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Watching The Watchers: Preventing I.R.S. Abuse Of The Tax System,, Samuel D. Brunson
Watching The Watchers: Preventing I.R.S. Abuse Of The Tax System,, Samuel D. Brunson
Faculty Publications & Other Works
As a result of broad outcries against the incompetence and aggressiveness of the LR.S., Congress reined in its behavior, requiring it to focus on treating taxpayers as customers. Congress also created oversight bodies to ensure that the I.R.S. would comply with the new mandate. Though those oversight bodies face some difficulties - most notably, the unwillingness of Congress to adequately fund them - they nonetheless have proven effective at checking the IR.S. 's misbehavior with regard to taxpayers.
Congress has not, however been as solicitous to the tax law itself The I.R.S. can act in ways that violate both the …
Taxing Polygamy, Samuel D. Brunson
Taxing Polygamy, Samuel D. Brunson
Faculty Publications & Other Works
The tax law treats married and unmarried taxpayers differently in several respects. Married persons, for example, can file and pay their taxes as a unified taxpayer, with rates that are different than those that apply to unmarried taxpayers. This different treatment of married persons has elicited criticism over the years. Some of the more salient criticisms include that married persons do not necessarily function as an economic unit, that joint filing discourages women from working, and that the various exclusions from the joint filing regime—including gay couples—is unfair.
This Article looks at joint filing through the …
Mutual Funds, Fairness, And The Income Gap, Samuel D. Brunson
Mutual Funds, Fairness, And The Income Gap, Samuel D. Brunson
Faculty Publications & Other Works
The rich, it turns out, are different from the rest of us. The wealthy, for example, can assemble a diversified portfolio of securities or can invest through hedge and private equity funds. When the rest of us invest, we do so largely through mutual funds. Nearly half of American households own mutual funds, and mutual funds represent a significant portion of the financial assets held by U.S. households.
The tax rules governing mutual funds create an investment vehicle with significantly worse tax treatment than investments available to the wealthy. In particular, the tax rules governing mutual funds force shareholders to …