Tax rules encouraging excessive debt, complex financial transactions, poorly designed incentive compensation for corporate managers, and highly leveraged home ownership all may have contributed to the financial crisis, but do not appear to have been among the primary causes. Even without a...

Introduction -- The why and the what of taxing income -- The private sphere and te public sphere -- When is it income? -- Debt and certain other financial instruments -- Whose income is it? -- Expenses of earning income -- Tax shelters and tax planning -- Mixed business and personal expenses --...

Discussion of marginal tax rates (MTRs) on low-income households often ignores the significance of income-conditioned benefits such as TANF, Food Stamps, Medicaid, and housing vouchers, and fails to account properly for the payroll tax or the possible accrual of expected Social Security...

Shifting from an income tax to a consumption tax would offer major simplification advantages. Even if Congress created as many preferences and other special rules as under the existing income tax, the massive set of complications that relate to realization and to the taxation of financial...