The uneasy case for uniform taxation

Article Abstract:

Efficiency and fairness rationales alone do not justify the use of uniform or optimal taxation schemes. Tax policies are often assessed based on fairness, defined as comparable treatment of similar taxpayers, and efficiency, defined as minimization of economic distortions. Tax policy-makers must assess the costs and benefits associated with any changes in tax policy. Tax laws that treat different taxpayers differently may not actually be unfair or inefficient. Nonuniform provisions may be needed for administrative reasons or to reduce economic distortions or market imperfections.

Tax reform, Tax incidence

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The utility of the efficiency/equity dichotomy in tax policy analysis

Article Abstract:

Kenneth Arrow's Impossibility Theorem suggests that subjective judgments cannot be completely eliminated from any valuable system of analyzing tax policy. Arrow found that there was no model of aggregating individual preferences that would satisfy all social welfare criteria. This result suggests that pure efficiency analysis still has value judgments implicit to it and that the efficiency/equity dichotomy is of limited merit. The better approach is to acknowledge distributional justice issues explicitly in tax policy models such as the optimal tax model.

Models, Welfare economics, Distributive justice

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Community property with right of survivorship: uneasy lies the head that wears a crown of surviving spouse for federal income tax basis purposes

Article Abstract:

Application of rules of statutory interpretation to IRC section 2040(b) leads to the conclusion that the language is inapplicable to community property with right of survivorship. This would be consistent with the great likelihood that such property is not subject to section 2033. The result is neither half of the community property receiving the section 1014(b) fair market value basis step-up. Section 2040 should be amended to cure this problem.

Married Persons, Taxation, Laws, regulations and rules, Married people, Basis (Taxation), Community property

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