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Silent Tax Changes: The Political Economy Of Indexing For Inflation, Alan L. Feld
Silent Tax Changes: The Political Economy Of Indexing For Inflation, Alan L. Feld
Faculty Scholarship
The federal income tax adjusts many but not all of its dollar components automatically to account for inflation. In this article I analyze the benefits and burdens this process confers on some taxpayers and the political logic behind them. I discuss the choice of the proper index for making the adjustments, as well as the effects of the failure to adjust specific dollar amounts. I conclude that some adjustments have become overly generous, while unadjusted provisions suffer slow repeal, sometimes intentionally. Indexation thus can have the effect of tax legislation by stealth.
Misguided Relief: The Real Property Tax Addition To The Standard Deduction, Alan L. Feld
Misguided Relief: The Real Property Tax Addition To The Standard Deduction, Alan L. Feld
Faculty Scholarship
The push to use federal money for benevolent purposes occasionally produces more cost than benefit, particularly when the outlay comes in the form of taxes forgiven. The Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008 added a supplement to the basic standard deduction. A nonitemizing taxpayer may claim a deduction for real property taxes paid, up to $500, $1,000 in the case of a joint return. Initially, the change applied only to 2008, but subsequent legislation extended its life through 2009, and pending legislation would make it a permanent part of the Code. Although well intentioned, the real property tax provision makes …