This essay argues that state governments should act to reform unemployment insurance eligibility and benefits and the taxes funding these programs, to better cope with the budget crises caused by COVID-19 and the economic downturn

Recent reporting based on leaked tax returns of the ultra-rich confirms what experts have long suspected: for the wealthiest Americans, paying taxes is optional. Some of the country's richest have reported annual incomes that would be modest for a school teacher, even as the share of wealth held...

This essay consists of a press release and letter to Congress making the case for including the “Billionaires Income Tax” (BIT) in the final Build Back Better (BBB) legislation now before the U.S. Senate. Though the BIT was not included in the Build Back Better Act passed by the House of...

This draft report consists of revenue, economic, and constitutional analysis of the California Extreme Wealth Tax.A revised and updated version of this report is available here: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3924524

As legal and economic scholars from across the nation, we write to express our support for the New York Billionaire Mark-to-Market Tax Act ( S8277A / A10414 ) — the surest and fastest way to fill New York state’s ballooning deficit and ensure safety and security for all its residents.This...

We examine when it is optimal to employ sales or VAT-type taxes as complements to a labor income tax. We find a Ramsey-type result in which each tax instrument should be imposed in inverse proportion to the combined elasticity of real and avoidance responses to the respective tax. Contrary to...

In this essay, the first of a series, we explore the theoretical implications of one particular type of fiscal limitation on state legislatures - namely, special rules limiting tax increases. In this first essay we will explore the analytic soundness of these tax increase limitations (TILs). In...

This Article analyzes the literatures on how individuals understand taxation (i.e., tax salience). We evaluate how taxpayers respond to different presentations of tax prices both in their roles as market participants and as voters. We aim to combat naïve notions about tax salience that...

In this essay, the second of a series, we continue our evaluation of state Tax Increase Limitations (TILs) – special rules that limit state legislatures' ability to raise taxes, such as by requiring supermajority votes. We analyze two strategies whereby majority parties can evade TILs to the...

This paper considers a narrow but important question that has arisen in the literature on tax salience. Contrary to the predictions of neoclassical economic theory, a number of studies have demonstrated that, in response to certain presentations of tax prices, consumers do not always fully...