highlighted the tricky mix of politics and tax. Add to that the

controversy over the proposed flood levy and the ongoing debate over the

Mineral Resource Rent Tax that claimed significant political casualties

under its former guise as the Resource Super Profits Tax. While it's

impossible to separate politics and tax, advises Judith Freedman, a

taxation law expert from Oxford University, an understanding of the

risks of speeding through tax changes is critical. Better processes and

institutions are required to educate politicians about taxation so they

become alert to the dangers of kicking around tax policy as a

vote-catching football, she suggests.