How many taxes for a liberal democracy?

Our society and economy are changing rapidly: Digital technologies, global mobility, and ecological transformation processes are increasingly shaping everyday life and economic activity. These developments are also reflected in the underlying tax system. More and more, consumption rather than income is becoming the source of tax revenue a trend that has been growing in Austria for the last decades. This shift is no coincidence but the result of international state tax competition, societal changes, and tax policy decisions over the past years. Yet even though this transformation is already underway, a systematic legal analysis of its consequences is still missing. This is precisely where the research project How many taxes for a liberal democracy? begins. Building on previous findings on the consumption orientation of the Austrian tax system, the following project examines: whether there are any legal limitations on how the Austrian legislator may design or modify the multi-tax system, which constitutional and European legal limits apply to shifts within that system, how a more consumption-oriented tax structure affects equality, distribution, social cohesion, and democratic legitimacy, and whether the legislator is required to adapt the tax system to changing economic and societal realities. The project thus addresses a central question for the future: How many and what kinds of taxes does a liberal democracy need and how must they interact to remain socially balanced, constitutionally sound, and resilient in times of crisis? The research projects provides a comprehensive legal analysis of the constitutional requirements for Austrias multi-tax system and develops a doctrinal framework that offers guidance to legislation, academia, and jurisprudence on the future design and composition of the Austrian tax system.