TAX REFORM

On December 11, 2008 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders announced appointments to the Commission on the 21stCentury Economy. The mandate is to propose ways to modernize the California revenue system by April 15, 2009. The Governor is concerned with the “feast-or-famine” budget cycles, and Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg emphasized that the Commission is expected to provide...

I. Introduction I come not to praise behavioral economics and its relation to fundamental tax reform, but to bury it. To be more precise, I mean to bury the most commonly and particularly suggested application of behavioral economics to fundamental tax reform: using the insights of behavioralism to support proposals to promote individual savings through ad hoc, tax-favored vehicles. This may come as a bit of surprise...

1.INTRODUCTION Tax reform is a constant process in most nations as governments continuously revisit their tax systems in response to economic, social, and political forces. Domestic legislative processes involving national lawmakers may be the most obvious source of change in the tax system in any independent nation, but international events, institutions, and individuals—while comparatively much less studied—are...

ABSTRACT This paper assesses national and international responses to tax challenges presented by cross-border electronic commerce. Ten years after these challenges were first identified, a survey of national government reactions shows that many countries have not passed any significant tax legislation or administrative guidance with respect to the taxation of global e-commerce. This lack of action at the national level...

A funny thing happened on the way to fundamental tax reform: Nothing. Just a few short years ago, it looked as if we might have another great American tax revolt, akin to the one that started this country over two hundred years ago. Ronald Reagan had gotten the modern bandwagon started, first in California in the 1970s and later, from the White House, in the 1980s.[1] Politicians—like football coaches, investment...

A. Overview Serious long-term tax reform will need to limit the considerable tax advantages now available in owning the very largest houses and other personal-use properties. The primary return from the investment in residences and similar property is the rental value of the personal use of the house, which is always tax exempt. If the property appreciates, the gain from a principal residence is usually tax exempt....

It is my pleasure to be able to contribute to an issue of the SMU Law review dedicated to Charles O. Galvin. Dean Galvin has had a long career of honorable service to the law and more specifically, to law. He is associated with many ideas, prominently, the argument for a comprehensive tax base.[1] A comprehensive tax base is very good idea. Extending the tax base lowers tax rates. Divide the given revenue by a narrow...

The older I get, the less time I seem to have to read, or to pay attention to anything at great length. I presume, or hope, that this is because I am busy, not on account of any biological decline. In any event, I have learned since my first days of talking about tax reform to try to keep things short and simple, perhaps especially in such a complex field. Fundamental tax reform, the subject matter of these hearings,...

Abstract These are powerpoint slides from a presentation at a joint UCLA-Tax Policy Center Conference on Tax Policy in the Obama Era. The basic insight is that it will be difficult to raise significant revenue through the current tax system. Behavioral perspectives suggest that a series of small (or large) cuts, aiming towards a flattened rate structure – as we have seen in the Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush...