How America Was Tricked On Tax Policy

How America was Tricked on Tax Policy explains how regular citizens were “tricked” by the outdated view of economists that much heavier taxation of labor rather than capital is economically justifiable. The truth is that workers pay their taxes while the rich pay very little. Based on reputable sources of information, including publications of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), official statistics data, and the publications in high-ranked journals, the book paves the way for a new policy-making process aimed to achieve more sustainable taxation and to increase the wellbeing of citizens as the main goal of any modern state policy. Dealing with critically important and underexplored topics in tax policy, the book challenges an enshrined dogma that is rarely challenged at the level of policy. In doing so, this book envisions policy changes that could be highly impactful in a new political administration. This book proposes that governments should look for not just corporate income tax rate reduction when announcing their tax reforms but should equally focus on the reduction of the overall tax burden on labor. The negative impact and high social cost of wage taxation is exemplified by the key areas of tax policy that are relevant for every wealthy state, such as taking due care of public health, investing in education and wellbeing of children, and supporting small business for the overall benefit to society. The book compellingly argues how tax policy could be improved by incorporating science and scientific methods.

A critique of federal individual income tax policy, and a proposalfor overhauling the system that will appeal to ordinary citizens, liberalsand conservatives, as well as to experts.

How the antitax fringe went mainstream—and now threatens America’s future The postwar United States enjoyed large, widely distributed economic rewards—and most Americans accepted that taxes were a reasonable price to pay for living in a society of shared prosperity. Then in 1978 California enacted Proposition 13, a property tax cap that Ronald Reagan hailed as a “second American Revolution,” setting off an antitax, antigovernment wave that has transformed American politics and economic policy. In The Power to Destroy, Michael Graetz tells the story of the antitax movement and how it holds America hostage—undermining the nation’s ability to meet basic needs and fix critical problems. In 1819, Chief Justice John Marshall declared that the power to tax entails “the power to destroy.” But The Power to Destroy argues that tax opponents now wield this destructive power. Attacking the IRS, protecting tax loopholes, and pushing tax cuts from Reagan to Donald Trump, the antitax movement is threatening the nation’s social safety net, increasing inequality, ballooning the national debt, and sapping America’s financial strength. The book chronicles how the movement originated as a fringe enterprise promoted by zealous outsiders using false economic claims and thinly veiled racist rhetoric, and how—abetted by conservative media and Grover Norquist’s “taxpayer protection pledge"—it evolved into a mainstream political force. The important story of how the antitax movement came to dominate and distort politics, and how it impedes rational budgeting, equality, and opportunities, The Power to Destroy is essential reading for understanding American life today.

“The American taxpayer”—angered by government waste and satisfied only with spending cuts—has preoccupied elected officials and political commentators since the Reagan Revolution. But resistance to progressive taxation has older, deeper roots. American Tax Resisters presents the full history of the American anti-tax movement that has defended the pursuit of limited taxes on wealth and battled efforts to secure social justice through income redistribution for the past 150 years. From the Tea Party to the Koch brothers, the major players in today’s anti-tax crusade emerge in Romain Huret’s account as the heirs of a formidable—and far from ephemeral—political movement. Diverse coalitions of Americans have rallied around the flag of tax opposition since the Civil War, their grievances fueled by a determination to defend private life against government intrusion and a steadfast belief in the economic benefits and just rewards of untaxed income. Local tax resisters were actively mobilized by business and corporate interests throughout the early twentieth century, undeterred by such setbacks as the Sixteenth Amendment establishing a federal income tax. Zealously petitioning Congress and chipping at the edges of progressive tax policies, they bequeathed hard-won experience to younger generations of conservatives in their pursuit of laissez-faire capitalism. Capturing the decisive moments in U.S. history when tax resisters convinced a majority of Americans to join their crusade, Romain Huret explains how a once marginal ideology became mainstream, elevating economic success and individual entrepreneurialism over social sacrifice and solidarity.

Authoritative and readable, this book is the first historical overview of US federal tax systems published since 1967. Its coverage extends from the ratification of the Constitution to the present day. Brownlee describes the five principal stages of federal taxation in relation to the crises that led to their adoption - the formation of the republic, the Civil War, World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II - and discusses the significant modification during the Reagan presidency of the last stage. Brownlee also addresses the proposals made since the fall of 1994 congressional elections under the 'Contract with America' and competing schemes, and he assesses today's conditions for a tax revolution in the light of the national emergencies that have produced revolutions in the past. While focusing on federal policy, Brownlee also attends to the related history of state and local taxation.

This fifth edition of Federal Tax Policy, like its predecessors, is intended to explain such issues so that the interested citizen may better understand and contribute to public discussion of tax policy. This edition reflects tax developments between 1983 and 1987 and emphasizes the newer issues: comprehensive income taxation, the effects of taxation on economic incentives, inflation adjustments for income tax purposes, the relative merits of graduated income taxes and expenditure taxes, and changes in the fiscal relations between the federal and the state and local governments.

This new edition captures the evolving, post-pandemic landscape of family policy—the transformational changes that have occurred within contemporary families and the social, economic, and racial/ethnic disparities that have grown across families. The book draws on policies from around the globe to make an evidence-based case for family policy and its contributions to families and to society. Bogenschneider tackles a significant challenge of our times—the polarization of politics—including why it occurs and how professionals can bridge the divide. Beyond the basics, the book provides best practices for turning analysis into action by drawing on cutting-edge research and a point of view often overlooked in policy books—the voice of policymakers themselves. Imbued with hope yet fundamentally realistic, Bogenschneider applies a relationship-based and strikingly nonpartisan approach for those who want to make a positive difference for families, whether they engage local policymakers in towns, cities and counties; state/national lawmakers; or decision-makers in businesses, nonprofits and philanthropy. Accompanied by updated, web-based teaching materials and a family impact toolkit, this is core reading for undergraduate and/or graduate courses in family or social policy taught in human development and family studies, psychology, counseling, social work, sociology, public policy, political science, and education. It is also essential reading for professionals and policymakers interested in pursuing better public policy for families in all their diversity across the lifespan.