It is argued that taxation causes three kinds of deadweight losses and two types of direct costs. The deadweight losses arise from substitution, evasion, and avoidance activities while the direct costs are administrative and compliance costs. Some of these social costs tend to be discontinuous...

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...

While policymakers struggle with identifying and enacting the appropriate short-term policy response to the financial crisis and economic downturn of 2008, 2009, and perhaps beyond, both academics and policymakers are examining the causes of the crisis and what lessons this might bring to bear...

Advances in genetic research promise to loosen the tradeoff between progressivity and efficiency by allowing tax liability (or transfer eligibility) to be based in part on immutable characteristics of individuals (“tags”) that are correlated with their expected lot in life. Use of genetic...

Attempts to answer whether or not TRA'86 simplified or complicated taxes by comparing data from surveys of compliance costs conducted in 1982 and 1989. Concludes that tax reform did not reverse the growth in compliance costs in the 1980's.

This paper seeks to clarify the extent to which the rule for providing public goods ought to correct for the distortionary cost of raising funds. We argue that, in evaluating public projects, the marginal cost of funds (MCF) concept must be supplemented by a symmetrical concept, which we label...

Attempts to determine how responsive capital gains realizations are to tax rates.