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The Aches And Pains Of Transition To A Consumption Tax: Can We Get There From Here?, Daniel S. Goldberg
The Aches And Pains Of Transition To A Consumption Tax: Can We Get There From Here?, Daniel S. Goldberg
Faculty Scholarship
This article discusses probably the most significant obstacle to the adoption of a consumption tax: the negative effects on existing wealth that the transition from the income tax to most forms of a consumption tax would have. The Congressional Budget Office in its 1997 study posed the question, “How to Get There from Here.” The difficulty with transition and the changes in the tax law since the CBO study, however, prompt the more basic question: “Can we get there from here?” This article deals with this question by examining the effects of transition on existing wealth under a variety of …
The Cost Of Norms: Tax Effects Of Tacit Understandings, Alex Raskolnikov
The Cost Of Norms: Tax Effects Of Tacit Understandings, Alex Raskolnikov
Faculty Scholarship
Most human interactions take place in reliance on tacit understandings, customary practices, and other legally unenforceable agreements. A considerable literature studying these informal arrangements (commonly referred to as social norms) has a decidedly positive flavor, arguing that many, if not most, of these norms are welfare enhancing. This Article looks at the less-appreciated darker side of social norms. It combines an analysis of modern sophisticated tax planning techniques with existing empirical studies of commercial relationships to reveal a disturbing connection. By relying on tacit understandings rather than express contractual terms, many taxpayers shift some of their tax liabilities to those …