ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to provide a socially based rationale for considering different approaches to taxation in both China and the countries in the ASEAN region. While literature on taxation policy and law does acknowledge the need for different approaches to be taken in different countries, this acknowledgement is in fact relatively limited. Little has been written that looks at the fundamentally different structure of social relationships in different societies and how this can impact the success of different tax policies. Despite this lack of attention, literature from other disciplines and in relation to other aspects of law and governance provides a significant rationale for a need to take social structural difference into consideration when designing tax. This chapter provides a rationale for a consideration of social structure in the design of tax law.
