ALAN ANDERSON TAIT, honorary fellow and former associate professor of economics at Trinity College, Dublin, died of cancer on October 19th at the age of 75.
Alan was born in Edinburgh in 1934 and educated at George Heriot’s School. He was then offered a place at the Edinburgh College of Art, but prudence prevailed and he decided to study economics at the University of Edinburgh.
After two uncongenial years in business, he was appointed to a junior lectureship in public finance at Trinity College, Dublin where he spent thirteen happy and formative years. He took to Ireland and it took to him. His artistic skills and interests were stimulated by the famous conversations at Trinity’s High Table. Here his appetite for culture was kindled and remained with him for the rest of his life.
On the professional side, his PhD thesis on wealth taxation was published and warmly received as an important contribution to a topic which had received inadequate treatment for a long time. This and other publications in the field of public finance led to his election as a fellow of the college in 1967. He was soon combining a heavy teaching load and prolific authorship with advising the Irish government and the then Confederation of Irish Industry. One of his early assignments was to travel throughout the country trying to sell the idea of Ireland joining the Common Market to a frequently sceptical audience. The happy Irish years were crowned by his marrying Susan Somers from Co Tipperary in 1963. They soon demonstrated at their homes in Ballybrack and Cherrywood a sociability and hospitality which continued throughout their married life.
In 1971 Alan was appointed professor of money and finance at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. This move coincided with the beginning of his long association with the International Monetary Fund in Washington, where he was to spend the second half of his professional career.
He joined the Fund's permanent staff in 1977 rising to be the deputy director of the fiscal affairs department and, subsequently, the director of the fund's Geneva office. As a fiscal economist, he was a leading figure in the provision of tax policy advice to countries in all corners of the world and it was in this context that he made a significant and lasting contribution. Currently, over 150 countries have a value added tax, a tax known only in France 50 years ago. The spread of this major revenue-raising machine owed much to its promotion by the Fund, and the leadership of AlanTait. His locus classicus, Value Added Tax: International Practice and Problemsis still a major reference point for any discussion of policy and administrative issues.
Throughout his career, Alan demonstrated his broad wisdom as an economist, his strong diplomatic skills, his exceptional charm and wit and his savoir-faire in the worlds of art, music and literature.
A true renaissance man in the breadth of his knowledge and his ability to draw on his wide reading and his experiences gained working throughout the world.
Retirement to Sandwich, Kent in 1999, finally provided time for the keen and talented amateur painter to pursue his life-long interest and his many friends treasure the results.
He is survived by his wife Susan, his son Anthony and his two granddaughters, Orla and Alice.
– JAB