In addition to the usual range of local, state, and Federal taxes, the telecommunications sector faces a number of specific taxes and tax-like fees not faced by other industries. There is clear evidence that these sector specific taxes fail to satisfy the usual criteria of fairness, efficiency,...

Although the R&D tax credit is viewed, in part, as the equivalent to a uniform tax on all inputs, the effect is minimal (to the extent its effect is uniform across all inputs) and creates no substitution distortions. Shows that the current system offers a greater marginal incentive for R&D than...

Explores the evidence on how tax-favored savings accounts affect national saving. Looked at in terms of the traditional life-cycle model of savings, such accounts would not be expected to increase national savings; because of the limitation on annual contributions, the tax incentive might well...

Considers a number of tax policy issues related to the proposed legislation for resolving the thrift industry problem. Discusses the role that tax policy plays in two fundamental aspects of the legislation: Resolution of the current problem and restoration of the reserves of the thrift industry...

The need for deficit reduction has prompted several proposals for modifying the income tax deduction for charitable contributions. This paper combines aggregate tax return data with data on finances of individual nonprofit organizations and data on patterns of household giving to simulate the...

Surveys some results of current research on the social costs of smoking, abusive drinking, and pollution. Attempts to provide some background to tax economists, practitioners, and policymakers who may be unfamiliar with what health economists and other social scientists have to say about the...