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Reflections on Tax Reform
Bittker, Boris
Bittker, Boris
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Abstract
This is a time of trouble for the federal income tax. In accepting his party's nomination for the Presidency, Mr. Carter said: It's time for a complete overhaul of our income tax system. I still tell you it's a disgrace to the human race. All my life I have heard promises of tax reform, but it never quite happens. With your help, we are finally going to make it happen and you can depend on it. If the federal income tax has been converted since Mr. Carter's election from "a disgrace to the human race" into one of the glories of AngloAmerican jurisprudence, the changes have eluded my scrutiny. More likely, the President, like his predecessors, has discovered that tax reform is more appealing as a political slogan than as an agenda for action. Moreover, he prudently qualified his promise by telling his listeners that he would need "your help." Whether he referred to the delegates in the convention hall or to the nationwide television audience, he clearly has an escape hatch if sued for breach of promise. His performance was subject to a condition precedent that is not likely to be satisfied. Almost everyone wants comprehensive tax reform, but resistance to particular changes almost always outweighs this vague yearning for drastic programs.