Deep dives into tax policy — the laws, proposals, and reforms shaping the tax code, explained without the jargon.
I’ve blogged before about how the government uses tax as a method of altering taxpayers’ behavior. Different governments tax cigarettes, sweets and fatty foods and other “unhealthy” or “sinful” behaviors (remember PETA’s efforts to tax meat?). But what happens when the behavior being taxed isn’t so blatantly bad for you as cigarettes or alcohol? What…
After I wrote my piece on religion and taxes, I emailed the link to my priest, Father Kirk Berlenbach, at St. Timothys because I thought he might have some interesting perspective. He responded by posting a fairly lengthy comment which I thought deserved its own post. Here’s what he has to say… I welcome your…
And why does it matter on a tax blog? Consider this. You buy a house in the midst of a housing boom. Prices go up, up, up. Subprime mortgage mess hits. Other credit woes ensue. Housing market drops. As in plummets. And suddenly, your house isn’t worth as much as you thought. Sound familiar? It…
Susan Pace Hamill, a professor at the University of Alabama Law School (who also hold a seminary degree in divinity) has written a book entitled, “As Certain as Death” (Carolina Academic Press, 2007), that seeks to document how the individual states have tax policies that burden the poor and relieve the rich. This, she says,…
Congress finally made up its mind about the AMT – on the last day of business for 2007. The House voted 352-64 to “patch” the AMT. President Bush is expected to sign the bill, which the Senate has already approved. How long has it been? In June, the Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that this…
The IRS Statistics of Income Division has issued a request for paper for its 2008 conference to be held in Washington, DC. According to the IRS, general topics of interest include tax compliance, taxpayer burden, tax administration, and the nature and behavior of the taxpayer population. For example, we welcome proposed papers about closing the…
Bankrate, Inc. has published the findings of a national poll which found that 60% of Americans think that our current tax system benefits the rich. Of course, this comes as no surprise to most of us. You know that I already think that way, more or less. And so does Warren Buffett. What do you…
Maybe those couples who want more than two babies should pay for it. After all, each extra baby consumes more carbon emissions – and thus resources – during a lifetime, right? Associate Professor Barry Walters thinks so. He believes that families should pay a $5000-plus “baby levy” at birth and an annual carbon tax of…
Taking a page from Pennsylvania’s play book (resulting in JoePa’s salary making headlines), I wonder: Should universities (as tax exempt entities) be required to disclose the salaries of all of their employees? If not, should there be a dollar amount over which salaries should be disclosed? Would such disclosure influence your desire to donate?
Following up on yesterday’s announcement about the winning entry in my law student writing contest, I am pleased to present the entry which qualified as the runner up. Andrew Moin from Harvard Law School wrote an interesting essay on Fred Thompson’s Flat Tax proposal. Check it out below, and let Andrew know what you think….