In 2013, the Nordic Tax Research Council began converting its annual yearbook into a semi-annual scientific tax journal—
Today, after three years of focused efforts, we have come a long way. The number of qualified manuscripts submitted to
These accomplishments make
Legal research on tax law is generally conducted by tax law researchers and is published in tax law journals, which are edited and read by tax law researchers and tax lawyers—the usual practice in most areas of legal research. From a scientific perspective, however, where the focus is on knowledge production (c.f.
In our first article, “When the International Lawyers Get to Be Heard – The Story of Tax Treaty Interpretation as Told in Sweden”, Ulf Linderfalk presents the general understanding of tax treaty interpretation, as presented in Swedish tax law, from a public international law perspective. It appears that the view of Swedish tax law researchers on how to apply public international law in the interpretation of tax treaties differs extensively from the common view of researchers in public international law.
In our second article – “Legal Certainty in Taxation at Authorities and Courts of Law: a Nordic View of Specialization and Unbiasedness” – Mats Tjernberg compares the maintenance of legal certainty in taxation decisions as conducted in four Nordic countries. He argues that a court model involving specialization in dealing with tax law cases could enhance legal certainty and raise the quality of tax cases—for instance, Denmark and Norway could learn from the court systems in Sweden and Finland.
In our third article, “Comparative Studies of National Law in the EU Harmonized VAT”, Eleonor Kristoffersson provides valuable information about the challenges confronting legal researchers who are comparing harmonized laws internationally. Among other things, Kristoffersson discusses ways of choosing comparative jurisdictions, and the differences and similarities found in the national VAT legislations in EU member states.
Our fourth article—“The Rise of Working Pensioners: the Swedish Case”—recognizes the reality that an aging Swedish population is facing and the fact that Sweden is ranked first in Europe with regard to increasing the number of employed older workers. Lennart Flood and Nizamul Islam argue that this is a development worthy of encouragement, and that the key to its success is
Good reading
Axel Hilling
Editor-in-Chief