Welcome
Hullo and welcome to my new blog. I’m sure most readers will remember me from my brief and spectacularly unsuccessful spell as a Parliamentary Candidate. However I’ve since left the political sphere behind in favour of the wonderful world of academia.
I’m just starting my PhD in the Faculty of Law at Trinity College, University of Dublin. The interim title of my thesis is “What are the inadequacies of Articles 5, 7 & 12 of the OECD Model Convention with Respect to Taxes on Income and Capital in an e-Commerce enabled world?” – I may have to find something snappier.
During the course of my study I hope to analyze our system of global taxation and what we broadly want it to achieve. I will then consider three key elements of international taxation: the taxation of business profits; the taxation of royalties; and the principle of ‘permanent establishment’. I hope to consider the concepts of constitutional and fiscal sovereignty and how they apply to the internet, how to equitably tax business profits and royalties derived from intellectual property with no fixed location, and how to use the global economic system in order to bring about reforms.
I hope to use this blog for three purposes:
- to share my research into the fields of Taxation, Trade and Constitutional Law;
- to allow me to condense my thoughts on individual aspects of a broader study;
- to generate feedback and discussion.
This isn’t a partisan blog in any way. I’m still a socialist, and a member of the Labour Party, but I’m no longer a political animal. As for the Twitter thing I regret that deeply. I’m very sorry for any offence I caused to anyone, and I’m very sorry to all of the people whom I let down. I’m hoping to put that life behind me and move on – and this blog is part of that – so don’t expect me to as *ahem* forthright with my views as I once was.