Taxation, Tax Avoidance and the Rule of Law

This article is based on a lecture presented at the recent official opening of the IBFD’s office in China. The article begins with a historical development of the rule of law concept and goes on to provide a comparison between the Western and Asian concepts of the rule of law. The author also discusses the impact of the rule of law from a taxation perspective, in particular with regard to the interpretation of anti-avoidance rules.