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Chapter 10: Tax Policy

Study

Summary

Taxation is one public policy that most citizens would prefer not to think about but one that occupies a good deal of their time (and money). It is also the subject of a number of myths, not the least of which is that the United States is a high-tax country. Taxation may be anathema to most members of the public, but it is the central means for government to obtain the money it needs to survive and to provide public services. In addition to simply raising adequate revenue for survival, tax policy is also used to attain a number of policy goals. The tax expenditures through which those goals are reached are among the most controversial features of tax policy. Though in some ways an efficient means of reaching policy goals, they provide benefits to some segments of the society that may appear unfair to those who are not able to benefit from them.

Although many people are dissatisfied with the existing structure of taxation in the United States, reform remains extremely difficult. There has been one major tax reform in recent history, but its success in making the tax system simpler and fairer appears to be further diluted with each passing year. The impacts of reforming capital gains taxation in 1997 are yet to be fully understood, and given wider stock ownership, the changes seem likely to have wider impact than would have been the case even a few years ago. There are few powerful political forces on the side of tax reform, but there are numerous forces attempting to use the tax system to feather their own economic and social nests. Even though most Americans are not keen on paying taxes, they would be more likely to tolerate, and comply with, a tax system that appeared fair and equitable.

Review Questions:

1. How do governments, particularly the United States, raise revenue? Identify and define the forms of taxation that governments can impose. Distinguish the forms of taxation employed by the United States from the forms employed in many European countries.
   



2. Identify and define the criterion used by governments when making tax assessment decisions.
   



3. Identify and define the significant tax reform proposals introduced in the United States from the 1980s through 2008. Additionally, identify and describe three alternatives to the current system of taxation in the United States.