Friday, July 29, 2011

The Value of Tax Education

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Yes, I’m a fan of education, and I am an advocate for the value of tax education. Tax education is what I do with much of my time, teaching ...
Wednesday, July 27, 2011

User Fee Accountability

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A few days ago, in States Eye Fee Increases as Alternative to Taxes , two associated press writers shared a sampling of fees that had been a...
Monday, July 25, 2011

Tax Semantics

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First comes news that Grover Norquist described expiration of the Bush tax cuts as not a violation of his no-tax-hike pledge. He said, “Not...
Friday, July 22, 2011

No Tax Increases, No Fee Increases, No Roads, No Bridges?

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The Transportation Advisory Commission appointed by the governor of Pennsylvania returned with recommendations earlier this week dealing wit...
Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Please Let Tax Intelligence Trump Vote Pandering

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Please. Isn’t it time that people who step forward and offer themselves as public “servants” bring to the discussion a greater emphasis on r...
Monday, July 18, 2011

It’s Not the IRS, It’s the Congress

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Friday morning, listening to a sports-news radio station on my way home from the gym, I hear one of the commentators share a thought concern...
Friday, July 15, 2011

The Flat Tax Myth Won’t Die

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It is disturbing that the “flat tax makes tax simple” myth continues to be circulated, even among those who should know better. This isn’t m...
Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Julian Block: On the Road Again

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Like every traveler filled with wanderlust, Julian Block the tax author cannot sit still. He took a look at one of his books and decided it ...
Monday, July 11, 2011

Inflation, Indices, and Tax Visibility

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Friday brought some news about possible budget and debt ceiling solutions that demonstrates part of what is wrong with the tax policy proce...
Friday, July 08, 2011

Surprise! Congress Puzzled By Tax Code Complexity

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Last week, as reported in a United States Senate Finance Committee press release , the committee chair, Senator Max Baucus, convened a heari...
Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Are Three Years of College Enough for Law Students?

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Thanks to a posting by my colleague Lou Sirico on the Legal Skills Prof Blog , I found my way to an Austin-American Statesman article desc...
Monday, July 04, 2011

Freedom, Independence, Taxation, and Service

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Today is Independence Day, though most people refer to it as “the Fourth of July holiday.” Late last week, while reading a news report abou...
Friday, July 01, 2011

Taxing Stupidity?

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Last week, Paul Caron shared Dilbert: Let's Tax Stupidity So We Have Less Of It , to which I commented, “Five years ago, I discussed thi...
Wednesday, June 29, 2011

A Real-World Tax-and-Spend Challenge

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Here’s a real-world public finance and administration, tax-related problem. The problem is easy to describe, and difficult to solve. Last we...
Monday, June 27, 2011

When Tax Cuts Are Part of the Problem, They Ought Not Be Part of the Solution

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On at least two occasions in the recent past, I have criticized the Congress for contributing to the expanding budget deficit and for failin...
Friday, June 24, 2011

The Tax Consequences of Being Paid to Date

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Of the thousands or tens of thousands of readers who read the Philadelphia Inquirer article, Site is Pay for Play , perhaps I am the only on...
Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Realities of the Soda Tax Policy Debate

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As I pointed out in the update to The Broccoli and Brussel Sprouts of Taxation , Philadelphia City Council last week opted for an increase i...
Monday, June 20, 2011

Another Reason the Tax Law Needs Simplification

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The latest issue of the IRS Statistics of Income Bulletin (Vol. 30, No. 4) has some interesting information that suggests the deep flaws in...
Friday, June 17, 2011

The Broccoli and Brussel Sprouts of Taxation

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Last week, in It’s Back! The Philadelphia Soda Tax Proposal Returns , I included, among the many reasons the proposed Philadelphia soda tax ...
Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Who’s More Important in the Tax World? People or Machines?

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More than two years ago, in Just Because It Didn’t Work the First 50 Times Doesn’t Mean It Will Work Next Time , I criticized the revival of...