Competizione fiscale europea versus giustizia distributiva: un dilemma sempre più attuale

European tax competition against distributive justice: an increasingly topical dilemma

Abstract

Abstract: European tax competition against distributive justice: an increasingly topical dilemma – After a critical analysis focused on the European rooted praxis of fiscal interstate competition, this paper aims at addressing the inconsistency of that praxis with the principles of tax system progressivity and of the right to work, both as provided by the Italian Constitution. An in depth review of the recent fiscal legislation adopted by the Italian legislator shows the trend to reduce the tax burden over corporate income without a concurrent lowering of labour taxes, at the expense of the State function of distributive justice. In this context, the paper poses essentially two questions: (i) how can the European member States overcome their necessity to adopt a legislation as more as possible attractive for capital foreign investors? (ii) is it conceivable the development of an European framework aiming at ensuring more equality between State in the allocation of tax revenues?

Keywords: Interstate competition, Tax reforms, Constitutional fiscal principles, Labour taxes, Free movement of capitals.