Taxation without Representation – The History of Hong Kong′s Troublingly Successful Tax System

Michael Littlewood is a member of the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland, where he teaches tax. His work has been published in the U.S., the U.K., Hong Kong, China, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.

Michael Littlewood is ideally equipped to explain to the many interested readers and would-be readers why they should take a close interest in Hong Kong and its 'troublingly successful' tax system. Drawing on his years of experience, he takes full advantage of the availability of primary sources showing how the United Kingdom government, in the shape of Whitehall, was unable to effect major change in the Hong Kong system of taxation. The system violated many principles which conventional London theory found to be essential yet the local community were able to keep the system as it as. The reader can look forward to an excellent read as the answer to this puzzle is unravelled partly a matter of 'who done it?' but, even more so, of 'how did they get away with it?' But the system itself is also fascinating and Dr. Littlewood's book will prove indispensable for anyone wanting to use the Hong Kong precedent to argue for a flat rate tax system in their own country. -- John Tiley, Professor of Tax Law, University of Cambridge