History of World Taxpayers Associations

World Taxpayers Associations was officially established on September 29, 1988, at the Foreign Press Club in Washington D.C.  13 leaders of Taxpayers Associations from all over the world had come together to establish World Taxpayers Associations (up until June 2000 named Taxpayers Associations International).

Taxpayers Association of Europe was established in Luxembourg in May 1969. It is a similar organization for the Taxpayers Associations in Europe. For the last ten years the President of World Taxpayers has been Deputy President of Taxpayers Europe and vice versa. Much of the focus of the Europeen Assocciation is on EU and Brussels. See www.taxpayers-europe.com

Founding Associations of the World Taxpayers Associations at the first public meeting in Washington D.C. were the following:

Australian Taxpayers Association (National Director Eric Risstrom), Austrian Taxpayers Association, Belgian Taxpayers Association (Jean van der Taelen), Brasilian Taxpayers Association (Jorge da Silva), Taxpayers Association of Finland (Managing Director Jaako Kari), German Taxpayers Association (Vice President Dieter Lau and Heinrich Schulster), Bavarian Taxpayers Association (President Rolf von Hohenhau and Dr h.c. Paul Stefan, Peter Eggen, and Rudolf Maier),  Japan Taxpayers Association (Senator Shigero Aoki), Luxemburg Taxpayers Association, Norwegian Taxpayers Association (Director Erik Stenbeck), Swedish Taxpayers Association (President Bjorn Tarras-Wahlberg, Chief Economist Hans Söderberg and Economist Danne Nordling), United Kingdom, USA: National Taxpayers Union – NTU (Jim Davidson, Chairman, David Keating, Executive Vice President, Rita Smith, Administrative Director, Jill Lancelot, Director of Congressional Affairs, Sheila Macdonald, Director of Government Relations, Sid Taylor, Research Director. USA: Iowans for Tax Relief (Jim Stein). USA: California Tax Reduction Movement (Joel Fox).

From the media: Second biggest newspaper in Sweden Svenska Dagbladets first page on October 1, 1988:

”Taxpayers of the World unite”, said Björn Tarras-Wahlberg in Washington last Friday.

His Swedish Taxpayers Association and corresponding associations in other countries established on September 29 1988 a Taxpayers International.

Besides the Swedish Association 12 more countries are founding members. Together they have more than a million members.

The Taxpayers International has seen the daylight. The headquarters will be established in Stockholm, the capital in the country with the highest pressure of taxation in the world.

Why an International Association?

Oppening speech by Mr Bjorn Tarras-Wahlberg at the establishment of World Taxpayers Associations at the Foreign Press Club in Washington D.C. September 29, 1988:

”The Taxpayers Movement has grown out of the desire of citizens to protect themselves from the increasing tax claims of the state.” This is the wording in the statutes for WTA. And I would like to use this as a basis for the speech, in which I will try to explain why there is need for co-operation over the borders and above the seas between different taxpayers associations.

The Associations, meeting here in Washington, do all have separate backgrounds and different experience. But all countries have had a constantly increasing taxation burden….

Looking upon the development during the last decades it will become evident that all the countries have experinced a tightening up of the total tax withdrawal. But the rate of growth has been very divergent. Worst it has been in Sweden, where we had a sharpening of taxes from 25,5 % in 1970 to 50 % in 1985 and to 56 % in 1990 (and 52 % in 1999, see Statistics). But also the taxpayers in Denmark, Finland, Belgium and France belong to those, who have met a similar development…

Learning and co-operation

Let me point out some other advantages with an inccreased cooperation between the Taxpayers Associations:

1. Co-operation gives strength. But we will never become stronger than the power by our individual associations in each country. Thus the associations in each separate country must try to do it´s best and grow in size and influence.

What we all have in common is the fact that we base the Associations on membership – either from private persons or enterprises or even both. To have many members is important and at the same time hard work. It is important because it brings in revenues and simultaneously influence and penetration. But it is hard work and often expensive to get new members as well as to keep the number of members at a high level.

We could simply learn from each other about different techniques for member recruitment. In the Swedish Association we have been taught by Finland to contract firms for telemarketing, which we now successfully are applying, but on the other hand – and with the experince we acquired from the start in 1921 – we have assisted the Finnish Taxpayers Associations as well as the German Association in their start in the 1940´s. These associations are today great and successful.

2. In Europe we could also learn from the fiscal political experience in the USA, to mention a clear example, the positive effects of the two fiscal reforms of 1981 and 1986. And we could also learn of new techniques of lobbying and public opinion influence from the Americans, who have been working in this field with great success.

People in low tax countries could learn from the experience of countries with high taxes, not to mention Sweden with the highest taxes in the western world. 

During the period 1870 to 1970 Sweden, next to Japan, benefitted by the most rapid welfare increase in the world. Meanwhile our fiscal pressure was not notably higher than in other countries.

However, since 1970 we have the lowest place of the 13 most important industrialized countries and ever since we have the highest fiscal pressure.

Taxation service over the boarder

3. We can olso give our mutual members legal help in tax matters. Wherever the Associations give their members this kind of service it could perhaps be extended when members travel across the borders. Since a couple of years the Scandinavian Associations have been cooperating closely.

For example more and more Swedes are working in Norway. When a problem arises about where the tax should be paid etc. our members can call the office of the Norwegian Association to get help. And since a long time many Finnish people are working in Sweden.

Thus, those who are members of the Finnish Association have a possibility to get assistance from the tax laywers of the Swedish Association.

The Association which does not give taxation service should of course not be praised, but wherever this is to be found this service is unique and an adequate argument for membership.

4. We can also help each other to a greater amount of knowledge about taxation systems in the different countries. The presence of an international organisation would facilitate this work and at the same time deepen the knowledge about the taxes in the world for all of us.

5. Finally, we ought to support the establishing of new taxpayers associations in the countries, where these are not yet found.

Dear listeners!

The world is shrinking more and more each year through improved means of communication. It is now time for the Taxpayers Associations in each country to join together; supporting each other in the important task to work towards lowered taxes and greater individual freedom for citizens in our different countries. Therefore, today, Friday September 29, 1988, let us now take the historical step into World Taxpayers Associations. I thank you for the opportunity to speak and please, the word is yours.  

Bjorn Tarras-Wahlberg  

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