scholarly journals Treasury I and the Tax Reform Act of 1986: The Economics and Politics of Tax Reform

1987 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles E McLure ◽  
George R Zodrow
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Tax Reform ◽  
Value Added ◽  
The United States ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Value Added Tax ◽  
Tax System ◽  
State Of The Union ◽  
Economics And Politics

During President Reagan's State of the Union Address in January 1984, he requested that Treasury Secretary Donald Regan prepare “a plan for action to simplify the entire tax code so that all taxpayers, big and small, are treated more fairly.” In response, the Department of the Treasury spent ten months preparing a report to the President that has come to be called Treasury I. This three-volume study explained the need for tax reform and the general directions such reform should take, provided a comprehensive set of proposals for reform of the income tax, and analyzed the feasibility and desirability of an American value-added tax. Following almost two years of public debate, the Tax Reform Act of 1986 became law on October 22, 1986. Though widely hailed as the most far-reaching reform of the nation's tax system since the 1940s, the 1986 Act falls far short of the promise of Treasury I. It is useful to devote attention to Treasury I, even though much of it failed to survive the legislative process. First, because Treasury I represented an attempt to formulate a workable tax system that closely approximates the economist's view of an ideal income tax, it is likely to condition future deliberations on tax reform both in the United States and in other countries. Second, the conceptually coherent proposals of Treasury I provide a standard against which to measure the hodge-podge of proposals that became law in the 1986 Act. Finally, a discussion of the decisions underlying Treasury I should prove informative to economists and political scientists interested in the process and substance of tax reform.

The Kennedy–Johnson Tax Cut of 1964, the Defeat of Keynes, and Comprehensive Tax Reform in the United States

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-61
Author(s):  
Seiichiro Mozumi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Tax Policy ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Tax Reform ◽  
The United States ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Tax System ◽  
House Committee ◽  
Federal Income Tax ◽  
Treasury Department

Abstract:In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson, the successor of John F. Kennedy, signed into law the largest tax cut in U.S. history until 1981, the so-called Kennedy–Johnson tax cut. Many scholars have evaluated it as representative Keynesian tax policy; this article focuses on the effort of the Treasury Department, tax experts such as Stanley S. Surrey and Wilbur D. Mills, the chairman of House Committee on Ways and Means, to reform the federal income tax system comprehensively—making it simpler, fairer, and more equitable—and their defeat by the 1964 tax cut. Through the policymaking and legislative process, the Kennedy administration’s Council Economic Advisers defeated the Treasury and Surrey by domesticating Keynes’s ideas on tax policy. Until the 1964 passage of the tax cut, Mills, with his inconsistent action, abandoned the accomplishment of their ideal tax reform.

Tax Expenditures and the Tax Reform Act of 1969 in the United States

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Seiichiro Mozumi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Tax Reform ◽  
The United States ◽  
Tax Revenue ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Federal Income Tax ◽  
Federal Taxation ◽  
The Government

Abstract In the United States, tax favoritism—an approach that has weakened the extractive capacity of the federal government by providing tax loopholes and preferences for taxpayers—has remained since the 1930s. It has consumed the amount of tax revenue the government can spend and therefore weakened the possibility of the redistribution of fiscal resources. It has also made the federal tax system complicated and inequitable, resulting in undermining taxpayer consent. Therefore, since the 1930s, a tax reform to create a simple, fair, and equitable federal income tax system with the capacity to raise revenue has been long overdue. Many scholars have evaluated the Tax Reform Act of 1969 (TRA69), which Richard M. Nixon signed into law on December 30, 1969, as one of the most successful steps toward accomplishing this goal. This article demonstrates that TRA69 left tax favoritism in the United States. Furthermore, it points out that TRA69 turned taxpayers against the idea of federal taxation, a shift in public perception that greatly impacted tax reform in the years to follow.

scholarly journals Is This Tax Reform, or Just Confusion?

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 73-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Slemrod
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Tax Reform ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Tax Base ◽  
Tax System ◽  
The Law ◽  
Jobs Act ◽  
Tax Cuts

Based on the experience of recent decades, the United States apparently musters the political will to change its tax system comprehensively about every 30 years, so it seems especially important to get it right when the chance arises. Based on the strong public statements of economists opposing and supporting the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, a causal observer might wonder whether this law was tax reform or mere confusion. In this paper, I address that question and, more importantly, offer an assessment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The law is clearly not “tax reform” as economists usually use that term: that is, it does not seek to broaden the tax base and reduce marginal rates in a roughly revenue-neutral manner. However, the law is not just a muddle. It seeks to address some widely acknowledged issues with corporate taxation, and takes some steps toward broadening the tax base, in part by reducing the incentive to itemize deductions.

scholarly journals The Double Irish and Dutch Sandwich tax strategies: Could a general anti-avoidance rule counteract the problems caused by the utilisation of these structures?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Danielle Thorne
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Current System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Tax Havens ◽  
Intangible Resources ◽  
And Control ◽  
Tax Structures

<p>This paper analyses the Double Irish and Dutch Sandwich tax structures used by large multinational enterprises. These structures enable companies to shift significant profits to offshore tax havens through the use of wholly owned subsidiaries in Ireland and the Netherlands. Application of the New Zealand General Anti-Avoidance rule in s BG 1 of the Income Tax Act 2007 reveals that any attempt to counteract these structures would be highly fact dependent. The paper concludes that it would be possible to apply the rule, but that there would be practical difficulties in relation to enforceability of the Commissioner’s ruling. A similar result was reached when applying the United States General Anti-Avoidance rule. The attempted application of the General Anti-Avoidance rules reveals a fundamental flaw in the income tax system. That is, the inability of the current system to regulate and control intangible resources and technology based transactions.</p>

scholarly journals Tax Revenue, Tax Reform and Government Expenditure: The Case of Nigerian Economy (1994 – 2017)

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Chinedu Jonathan Ndubuisi ◽  
Onyekachi Louis Ezeokwelume ◽  
Ruth Onyinyechi Maduka
Keyword(s):  
Income Tax ◽  
Tax Reform ◽  
Government Expenditure ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Tax Revenue ◽  
Value Added Tax ◽  
Tax Reforms ◽  
Level Of Significance ◽  
Excise Duties

The objective of this study is to empirically investigate the effect of tax revenue and years tax reforms on government expenditure in Nigerian. Tax revenue were explained using custom and excise duties, company income tax, value-added tax and tax reforms explained by the years in which reforms took place measured by dummy variables as proxies. In conducting this research, an annual time series data from central bank statistical bulletins and Federal Inland revenue Service of Nigeria spanning from 1994-2017 were employed. The data were tested for stationarity using the Augmented Dicker-Fuller Unit Root Test and found stationary at first difference. The Johansen co-integration test was also conducted and showed that the variables are co-integrated at the 5% level, which implied that there is a long-run relationship between the variables in the model. The presence of co-integration spurred the use of vector error correction model and VEC granger causality to determine the effects and decision for the study objective. Findings revealed that Customs and Excise Duties has positive (3.96) and significant (-8.38) impact on government expenditure at 5% level of significance (t=8.38>1.96), Company Income Tax has negative (-1.25) and significant (2.98) impact on government expenditure at 5% level of significance (t=2.98>1.96), Value added tax has positive (8.54) and significant (3.90) impact on government expenditure at 5% level of significance (t=3.90>1.96) and Tax reforms periods has negative(-3.52E+12) and significant (8.39) impact on government expenditure at 5% level of significance (t=8.39>1.96). The study thus concluded that tax revenue and tax reforms significantly affect the Nigerian economy with the direction of causation running from government revenue to government expenditure, supporting the revenue-spend or tax-spend hypothesis.  It was recommended while seeking to increase its revenue base via tax should also increase their expenditure profile to create a balance with the tax revenue and every other tax reform should be geared towards this balance.

Book Reviews

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 243-246
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Real World ◽  
Value Added ◽  
The United States ◽  
University Of California ◽  
Value Added Tax ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Many

Roger H. Gordon of University of California, San Diego reviews “The Rise of the Value-Added Tax”, by Kathryn James. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Explores the evolution of the value-added tax (VAT) from relative obscurity to one of the world's most dominant revenue systems, why countries have adopted the VAT, and why different countries adopt different types of VAT. Discusses the rise of the value-added tax; an introduction to the good VAT; an introduction to the many real VATs in existence; the conventional approach to explaining the rise of the VAT; moving toward an alternative approach to explaining the rise of the VAT; case studies on the real-world challenges of VAT reform in Australia and the United States; and conclusions on the rise of the value-added tax.”

scholarly journals Corporate Inversions: The Migration Of Corporate Tax Revenue

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1137-1144
Author(s):  
Joel Barker
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Tax Reform ◽  
Tax Incentives ◽  
The United States ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Tax Revenue ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Tax Revenues ◽  
Corporate Profits

Estimates of over 20 billion of tax revenue are lost to our economy because of corporate inversions. Therefore, lawmakers are actively exploring ways to stop the hemorrhaging of corporate tax-revenues, tighten restrictions on corporate inversions, and to find ways to collect on defer tax revenues. From a business prospective, corporate inversions are nothing less than prudent, innovative, business strategies to enhance corporate profits. However, it’s undoubtedly having a significant impact on U.S. tax revenues and ultimately reducing domestic investments. Ireland is now the most popular new home to many U.S. Corporations, especially within the pharmaceutical industry. The advantageous tax incentives offered by Ireland is a “no-brainer,” when compared to the heavy taxes levied upon domestic business. Since the Tax Reform Act of 1986, there has been no major tax reform to the United States Tax System. Despite the various proposals and recommendations made to address this growing economic issue, all concern parties are in consensus that the United States Tax System needs reform.

Individual Income Tax Erosion: By Income Class in Japan

1979 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-322
Author(s):  
Hiromitsu Ishi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
The United States ◽  
Tax Law ◽  
Major Conclusion ◽  
Tax Base ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Distributional Effects ◽  
Individual Income ◽  
Income Class

In Japan, as well as in the United States, the introduction of special provisions of the tax law has resulted in erosion of the tax base and tax yield. It is expected that tax erosion tends to destroy the equity of the existing income tax system. In this article, estimates of income tax erosion by income class for 1972 and 1975 are made from Japanese tax data. The major conclusion of this study is that the distributional effects of erosion of the Japanese income tax are quite similar to those in the United States.

scholarly journals How Progressive is the U.S. Federal Tax System? A Historical and International Perspective

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Piketty ◽  
Emmanuel Saez
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
The United States ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Tax Progressivity ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
The U.S

This paper provides estimates of federal tax rates by income groups in the United States since 1960, with special emphasis on very top income groups. We include individual and corporate income taxes, payroll taxes, and estate and gift taxes. The progressivity of the U.S. federal tax system at the top of the income distribution has declined dramatically since the 1960s. This dramatic drop in progressivity is due primarily to a drop in corporate taxes and in estate and gift taxes combined with a sharp change in the composition of top incomes away from capital income and toward labor income. The sharp drop in statutory top marginal individual income tax rates has contributed only moderately to the decline in tax progressivity. International comparisons confirm that is it critical to take into account other taxes than the individual income tax to properly assess the extent of overall tax progressivity, both for time trends and for cross-country comparisons. The pattern for the United Kingdom is similar to the U.S. pattern. France had less progressive taxes than the United States or the United Kingdom in 1970 but has experienced an increase in tax progressivity and has now a more progressive tax system than the United States or the United Kingdom.

Book Reviews

2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 192-193
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Tax Reform ◽  
National Level ◽  
Value Added ◽  
The United States ◽  
Consumption Tax ◽  
Senior Lecturer ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Empirical Context ◽  
American Case

Isaac W. Martin of University of California, San Diego reviews “Taxing Reforms: The Politics of the Consumption Tax in Japan, the United States, Canada and Australia” by Richard Eccleston,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Explores the politics of consumption tax reform in the four countries where the political resistance to such policies has been most acute--Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United States. Provides an overview of the contemporary literature on institutional and policy change and identifies a number of processes and mechanisms likely to be associated with comprehensive tax reform. Presents the empirical context for the book’s case studies and describes the rise and proliferation of value-added taxes over the course of the twentieth century. Describes the politics of consumption tax reform in Australia between the early 1970s and 2000. Considers the politics of introducing a national goods and services tax in Canada. Assesses the most notable exception to the trend toward implementing national level value added taxes among advanced industrial nations with an American case study. Identifies a number of occasions on which U.S. policymakers gave serious consideration to the introduction of a national value added tax. Eccleston is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government at the University of Tasmania. Index.”

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