Taxation in an Electronic World: The International Debate and a Role for Tax Research

The electronic world will affect and be affected by tax systems, and these influences need to be understood in order to develop suitable tax systems to operate in this new environment. Our current tax systems were built to operate in a physical environment in which most transactions are documented in writing at the place where taxable transactions occur or taxable income arises. These vital transaction features cannot be presumed in the new environment; the flexibility and adaptability of tax systems to these changed circumstances becomes even more important than usually the case.