Annually, the U.S. government collects nearly $3 trillion of income and employment taxes. With respect to these collections, Form 1040 (U.S. Individual Income Tax Return) seeks to ensure taxpayer accuracy. Currently, two sets of players dominate the Form 1040 preparation and submission process:...

This article examines the optimal level of tax compliance and the optimal penalty for noncompliance in circumstances in which the substance of the tax law is uncertain that is, when the precise application of the Internal Revenue Code to a particular situation is not clear. In such situations, a...

The public misunderstands many aspects of the tax system. For example, people frequently misunderstand how marginal tax rates work, misperceive their own average tax rates, and believe they benefit from tax deductions for which they are ineligible. Such confusion is understandable given the...

Federal tax law has long provided a tax benefit for charitable contributions of easements for conservation purposes. A fundamental problem with this conservation easement tax expenditure is that the measure for the tax benefit – lost economic development value – is erroneous. Use of such an...

Who is responsible for paying taxes to the government? Currently, the answer depends on one’s employment status. Employees enjoy the luxury of not having to think about tax remittance during the year because their employers withhold taxes from their paychecks. Non-employees, on the other hand,...

This Handbook entry presents a conceptual, normative overview of the subject of taxation. It emphasizes the relationships among the main functions of taxation—notably, raising revenue, redistributing income, and correcting externalities—and the mapping between these functions and various...

American emigrants face many consequences from the extraterritorial application of U.S. taxation and banking policies. Their names, addresses, and Social Security numbers are collected, placed on lists of “suspected U.S. persons,” and submitted to a “Crimes Enforcement Network.” They...

Congress last reformed the nation’s current tax penalty regime approximately three decades ago, long before the rise of big data and the advent of predictive analytics. With predictive analytics now gaining preeminence and its accuracy constantly improving, it is time for Congress to weave...

Among government agencies, the IRS likely has the surest legal claim to the most information about the most Americans:their hobbies, religious affiliations, reading activities, travel, and medical information are all potentially tax relevant. Privacy scholars have studied the arrival of Big...