Taxation is of crucial importance to politicians and political scientists. The question of how a government will raise its taxes and how it will spend them is a central political issue, which needs to be addressed politically. In this text, B.Guy Peters provides an introduction to the politics of taxation in the industrialized democracies. This perspective is comparative across the OECD countries, and draws on data from the OECD along with other sources. The narrative progresses through addressing and illuminating a series of key questions about tax policy and tax politics: Why do governments levy taxes?; which forms of tax can they use?; what do governments spend tax revenue on?; why do governments run deficits?; what political actions do people take concerning taxes?; and can the tax system be reformed? "The Politics of Taxation" is aimed at students and teachers of comparative politics, public policy and public finance. It should also be of interest to students of economics and law.