European University Institute Library

Taxing ourselves, a citizen's guide to the debate over taxes, Joel Slemrod and Jon Bakija

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 471-521) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Taxing ourselves

bibliography

952943101

Joel Slemrod and Jon Bakija

a citizen's guide to the debate over taxes

To follow the debate over tax reform, the interested citizen is often forced to choose between misleading sound bites and academic treatises. Taxing Ourselves bridges the gap between the oversimplified and the arcane, presenting the key issues clearly and without a political agenda. Tax policy experts Joel Slemrod and Jon Bakija lay out in accessible language what is known and not known about how taxes affect the economy and offer guidelines for evaluating tax systems both the current tax system and proposals to reform it. This fifth edition has been extensively revised to incorporate the latest data, empirical evidence, and tax law. It offers new material on recent tax reform proposals, expanded coverage of international tax issues, and the latest enforcement initiatives. Offering historical perspectives, outlining the basic criteria by which tax policy should be judged (fairness, economic impact, enforceability), examining proposals for both radical change (replacement of the income tax with a flat tax or consumption tax) and incremental changes to the current system, and concluding with a voter’s guide, the book provides readers with enough background to make informed judgments about how we should tax ourselves. --, Provided by publisher

Preface -- Introduction -- An overview of the U.S. tax system -- Fairness -- Taxes and economic prosperity -- Simplicity and enforceability -- Elements of fundamental reform -- Consumption tax alternatives -- Starting from here -- A voter's guide to the tax policy debate -- Notes -- References -- Index