Sean D. Ehrlich
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199737536
- eISBN:
- 9780199918645
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199737536.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Although all countries must tax their citizenry, wide variation exists in how this taxation is conducted. Countries have a wide variety of different types of taxes—such as income taxes, consumption ...
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Although all countries must tax their citizenry, wide variation exists in how this taxation is conducted. Countries have a wide variety of different types of taxes—such as income taxes, consumption taxes, and property taxes—and can create all sorts of exemptions and deduction and rebates that benefit specific activities or industries. Adding additional types of taxes or additional tax exemptions adds complexity to the tax code, and this chapter demonstrates that when a country has more access points, they are more likely to add this complexity as narrow groups push for specific measures that benefit only them.Less
Although all countries must tax their citizenry, wide variation exists in how this taxation is conducted. Countries have a wide variety of different types of taxes—such as income taxes, consumption taxes, and property taxes—and can create all sorts of exemptions and deduction and rebates that benefit specific activities or industries. Adding additional types of taxes or additional tax exemptions adds complexity to the tax code, and this chapter demonstrates that when a country has more access points, they are more likely to add this complexity as narrow groups push for specific measures that benefit only them.
Christopher P. Scheitle
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199733521
- eISBN:
- 9780199866281
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199733521.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter explores issues concerning the relationship between the government and Christian nonprofits. These issues include how the government treats Christian nonprofits within the tax code, ...
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This chapter explores issues concerning the relationship between the government and Christian nonprofits. These issues include how the government treats Christian nonprofits within the tax code, government funding of Christian nonprofits, and Christian nonprofit lobbying of the government on social and political issues.Less
This chapter explores issues concerning the relationship between the government and Christian nonprofits. These issues include how the government treats Christian nonprofits within the tax code, government funding of Christian nonprofits, and Christian nonprofit lobbying of the government on social and political issues.
Michael J. Graetz
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300122749
- eISBN:
- 9780300150193
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300122749.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic Systems
To most Americans, the United States tax code has become a vast and confounding puzzle. In 1940, the instructions to the form 1040 were about four pages long. Today, they have ballooned to more than ...
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To most Americans, the United States tax code has become a vast and confounding puzzle. In 1940, the instructions to the form 1040 were about four pages long. Today, they have ballooned to more than a hundred pages, and the form itself contains more than ten schedules and twenty worksheets. The complete tax code totals about 2.8 million words—about four times the length of War and Peace. The author of this book maintains that America's tax code has become a tangle of loopholes, paperwork, and inconsistencies—a massive social program which fails tests of simplicity and fairness. More important, our tax system has failed to keep pace with the changing economy, creating burdens and wastes of resources that weigh our nation down. The author offers a solution in which most Americans pay no income tax at all, and those who do pay tax enjoy a far simpler tax process, arguing that this is possible without decreasing government revenues or removing key incentives for employer-sponsored health care plans and pensions.Less
To most Americans, the United States tax code has become a vast and confounding puzzle. In 1940, the instructions to the form 1040 were about four pages long. Today, they have ballooned to more than a hundred pages, and the form itself contains more than ten schedules and twenty worksheets. The complete tax code totals about 2.8 million words—about four times the length of War and Peace. The author of this book maintains that America's tax code has become a tangle of loopholes, paperwork, and inconsistencies—a massive social program which fails tests of simplicity and fairness. More important, our tax system has failed to keep pace with the changing economy, creating burdens and wastes of resources that weigh our nation down. The author offers a solution in which most Americans pay no income tax at all, and those who do pay tax enjoy a far simpler tax process, arguing that this is possible without decreasing government revenues or removing key incentives for employer-sponsored health care plans and pensions.
Michael J. Graetz
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300122749
- eISBN:
- 9780300150193
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300122749.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic Systems
This chapter focuses on different groups of people who play a role in tax politics. One of the most important underlying dynamics of tax politics is the variety in levels of intensity that different ...
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This chapter focuses on different groups of people who play a role in tax politics. One of the most important underlying dynamics of tax politics is the variety in levels of intensity that different groups bring to the issue. Income tax, in particular, has become the conduit through which nearly all federal social and economic policies are attempted, be it by libertarian Republicans or by liberal Democrats. The chapter discusses the high-intensity people in tax politics, who are either the special pleaders or the would-be populists. The special pleaders are mostly corporations and industry groups. The would-be populists, more central to the debates of fundamental reform, have grown adept at channeling the low-intensity resentment of the public at having to pay taxes into high-intensity legislative campaigns that seek to reshape not only the tax code but the place of government in American life.Less
This chapter focuses on different groups of people who play a role in tax politics. One of the most important underlying dynamics of tax politics is the variety in levels of intensity that different groups bring to the issue. Income tax, in particular, has become the conduit through which nearly all federal social and economic policies are attempted, be it by libertarian Republicans or by liberal Democrats. The chapter discusses the high-intensity people in tax politics, who are either the special pleaders or the would-be populists. The special pleaders are mostly corporations and industry groups. The would-be populists, more central to the debates of fundamental reform, have grown adept at channeling the low-intensity resentment of the public at having to pay taxes into high-intensity legislative campaigns that seek to reshape not only the tax code but the place of government in American life.
Beverly Moran
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190882228
- eISBN:
- 9780190882266
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190882228.003.0023
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter discusses how the US tax code—like many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country tax codes—favors capital over labor, and thereby is at odds with fundamental ...
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This chapter discusses how the US tax code—like many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country tax codes—favors capital over labor, and thereby is at odds with fundamental tenets of human rights and policy principles regarding equity. This bias in favor of capital may not only be counterproductive in terms of its impacts on revenue generation and tax administration. It also entrenches inequalities and disregards the ways in which the human body, with its labor capacity, is the most essential “asset” on which most people rely. Therefore, labor should enjoy the preferences, such as the realization principle and depreciation, from which capital currently benefits. The chapter then outlines a course of investigation for further study including contrasting Social Security old-age pension and disability benefits, and exploring the consequences of shifting property to accrual accounting while providing the human body with generous depreciation deductions and tax deferral through realization.Less
This chapter discusses how the US tax code—like many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country tax codes—favors capital over labor, and thereby is at odds with fundamental tenets of human rights and policy principles regarding equity. This bias in favor of capital may not only be counterproductive in terms of its impacts on revenue generation and tax administration. It also entrenches inequalities and disregards the ways in which the human body, with its labor capacity, is the most essential “asset” on which most people rely. Therefore, labor should enjoy the preferences, such as the realization principle and depreciation, from which capital currently benefits. The chapter then outlines a course of investigation for further study including contrasting Social Security old-age pension and disability benefits, and exploring the consequences of shifting property to accrual accounting while providing the human body with generous depreciation deductions and tax deferral through realization.
Alan Auerbach and Kent Smetters
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190619725
- eISBN:
- 9780190619756
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190619725.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
In 1954, the nation’s tax code was reorganized and renamed, becoming the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. Three decades later, the Tax Reform Act of 1986 was so fundamental that US tax law was again ...
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In 1954, the nation’s tax code was reorganized and renamed, becoming the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. Three decades later, the Tax Reform Act of 1986 was so fundamental that US tax law was again renamed by Congress to be the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Another three decades have now passed since the United States undertook a significant reform of its tax system. The United States and world economies have changed substantially during these years, with increasing globalization and tax competition, greater environmental awareness, a growth in tax-preferred retirement accounts, increases in inequality and the college wage premium, an explosion of spending through the tax system (tax expenditures), a growing importance of non-corporate business, and a rise in government debt. This introduction reviews these developments, the volume’s contributions that address them, and the implications for future tax reform.Less
In 1954, the nation’s tax code was reorganized and renamed, becoming the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. Three decades later, the Tax Reform Act of 1986 was so fundamental that US tax law was again renamed by Congress to be the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Another three decades have now passed since the United States undertook a significant reform of its tax system. The United States and world economies have changed substantially during these years, with increasing globalization and tax competition, greater environmental awareness, a growth in tax-preferred retirement accounts, increases in inequality and the college wage premium, an explosion of spending through the tax system (tax expenditures), a growing importance of non-corporate business, and a rise in government debt. This introduction reviews these developments, the volume’s contributions that address them, and the implications for future tax reform.
Peter Frumkin (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226266268
- eISBN:
- 9780226266282
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226266282.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
This chapter considers philanthropy in the context of the public sphere and discusses the procedural guidelines, rules and regulations bearing on the administration of philanthropic assets in the ...
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This chapter considers philanthropy in the context of the public sphere and discusses the procedural guidelines, rules and regulations bearing on the administration of philanthropic assets in the U.S. It highlights the lack of government oversight on what kinds of causes are to be supported and explains that rationale for the permissive policy position of the government. This chapter suggests that tax code's inclination to support giving is that government sees private philanthropy as a necessary partner in the pursuit of public purposes. It also considers the parallels between giving the political speech and argues that while American philanthropy is shaped by government through regulation and the application of subsidies, donors are still in a position to set the terms of their relationship with government.Less
This chapter considers philanthropy in the context of the public sphere and discusses the procedural guidelines, rules and regulations bearing on the administration of philanthropic assets in the U.S. It highlights the lack of government oversight on what kinds of causes are to be supported and explains that rationale for the permissive policy position of the government. This chapter suggests that tax code's inclination to support giving is that government sees private philanthropy as a necessary partner in the pursuit of public purposes. It also considers the parallels between giving the political speech and argues that while American philanthropy is shaped by government through regulation and the application of subsidies, donors are still in a position to set the terms of their relationship with government.
Dwight M. Jaffee and John M. Quigley
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226496580
- eISBN:
- 9780226496597
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226496597.003.0006
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Econometrics
To further the goal of increasing homeownership, federal housing policy makes extensive use of credit and tax incentives. These activities involve substantial federal cost and risk. This chapter ...
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To further the goal of increasing homeownership, federal housing policy makes extensive use of credit and tax incentives. These activities involve substantial federal cost and risk. This chapter reviews these risks and estimates the value of indirect and off-budget activities supporting homeownership. The analysis emphasizes the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) mortgage insurance programs, and revisits their rationale and future role in light of the rapid rise and subsequent fall of the subprime market. Federal housing policy is executed through a complex array of institutions and programs, including the tax code, the FHA, and the Veterans Administration (VA). A comprehensive look at these programs reveals that off-budget policies primarily provide subsidies for middle- and upper-income homeowners and home purchasers, whereas programs subject to Congressional budget appropriations are directed toward lower-income and rental households.Less
To further the goal of increasing homeownership, federal housing policy makes extensive use of credit and tax incentives. These activities involve substantial federal cost and risk. This chapter reviews these risks and estimates the value of indirect and off-budget activities supporting homeownership. The analysis emphasizes the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) mortgage insurance programs, and revisits their rationale and future role in light of the rapid rise and subsequent fall of the subprime market. Federal housing policy is executed through a complex array of institutions and programs, including the tax code, the FHA, and the Veterans Administration (VA). A comprehensive look at these programs reveals that off-budget policies primarily provide subsidies for middle- and upper-income homeowners and home purchasers, whereas programs subject to Congressional budget appropriations are directed toward lower-income and rental households.
