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Taxation: Legitimation of

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Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy

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Introduction

Taxation is the state’s main source of revenue, it is a tool for redistribution, and it is used to provide behavioral incentives. But what is the moral legitimation of taxation, given that it is a straightforwardly coercive practice? The answer to this question largely depends on the moral standing of property entitlements. If citizens have property entitlements that are prior to and independent from legal conventions, then one will have to either find a tax base that is morally innocent, or find a moral principle that explains why some infringements of property entitlements are morally permissible. If, on the other hand, there are no pretax property entitlements, then the justification of taxation will not have to overcome a presumption against infringing them, and taxation can be legitimized by direct appeal to values like welfare, efficiency, and distributive justice (For overviews on the political philosophy of taxation, see also von Brederode 2022 and Halliday 2013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Fabian Wendt

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  1. Fabian Wendt
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Correspondence to Fabian Wendt .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for International & Comparative Law, University of Baltimore School of Law, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Mortimer Sellers

  2. Sozial- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften, University of Salzburg, Austria, Salzburg, Austria

    Stephan Kirste

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  1. University of Graz, Graz, Austria

    Norbert Paulo

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Wendt, F. (2023). Taxation: Legitimation of. In: Sellers, M., Kirste, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6730-0_1097-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6730-0_1097-1

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