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investigation of the tangled U.S. tax system, which attributes its
complexities and inconsistencies to the conflicting aims of its many
creators.
"Overall this book is an indispensable source of historical information
and provides the structure necessary for meaningful discussions
of tax issues of concern to policy makers, academics and tax professionals."-Journal
of the American Taxation Association
The federal courts, the IRS, the private tax bar, and individual
taxpayers all struggle just to keep up with increasingly complex
tax statutes and regulations. The Failure of U.S. Tax Policy surveys federal tax policy in the post-World War II era, with special
attention to the last two decades, when it gained much of its complexity.
Tax attorney and business law professor Sheldon Pollack shows how
the tax policy agenda has been and continues to be influenced by
a wide assortment of players, from tax lawyers, the media, and private
interest groups and their lobbies to presidential contenders and
congressional "policy entrepreneurs," thereby shaping the development
of the tax laws.
"The Failure of U.S. Tax Policy is excellent reference material
for policymakers, analysts, economists, educators, and students
of national fiscal policy. Business, economics, and political science
professors would do well to place it on their required reading list."
-Perspectives on Political Science
"Pollack looks at tax policy in practice, especially the recent
history of tax legislation. He emphasizes the inherent political
character of any debate over taxes and observes that external events,
such as wars, have far more effect on how we are taxed than academic
theories. Scholars take note."-The Wall Street Journal
"The Failure of U.S. Tax Policy presents a useful and critical
account of the development and revision of the federal income tax.
It especially stresses inconsistencies, the lack of commitment to
clear principle-a problem long associated with interest group influences,
but grown worse under the changed economic and political conditions
of the 1980s and 1990s, all points that are documented carefully.
Many readers will find it to be indispensable as both a source of
factual information and thoughtful interpretation."-David R. Beam, Tax Notes
"This book has enormous intellectual and scholarly breadth. It
makes significant contributions to our understanding of tax policy,
political theory, and political economy."-John F. Witte, author
of The Politics and Development of the Federal Income Tax |
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