ABSTRACT
Taxation combines elements of politics, administration, economics, law and accountancy – including the history of each of these subjects. The dynamics of taxation are produced by changes in any of the terms in the public-policy model. A public-policy model can focus upon all that is necessarily involved in collecting taxes. Tax revenue is not determined solely by any one element; it results from the interaction of tax laws, administration and economic activity. Economic activities are reduced by tax laws to such categories as taxable income, or goods liable to value added tax. Tax laws allocate the burden of taxation between two groups of people, those who pay a tax, and those who do not. A tax law stipulates two essentials, the tax base and the tax rate. A tax base is usually the outcome of a process of accretion rather than of logical deduction.
