main function of taxation. In the original tradition following Locke1, property protection is the main functions of the state. As a result, the tax must correspond to the services rendered, that is to say, to pay the State for the protection of the rights it provides. Here we are at the origin of the doctrine of the benefit that there should be equivalence between the utility derived by the citizens of public services they consume and the "price" they pay tax.
