Tax Law Commons^™

The Fair Income Tax, Joseph M. Dodge

Joseph M Dodge

Abstract for: The Fair Income Tax

This article argues that the classic “accretion” Haig-Simons formulation of personal income, namely, an individual’s consumption plus net increases in wealth for the taxable year, not only was not actually advocated by Simons himself, but also is (in part) contrary to fundamental political values and raises unnecessary practical problems. Contrary to what is commonly supposed, consumption is best seen not an independent category of income, but only a deduction-disallowance principle. Likewise, the “accretion” notion of “changes in wealth” – requiring the annual valuation of asset values – is (mostly) impractical, psychologically unacceptable, and contrary …