Do We Have The Tools For Achieving Distributive Tax Justice?

James Alm ()

No 2403, Working Papers from Tulane University, Department of Economics

Abstract: By many accounts, income and wealth inequality has grown significantly in many countries in recent years, violating many peoples standards of "distributive" tax justice. How can tax policies serve as a tool to promote distributive tax justice? There is no shortage of policies that have been suggested, but many have little prospect of implementation. The purpose of this study is to discuss several policies that research has shown are both feasible and effective in achieving distributive tax justice, focusing on specific tax reforms that apply to the United States but that also apply in some form to most other countries around the world. If implemented, these policies would increase the taxes paid by the rich, reduce tax evasion by the rich, and decrease the tax burdens by the gender, race, and ethnicity of taxpayers, all of which would lead to a fairer tax system. Unlike many other suggested reform policies, these policies all work through existing taxes, they are all administratively feasible and effective, none of these policies raises statutory marginal tax rates, these policies are all broadly consistent with the standard "Broad Base, Low Rate" approach to tax reform, and variants of all of these policies apply world-wide.

Keywords: dstributive tax justice; inequality; tax reform; tax compliance; unit of taxation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D10 D63 H20 H24 H26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pbe and nep-pub
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http://repec.tulane.edu/RePEc/pdf/tul2403.pdf First Version, February 2024 (application/pdf)

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Journal Article: Do we have the tools for achieving distributive tax justice? (2024)
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