Tax Competition

Some small countries have become prosperous by offering low tax rates to individuals and corporations. Can Iceland join them? Through the EEA (European Economic Area) agreement, she has access to the common European market without the political obligations of membership in the European Union. She is protected by a defense agreement with the US and her participation in NATO. Indeed, Iceland, with her stable political, fiscal and monetary situation, a location in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, daily flights to the major financial centres of the World, sophisticated telecommunications system, well-educated population and well-developed financial sector, may at present have a unique opportunity to engage in tax competition with other small countries. To explore the idea of tax competition and Iceland's possible role in it, the Institute of Economic Studies at the University of Iceland, in cooperation with the International Policy Network in London, invited a group of distinguished economists, lawyers and public policy analysts to an international conference in Iceland November 2001.