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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Missing U.S. Vat: Economic Inequality, American Fiscal Exceptionalism, And The Historical U.S. Resistance To National Consumption Taxes, Ajay K. Mehrotra Aug 2022

The Missing U.S. Vat: Economic Inequality, American Fiscal Exceptionalism, And The Historical U.S. Resistance To National Consumption Taxes, Ajay K. Mehrotra

Northwestern University Law Review

Since the 1970s, economic inequality has soared dramatically across the globe and particularly in the United States. In that time, one of the obstacles of using fiscal policy to address inequality has been the growing myth of the “overtaxed American”—the misguided notion that U.S. taxpayers pay more in taxes than residents of other advanced, industrialized countries. This myth has persisted, in part, because of the peculiar and distinctive nature of the fractured American fiscal and social welfare state. Even a cursory review of comparative tax data shows that the United States, by most measures, is a low-tax country compared to …


Racialized Tax Inequity: Wealth, Racism, And The U.S. System Of Taxation, Palma Joy Strand, Nicholas A. Mirkay Apr 2020

Racialized Tax Inequity: Wealth, Racism, And The U.S. System Of Taxation, Palma Joy Strand, Nicholas A. Mirkay

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

This Article describes the connection between wealth inequality and the increasing structural racism in the U.S. tax system since the 1980s. A long-term sociological view (the why) reveals the historical racialization of wealth and a shift in the tax system overall beginning around 1980 to protect and exacerbate wealth inequality, which has been fueled by racial animus and anxiety. A critical tax view (the how) highlights a shift over the same time period at both federal and state levels from taxes on wealth, to taxes on income, and then to taxes on consumption—from greater to less progressivity. Both of these …


Nobody’S Stock Compares To Your Own: How Treasury Can Revive Stock Compensation In Cost-Sharing Agreements, Tyler Johnson Apr 2017

Nobody’S Stock Compares To Your Own: How Treasury Can Revive Stock Compensation In Cost-Sharing Agreements, Tyler Johnson

Northwestern University Law Review

In Altera Corp. v. Commissioner, the United States Tax Court invalidated a 2003 Treasury Regulation for failing to meet State Farm’s reasoned decisionmaking standard under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Invalidating this specific regulation eliminates one of the federal government’s latest attempts to limit income tax avoidance by some of the world’s largest and wealthiest corporations in the murky world of transfer pricing. This Note demonstrates that the Tax Court’s ruling must be limited to its specific APA holding and argues that Treasury may enact a similar regulation under the existing statutory and regulatory framework of the arm’s length …


Tax Cannibalization And Fiscal Federalism In The United States, David Gamage, Darien Shanske Feb 2017

Tax Cannibalization And Fiscal Federalism In The United States, David Gamage, Darien Shanske

Northwestern University Law Review

We began this project pondering a riddle. Most state governments have adopted what we—and many others—view as clearly suboptimal tax policies, especially in regard to the taxation of corporate income and capital gains. Yet, with the notable exception of those who oppose progressivity and the taxation of capital, state-level tax policymakers have had remarkably little appetite for reform. This Article provides one major explanation for this riddle by identifying and demonstrating a phenomenon that we label as “tax cannibalization.” We argue that flawed state-level tax policies derive in part from perverse incentives inadvertently created by the federal government.


Finding The Pearl In The Oyster: Supercharging Ipos Through Tax Receivable Agreements, Christopher B. Grady Feb 2017

Finding The Pearl In The Oyster: Supercharging Ipos Through Tax Receivable Agreements, Christopher B. Grady

Northwestern University Law Review

A new, “supercharged” form of IPO has slowly developed over the last twenty years. This new form of IPO takes advantage of several seemingly unrelated provisions of the tax code to multiply pre-IPO owners’ proceeds from a public offering without reducing the amount public investors are willing to pay for the stock. Supercharged IPOs use a tax receivable agreement to transfer tax assets created by the IPO back to the pre-IPO ownership, “monetizing” the tax assets. As these structures have become more efficient, commentators have expressed concerns that these agreements deceive shareholders who either ignore or do not understand the …


The Moonscape Of Tax Equality: Windsor And Beyond, Anthony C. Infanti Jan 2015

The Moonscape Of Tax Equality: Windsor And Beyond, Anthony C. Infanti

Northwestern University Law Review

No abstract provided.


Tax-Free Reorganizations: The Evolution And Revolution Of Triangular Mergers, Stephanie Hoffer, Dale A. Oesterle Jan 2015

Tax-Free Reorganizations: The Evolution And Revolution Of Triangular Mergers, Stephanie Hoffer, Dale A. Oesterle

Northwestern University Law Review

No abstract provided.


A Corporate Tax For The Next One Hundred Years: A Proposal For A Dynamic, Self-Adjusting Corporate Tax Rate, Adam H. Rosenzweig Jan 2015

A Corporate Tax For The Next One Hundred Years: A Proposal For A Dynamic, Self-Adjusting Corporate Tax Rate, Adam H. Rosenzweig

Northwestern University Law Review

No abstract provided.


Does Federal Spending "Coerce" States? Evidence From State Budgets, Brian Galle Jan 2015

Does Federal Spending "Coerce" States? Evidence From State Budgets, Brian Galle

Northwestern University Law Review

No abstract provided.


A Bundle Of Confusion For The Income Tax: What It Means To Own Something, Stephanie Hunter Mcmahon Jan 2015

A Bundle Of Confusion For The Income Tax: What It Means To Own Something, Stephanie Hunter Mcmahon

Northwestern University Law Review

No abstract provided.


Schedularity In U.S. Income Taxation And Its Effect On Tax Distribution, Henry Ordower Jan 2015

Schedularity In U.S. Income Taxation And Its Effect On Tax Distribution, Henry Ordower

Northwestern University Law Review

No abstract provided.


What A History Of Tax Withholding Tells Us About The Relationship Between Statutes And Constitutional Law, Anuj C. Desai Jan 2015

What A History Of Tax Withholding Tells Us About The Relationship Between Statutes And Constitutional Law, Anuj C. Desai

Northwestern University Law Review

No abstract provided.


Fitness Tax Credits: Costs, Benefits, And Viability, Daniel M. Reach Apr 2012

Fitness Tax Credits: Costs, Benefits, And Viability, Daniel M. Reach

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

As the number of overweight and obese Americans rises, it becomes increasingly clear that Americans need further incentives to stimulate lasting lifestyle changes. Tax incentives focused on exercise, which have been largely unexplored to this point, are an effective response to the growing obesity problem in the United States that would largely avoid the political opposition that tax policies focused on diet have encountered. In addition, they would also provide a more palatable solution for the taxpayer beneficiaries with a relatively low impact on government revenues. Viable tax incentives to encourage greater fitness include tax credits and sales tax breaks, …