<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Tax policy is one way to promote sustainability, and this paper focuses on the role of taxation for SDG 8 on economic growth and decent work. Three basic values for sustainability are identified—equity and equality, environmental protection, and coherence. All these values are important for SDG 8, but they are not easily or naturally combined as there are intermittent tensions among the various values. Equal treatment is important for both efficiency and legitimacy. However, globalization calling for equal treatment across borders may be hard to implement as it requires international agreements. This, in turn, may violate the required local coherence if taxes are more aligned with other countries than with the local context. Environmental taxation will likely play an increasing role in steering economies in a more sustainable way. A crucial issue and a possible challenge is to do that in a way that does not hamper growth.</p>
</abstract>

Tax policy is one way to promote sustainability, and this paper focuses on the role of taxation for SDG 8 on economic growth and decent work. Three basic values for sustainability are identified—equity and equality, environmental protection, and coherence. All these values are important for SDG 8, but they are not easily or naturally combined as there are intermittent tensions among the various values. Equal treatment is important for both efficiency and legitimacy. However, globalization calling for equal treatment across borders may be hard to implement as it requires international agreements. This, in turn, may violate the required local coherence if taxes are more aligned with other countries than with the local context. Environmental taxation will likely play an increasing role in steering economies in a more sustainable way. A crucial issue and a possible challenge is to do that in a way that does not hamper growth.

Attaining decent work and economic growth — what role does taxation play?<xref ref-type="fn" rid="j_ntaxj-2023-0005_fn_001">**</xref>

Nordic Tax Journal

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Attaining decent work and economic growth — what role does taxation play?

Tax policy is one way to promote sustainability, and this paper focuses on the role of taxation for SDG 8 on economic growth and decent work. Three basic...

Attaining decent work and economic growth — what role does taxation play?**

Article Category: Article

Pubblicato online: 22 apr 2024

Pagine: 96 - 110

Ricevuto: 16 dic 2022

Accettato: 21 feb 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ntaxj-2023-0005

Parole chiave
Sustainability, Taxation, International Tax Law, Fairness, Equity, Equality, SDG 8, Decent work, Economic growth

© 2023 Thomas Erhag et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Attaining decent work and economic growth — what role does taxation play?**

Article Category: Article

Pubblicato online: 22 apr 2024

Pagine: 96 - 110

Ricevuto: 16 dic 2022

Accettato: 21 feb 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ntaxj-2023-0005

Parole chiaveSustainability, Taxation, International Tax Law, Fairness, Equity, Equality, SDG 8, Decent work, Economic growth

© 2023 Thomas Erhag et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Parole chiave
Sustainability, Taxation, International Tax Law, Fairness, Equity, Equality, SDG 8, Decent work, Economic growth