Why combating tax evasion matters

That truly immoral choice is not paying one's proper tax obligations, as required under the public laws of the land, no matter how clever, conniving and reassuring one's bankers, lawyers and accountants are. In such cases, it is immoral, and ultimately illegal, to protect the tax offenders for their self-claimed right to "privacy" or, more stupefying yet, protection under the "rule of law".

Anybody seriously considering the alternative just needs to ask this question: What happens to the internal fabric and moral fiber of a society where the vast majority plays by the rules (if only because they have no other choice), but a very small minority, already privileged with its high level of economic success, does not?

Under such circumstances, how can even the most basic notions of social and economic equity and fairness be upheld? Is it desirable in any conceivable way to have such an unfortunate separation - between the law-abiding "losers" and those who are merely treading in place (that is, the many) and those who consider themselves above the law (that is, the few)?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, then one must act accordingly.

It is issues such as combating tax evasion that give the all-important but abstract sounding goal of advancing the broader cause of global governance their real-life meaning.

Proper governance in the fields of global finance and the global economy means more than just rectifying the voting right in international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, overdue as that is. For this important endeavor to find resonance among the wider public, the reform efforts must yield effects in daily life.

Combating tax evasion is precisely such an issue and a cause. It promotes the sense of fairness and a lived practice by all citizens to operate under the same rules and be wedded to advancing the life opportunities of all citizens and not just the most fortunate ones.

The author is the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Globalist.

The Globalist

(China Daily 09/06/2013 page9)