Provides a historical analysis of many aspects of this tax over the postwar era: revenues collected, the size of the tax base and the role of the exclusions, deductions, exemptions and credits in defining that base, tax exempt levels of income, and the overall progressivity of the rate structure.

We estimate the elasticity of charitable giving with respect to persistent and transitory price and income changes using a 1979–2006 panel of tax returns. Our estimation procedure allows for anticipation of and gradual adjustment to tax changes, controls for various potential sources of...

This paper offers an overview of the issues raised by disclosure of corporate tax return information by providing current and historical perspectives from the fields of accounting, economics, and law. It reaches a number of conclusions. First, we are concerned that disclosure of the entire...

This paper offers an economics perspective on tax evasion and abusive avoidance done by corporations. It first reviews what is known about the extent and nature of corporate tax noncompliance and the resources devoted to enforcement. It then addresses the supply side of aggressive corporate tax...

In the past year, the IRS has succeeded in attracting the attention of another group of folks interested in taxation-politicians-and out of that attention is likely to come a bill to restructure its operations. Although I like some of the directions the legislation takes, such as...

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In this paper, we evaluate and critique ten principal claims made in recent debates on the estate tax, distinguishing five types of statements: facts, rhetoric, value judgments, economic reasoning, and informed speculation. Economics cannot fully resolve the debate because economic knowledge is...

This paper explores one part of a 1994 Minnesota Department of Revenue field experiment designed to study the effectiveness of alternative enforcement strategies. Two letters containing different normative appeals were sent to two large groups of taxpayers; a control group received no letter....

Lists the 10 most frequently cited articles in the National Tax Journal's first 50 years. The often cited articles focus on state and local finance issues and the responsiveness of state revenue to economic growth. Also provides an index to volumes

This paper uses newly available data from the IRS to assess the distributional consequences of U.S. federal income tax noncompliance for the tax year 2001. We find that, when taxpayers are arrayed by their estimated "true" income, defined as reported income adjusted for underreporting, the ratio...