Global Economy, Global Crisis and Taxation: a (Possible) Exit Strategy for Central Asia (and for Europe as Well)

In ancient Greece the word “Krisis” (κρίσις) meant “Decision” or “Time for Decision”: despite millennia have passed, the translation is still appropriate and fit to be used in the current context. Even if more than five years have passed since the eruption of the Global Financial Crisis, the origins (and therefore the responsibilities) are not well defined nor are the ways and means to overtake it once and for all. A reliable answer may come from taxation or, more precisely, from the enactment of an appropriate tax policy capable of contributing to the re-development of the local economies on a more efficient and comprehensive way, thus granting more resources to address the always increasing needs of the welfare and of the social state. In this paper the author argues that the most appropriate tax policy should be consistent with two basic axioms: one related to methodological aspects, and the other to quali-quantitative ones. According to the first one, any tax reform is void of any sound effect and doomed to fail if enacted unilaterally by any State and without considering the decision by the neighbourhood Countries. Just like the OECD pointed out, modern societies should pursue a more holistic approach in this respect and the time for unilateralism (in taxation as well) is definitely over. According to the second aspect, tax systems should be shaped in order to provide the maximum level of certainty and predictability of the decisions of the Tax Administrations (via the use of the Ruling procedure) and to promote, in case of Central Asian States, the development of specific sectors of the economy using selective state aid rules consistent with the development of the Customs union in the region and with the close distance of China that prevent the possibility to compete on prices.