Restitution of Overpaid Tax

In Woolwich v IRC [1993] AC 70 (HL), the UK's House of Lords held that taxes unlawfully exacted by the Revenue are recoverable by the taxpayer as of right. However, the torrent of subsequent litigation and commentary demonstrates that many fundamental elements of the Woolwich principle still remain to be resolved. Colossal amounts of money hinge on these issues. The essays in this collection explore these issues of restitution of overpaid taxes from various perspectives - including the tax background, various private law claims, alternative public law approaches, defenses, and remedies - and in the light of leading cases from various jurisdictions, such as Australia, Canada, the EU, Germany, Ireland, and the UK. (Series: Hart Studies in Private Law - Vol. 5)

Steven Elliott is a barrister at One Essex Court.Birke Hacker is a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, Munich.Charles Mitchell is a Professor of Law at University College London.