Collected Scholarly Work by Ivor Richardson being posted to SSRN

The Victoria University of Wellington SSRN Legal Research Papers has begun to publish the collected scholarly work of the Right Honourable Sir Ivor Richardson, one of the leading tax judges of the late twentieth century. He already has 96 papers posted, and over the rest of 2013, fifty papers are planned, in about ten issues, with more to come in future years. This is a tremendous resource for anyone looking at historical or comparative trends in international and national tax policy development: the most recent issue of the working paper series includes some older articles which are as timely now as they were when first published, for example:

"Attitudes to Income Tax Avoidance"  Inaugural Address, Victoria University of Wellington, 1967 This paper discusses the growing importance of income tax law, the corresponding increase in tax avoidance, and the different perspectives on tax avoidance. A brief history of income tax is given, and an analysis of the competing objectives of an income tax system, its inherent problems, and the possible solutions to these. There follows an explanation of what is meant by tax avoidance, the features of the New Zealand income tax system which create opportunities for tax avoidance, and the arguments against permitting this on a large scale. The paper then outlines the attitudes towards tax avoidance of the legislature, judiciary, revenue, and taxpayers, before concluding with an observation as to the increased interest which income tax law holds for both lawyers and teachers and students of law.  "Appellate Court Responsibilities and Tax Avoidance"  2 Australian Tax Forum 3, 1985 Victoria University of Wellington Legal Research Paper Series Richardson Paper No. 3 IVOR RICHARDSON, Victoria University of Wellington - Faculty of Law Email: richardsons@xtra.co.nz The subject raises two questions for consideration: the interpretation of tax legislation, and the characterisation of transactions for tax purposes. This paper briefly outlines the problems of drafting tax legislation, before describing the different judicial approaches to interpretation of tax legislation, including the scheme and purpose approach of New Zealand courts. In considering when the scheme and purpose of the legislation will necessitate re-characterisation of transactions for income tax purposes, there is a discussion of the business purpose requirement, and an analysis of the tax effect of the assignment of personal exertion income to a third party. Concerning the manner in which the character of a transaction is to be determined at law, the paper provides a discussion on form and substance, analysing the English ‘fiscal nullity’ approach and its reception in other jurisdictions, and concluding that such an approach must be firmly grounded in the scheme and purpose of the legislation. Much more at Ivor Richardson's SSRN page, linked above. Thanks to Prof. John Prebble for alerting me to this info.