Taxation in the Digital Era

This open access edited volume discusses the impact of digitalization on taxation, using the Swedish welfare state model as a lens through which to examine the disruptive effect of new technologies on traditional tax models. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, it integrates perspectives from economics, law, audit, and public policy to shed light on contemporary challenges in taxation.

With Sweden as a central case study, the chapters in this book address broader concerns surrounding the impact of digital transformation on how states calculate and enforce tax, as well as the role of international coordination in reforming tax policy. The book covers many important topics such as financing public welfare, international attempts to combat issues concerning multinationals and consumption taxation, legitimacy and democratic implications, as well as how digitalization impacts firms’ and tax authorities’ tax administration. The effects of AI, automation and remote work are all considered, as well as how greater labor mobility is decreasing the emphasis on a geographical nexus for taxability and creating a need for urgent tax reform. Providing a diverse set of theoretical and policy considerations, this book will be essential reading for scholars, students and policymakers working in the spheres of tax law, the welfare state and public economics.

Åsa Hansson is an Associate Professor in Economics at the Departments of Economics and Technology and Society at Lund University, Sweden, and a research fellow at the research centre, Ratio, in Stockholm. Her research focus is on taxation and individual and firm behaviour, and implications for funding of the public sector as well as economic performance. 

Joakim Wernberg is the Research Director of Digitalization and Tech Policy at the Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum. He is also an adjunct Assistant Professor and part of the research group on Socio-economic Technology Studies (SoeTech) at the Department of Technology and Society at the Faculty of Engineering, Lund University. His research deals primarily with digitalization and how new technologies shape and condition economic change.