In my Foreword to Tax Litigation I remarked that notwithstanding that the resolution of tax disputes varies from country to country, the object of tax litigation is the same in all jurisdictions: to end the dispute between the state and the taxpayer. Tax Litigation Global Guide 2016/17 adds to what is in the earlier work on tax litigation. But do not misunderstand the book's title: it is more than just a guide to what takes place in a country's court; it is a guide describing how the taxpayers and the state tax authorities end up in court, which court, criminal or civil, and how they present their positions in courts around the world.

All this is done with questions and answers. Novel and quite a convenience to the reader who wants to narrow in on what he or she wants to read at the moment. At any particular time the reader may choose to review the whole chapter on tax litigation in Portugal or the reader may prefer, instead, to turn the pages to understand each country's approach to expert evidence at trial, for example.

Lawyers from 30 countries have contributed to answering questions put to them by the editors of Tax Litigation Global Guide. Topics include what current tax issues are taking up much of the court's time, tax offences that are criminal offences, the tax assessment and administrative procedures before getting to court, the trial process in both civil and criminal matters, who has the burden of proof, exchange of documents, vive voce evidence, and appeals, among other topics.

The authors and co-authors of Tax Litigation Global Guide have rendered an important service to those persons, lawyers, judges, academics, tax administrators and all persons to which tax litigation is their vocation or who are otherwise interested in the subject.

Gerald J Rip

March, 2016