The case for tax publicity

Many liberal democracies today exhibit deep income and wealth inequalities, which are connected to prevailing tax regimes and practices. This situation is not only unjust but also feeds into the oligarchic threat to democracy. In this article, I propose a policy innovation aimed at addressing these challenges: the public disclosure of direct personal and corporate tax payments. I normatively ground tax publicity in (partly plebeian) republicanism, delineate its anticipated benefits, address potential objections, and outline a progressive policy design targeting the (super-) rich and multibillion-dollar companies. The article provides the first political theoretical analysis and normative defence of tax publicity.