2005 Essay Contest on TAXATION and JUSTICE

IREF, het Instute for Research on Economic and Fiscal Issues, heeft een “essay-contest” gelanceerd betreffende het topic: “Taxation and Justice“. Er is een zeer grote vrijheid voor de deelnemers voor de manier waarop ze dit willen aanpakken. In het essay mogen bvb formules en grafieken gebruikt worden, maar nodig is dat niet. De taal moet zijn Engels of Frans. Het belangrijkste is de duidelijkheid en de originaliteit van het werkstuk.
De Deadline is 31 december 2005.Meer informatie: www.iref-europe.org, or email Prof. Pierre Garello: pierregarello@hotmail.com

For the second consecutive year IREF, the Institute for Research on Economic and Fiscal Issues, has launched an essay contest to promote research on tax-related issues.
The topic for this year is : Taxation and Justice.

In some quarters, “neutral” taxation has been advocated as an appropriate measure to raise revenue so as to allow “fair redistribution” through expenditure. Others have advocated the use of progressive income taxation to achieve equality through both taxation and expenditure. At the other side of the spectrum, a flat tax is increasingly presented as the only fair system of taxation.
Candidates to the IREF prize are invited to address the issue of fairness and equality from the moral and historical viewpoints and to evaluate what forms of taxation conform with the various criteria. This should then allow them to develop a critical analysis of current tax systems.

Awards
· The results of the contest will be published by January 15 th 2006
· The First essay will be awarded a prize of 10,000 Euros
· The second essay will be awarded a prize of 6,000 Euros
· The third essay will be awarded a prize 4,000 Euros
· The three winners will be invited to present their work at a conference (Spring-Summer 2006)

Rules:
· Topic: The essay should address the notion(s) of fairness/equality, the taxation structures these notions imply, the consistency of current tax systems with what is discussed at the beginning.
· Eligibility: Anyone born in 1970 or later may take part to the contest. Papers must be original, previously unpublished and individually authored. Joint authorship will not be accepted.
· Style: no restriction is set on style. The author may use all tools judged appropriate. Statistics, graphs, and mathematical models are welcome but in no way constitute a prerequisite and will not necessarily give an edge to the paper.
· Language: the essay may be written either in French or in English
· Length: the essay should have between 7,000 and 10,000 words (between 10,000 and 15,000 words if written in French)
· Format: the essay should be sent by electronic mail at contact@iref-europe.org and also in paper format to:

· Deadline: the two versions (electronic + paper) should be sent before December 31, 2005

Jury:
The essays will be judged by the members of the scientific committee of IREF (see the list of the committee on IREF’s website at www.iref-europe.org)

Coordinator: inquiries about the contest should be addressed to pierregarello@hotmail.com