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Thursday, March 30, 2023
Harpaz Posts Two Tax Papers On SSRN
Assaf Harpaz (Drexel; Google Scholar) & C. Eugene Steuerle (City Institute; Google Scholar), Stanley Surrey’s Lasting Affect, 86 Legislation & Contemp. Probs. __ (2023):
Stanley Surrey is maybe greatest identified for his promotion of the idea of tax expenditures – the characterization of varied tax preferences as substitutes for direct expenditures. That emphasis understates his lasting affect on the tax coverage course of. An equally vital and lasting achievement was establishing and selling the integrity and professionalism of the Treasury’s Workplace of Tax Coverage (OTP), whereas garnering assist of a lot of the broader tax coverage neighborhood for basing tax coverage on the rules of equity, simplicity, and effectivity.
On this article, we focus primarily on historic developments within the idea and use of tax expenditures each in america and overseas. We offer particular consideration to the numerous function performed by tax expenditures within the motion that led to the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which is the kind of effort that Surrey championed. We relate tax expenditures to different base-defining measures resembling financial revenue, consumption, and talent to pay in each growth of that Act and inside the persevering with tax coverage debate.
Assaf Harpaz (Drexel; Google Scholar), Tax Coverage and COVID-19: An Argument for Focused Disaster Aid, 31 Cornell J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 235 (2021):
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a pointy international financial decline. By the top of 2021, the U.S. authorities responded to the downturn with report fiscal laws totaling over $5 trillion, which incorporates appreciable tax reduction. Most notably, the U.S. authorities distributed over $800 billion in three rounds of superior refundable tax credit (referred to as restoration rebates, or stimulus checks) to most households. Tax reduction has been unprecedented in scale however has typically been the product of political circumstances moderately than principled coverage design. Tax reduction thus stays largely undertheorized and politically motivated.
This Article examines the U.S. tax coverage response to the COVID-19 disaster, specializing in restoration rebates for people. It evaluates concerns for reforming tax reduction and proposes a number of adjustments for future crises. First, the Article recommends concentrating on credit to low-income households. This ought to be achieved by lowering section out thresholds and rising credit score quantities. Second, the Article recommends concentrating on credit to households which misplaced revenue. This ought to be achieved by implementing a recapture (reimbursement) requirement on the finish of the tax 12 months from households whose revenue elevated past the section out threshold, topic to a protected harbor. These proposals improve vertical fairness and effectiveness, permit elevated help to those that suffered essentially the most, and improve financial stimulus. Moreover, the Article explores arguments for common advantages and recurring funds. It thereby examines the extensively publicized debate on fiscal response to COVID-19 and suggests significant enhancements to tax coverage response for future crises.
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2023/03/harpaz-posts-two-tax-papers-on-ssrn.html
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