Behind Tax Policy Controversies: Social, Legal and Economic Foundations

Front Cover
Anthem Press, Apr 11, 2023 - Law - 166 pages

This book is designed to be a short, critical introduction to the controversies in tax policy. The main thesis of the book is that there is a deeper substructure to debates about tax policy that underlie many of the controversies. By understanding the nature of this substructure one can place the debates about tax policy into a broader perspective. The chapters in the book elucidate this underlying architecture, drawing on ideas from economics, law, philosophy, psychology, and political science.

Economic principles shape some of the foundations for the debates, particularly with regard to the question of whether income taxes should be structured with a broad base and low rates, and whether the appropriate base of taxation should be consumption or income. Legal and administrative issues provide another foundation for tax policy, as certain structural features of the tax system—the separate existence of corporations and the realization principle for income—constrain the set of feasible tax policies. To understand tax fairness, one must delve into philosophy and psychology. A key debate is whether we view taxation just through a purely distributional lens (who gets what) or must we think about notions of process and deservingness to make sense of debates on tax fairness.

The book uses these tools to shed light on these issues as well as on the most current debates. These include the appropriate goals for tax reform, the most judicious way to tax multinational corporations, our ability to tax the very wealthy, and whether the tax system has a racial subtext.

 

Selected pages

Contents

Preface
9
What are Tax Policy Controversies About?
11
The Rise and Fall of Classic Tax Reform
Should We Tax Income or Consumption?
Do We Need a New System to Tax Multinational Corporations?
Competing Perspectives on Tax Fairness
Is the Tax System Racially Biased?
How Can We Tax the Very Wealthy?
Looking Back Looking Ahead
References
Index
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Behind Tax Policy Controversies: Social, Legal and Economic Foundations
Steven Sheffrin
No preview available - 2023
Behind Tax Policy Controversies: Social, Legal and Economic Foundations
Steven Sheffrin
No preview available - 2023

Common terms and phrases

administrative apportionment assets billionaires broad base capital gains capital income Chapter companies complex Congress consumed income tax consumption tax corporate tax countries Court debates desert differences discussed disparate impact analysis distribution economic economists effective tax rates equity theory estate and gift example excess burden Facebook flat tax gift tax households income taxation increase individuals investment issues justice mortgage interest deduction multinational corporations OECD optimal tax ordinary income outcomes perspective philosophical political potential profits progressive tax proposals psychological racial raise rationale reduce returns revenue rich Saez savings share Sheffrin social statutory rates subject to tax tax base tax burden tax code tax credits tax expenditures Tax Fairness tax law tax policy Tax Reform Act taxpayers top 1 percent transfer pricing U.S. Constitution U.S. Supreme Court U.S. tax U.S. Treasury United wage tax wealth tax windfall Zucman

About the author (2023)

Steven M. Sheffrin is a professor of economics and affiliated professor of law at Tulane University.

Bibliographic information

TitleBehind Tax Policy Controversies: Social, Legal and Economic Foundations
Anthem Critical Introductions
AuthorSteven Sheffrin
PublisherAnthem Press, 2023
ISBN1839984937, 9781839984938
Length166 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Business & Economics / Taxation / General
Law / Taxation
Political Science / Public Policy / Economic Policy
  
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