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Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in Law
The Federal Government's Power To Restrict State Taxation, David Gamage, Darien Shanske
The Federal Government's Power To Restrict State Taxation, David Gamage, Darien Shanske
Articles by Maurer Faculty
This essay evaluates the limits on the U.S. federal government’s powers to restrict the taxing powers of state governments. The essay revisits earlier debates on this question, to consider the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius and also academic research on the problem of tax cannibalization.
Tax Cannibalization And State Government Tax Incentive Programs, David Gamage, Darien Shanske
Tax Cannibalization And State Government Tax Incentive Programs, David Gamage, Darien Shanske
Articles by Maurer Faculty
States and localities offer businesses an enormous amount of tax incentives to locate within their jurisdictions despite: 1) the mass of evidence that suggests that these incentives are not particularly effective and, 2) substantial doubts about their constitutionality.
In this essay, we develop a new critical perspective on state tax incentives. We argue that offering these incentives permits states to offer lower taxes to more mobile businesses while keeping their overall corporate tax rates high. This is arguably not the best choice for the states, but it is definitely not the best choice for the federal government. Because the states …
Book Review. Deficits, Debt, And The New Politics Of Tax Policy By Dennis S. Ippolito, Ajay K. Mehrotra
Book Review. Deficits, Debt, And The New Politics Of Tax Policy By Dennis S. Ippolito, Ajay K. Mehrotra
Articles by Maurer Faculty
No abstract provided.
(Un)Appealing Deference To The Tax Court, Leandra Lederman
(Un)Appealing Deference To The Tax Court, Leandra Lederman
Articles by Maurer Faculty
The U.S. Tax Court (Tax Court), which hears the vast majority of litigated federal tax cases, occupies an unusual place in the federal government. It is a federal court located outside of the judicial branch, but its decisions are appealable to the federal courts of appeals. This odd structure, coupled with the court's history as an independent agency in the executive branch, can give rise to important questions, such as the standard of review that should apply to its decisions. In particular, should the courts of appeals treat Tax Court decisions the same as those of district courts in tax …
From Programmatic Reform To Social Science Research: The National Tax Association And The Promise And Perils Of Disciplinary Encounters, Ajay K. Mehrotra, Joseph J. Thorndike
From Programmatic Reform To Social Science Research: The National Tax Association And The Promise And Perils Of Disciplinary Encounters, Ajay K. Mehrotra, Joseph J. Thorndike
Articles by Maurer Faculty
This article uses the history of the National Tax Association (NTA), the leading twentieth-century organization of tax professionals, to strengthen our empirical understanding of the disciplinary encounter between law and the social sciences. Building on existing sociolegal scholarship, this article explores how the NTA embodied tax law's ambivalent historical interaction with public economics. Since its founding in 1907, the NTA has changed dramatically from an eclectic and catholic organization of tax professionals with a high public profile to an insular, scholarly association of mainly academic public finance economists. Using a mix of quantitative and qualitative historical evidence, we contend that …
Lawyers, Guns & Public Monies: The U.S. Treasury, World War One, And The Administration Of The Modern Fiscal State, Ajay K. Mehrotra
Lawyers, Guns & Public Monies: The U.S. Treasury, World War One, And The Administration Of The Modern Fiscal State, Ajay K. Mehrotra
Articles by Maurer Faculty
The First World War was a pivotal event for American political and economic development, particularly in the realm of public finance. For it was during the war years that the federal government ended its traditional reliance on regressive import duties and excise taxes as principal sources of revenue and began a modern era of fiscal governance, one based primarily on the direct and progressive taxation of personal and corporate income. Like other aspects of war mobilization, this fiscal revolution required an enormous infusion of national administrative resources. Nowhere was this more evident than within the corridors of the U.S. Treasury …
The Price Of Conflict: War, Taxes, And The Politics Of Fiscal Citizenship, Ajay K. Mehrotra
The Price Of Conflict: War, Taxes, And The Politics Of Fiscal Citizenship, Ajay K. Mehrotra
Articles by Maurer Faculty
Since 2003 American political leaders and lawmakers have been committed to the simultaneous pursuit of tax cuts and military excursions abroad. Just a few decades ago, when military hawks were also deficit hawks, such a position would have seemed incongruous. This essay reviews, War and Taxes, a provocative and fascinating new book that seeks to explain the apparent dissonance of recent American wartime tax policy. In contrast to conventional wisdom which presumes that wartime patriotism has always and everywhere trumped self-interest, War and Taxes shows that the history of U.S. wartime taxation is not quite such a heroic tale. By …
Anger, Irony, And The Formal Rationality Of Professionalism, Ajay K. Mehrotra
Anger, Irony, And The Formal Rationality Of Professionalism, Ajay K. Mehrotra
Articles by Maurer Faculty
No abstract provided.
"Render Unto Caesar...": Religion/Ethics, Expertise, And The Historical Underpinnings Of The Modern American Tax System, Ajay K. Mehrotra
"Render Unto Caesar...": Religion/Ethics, Expertise, And The Historical Underpinnings Of The Modern American Tax System, Ajay K. Mehrotra
Articles by Maurer Faculty
A variety of scholars and commentators have been recently exploring the connections between religion and current U.S. tax policy. The relationship between religion and American taxation, however, runs much deeper than our present period. Indeed, it is no coincidence that roughly a century ago the foundations of our current tax system were taking shape at the height of the religious and ethical fervor known as the Social Gospel movement. At that time, religious and ethical sentiments played a central, though ambivalent, role in fiscal reform. This Article investigates the influence of religious and ethical values on the tax reform struggles …
Forging Fiscal Reform: Constitutional Change, Public Policy, And The Creation Of Administrative Capacity In Wisconsin, 1880-1920, Ajay K. Mehrotra
Forging Fiscal Reform: Constitutional Change, Public Policy, And The Creation Of Administrative Capacity In Wisconsin, 1880-1920, Ajay K. Mehrotra
Articles by Maurer Faculty
In 1911, Wisconsin became one of the first U.S. states to adopt an effectively administered income tax. Wisconsin reformers were able to overcome several institutional barriers to create the administrative capacity necessary to assess and collect a graduated income tax that in time raised significant revenue, but did not supplant the property tax. With this limited success, the Wisconsin income tax soon became a model for other states and even the national government. In this sense, Wisconsin was a leader in forging fiscal reform. Political activists, lawmakers, and other government actors in the Badger State led a turn-of-the-century property tax …
Envisioning The Modern American Fiscal State: Progressive-Era Economists And The Intellectual Foundations Of The U.S. Income Tax, Ajay K. Mehrotra
Envisioning The Modern American Fiscal State: Progressive-Era Economists And The Intellectual Foundations Of The U.S. Income Tax, Ajay K. Mehrotra
Articles by Maurer Faculty
At the turn of the twentieth century, the U.S. system of public finance underwent a dramatic, structural transformation. The late nineteenth-century system of indirect taxes, associated mainly with the tariff, was eclipsed in the early decades of the twentieth century by a progressive income tax. This shift in U.S. tax policy marked the emergence of a new fiscal polity - one that was guided not simply by the functional and structural need for government revenue but by concerns for equity and economic and social justice. This Article explores the paradigm shift in legal and economic theories that undergirded this dramatic …
Commentary: The Tax Legislative Process -- A Critical Need, William D. Popkin
Commentary: The Tax Legislative Process -- A Critical Need, William D. Popkin
Articles by Maurer Faculty
No abstract provided.