Commentary: New York Times Investigation Highlights Failures in Taxing Income From Wealth
End Notes
[1] David Barstow, Susanne Craig, and Russ Buettner, “Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father,” New York Times, October 2, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes-fred-trump.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage.
[2] Ray D. Madoff, “Trump and the Failure of the American Tax System,” New York Times, October 11, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/11/opinion/trump-bezos-estate-tax.html.
[3] Chuck Marr, Brandon DeBot, and Chye-Ching Huang, “Eliminating Estate Tax on Inherited Wealth Would Increase Deficits and Inequality,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 13, 2015, https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/eliminating-estate-tax-on-inherited-wealth-would-increase-deficits-and.
[4] Roderick Taylor, “New Estate Tax Cut Encourages More Wealthy Individuals to Skirt Capital Gains Tax,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, May 17, 2018, https://www.cbpp.org/blog/new-estate-tax-cut-encourages-more-wealthy-individuals-to-skirt-capital-gains-tax.
[5] Tax Policy Center, T17-0180 - Share of Change in Corporate Income Tax Burden; By Expanded Cash Income Percentile, 2017, June 6, 2017, https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/model-estimates/distribution-change-corporate-tax-burden-june-2017/t17-0180-share-change-corporate.
[6] David Kamin et al., “The Games They Will Play: Tax Games, Roadblocks, and Glitches Under the 2017 Tax Legislation,” Minnesota Law Review, Vol. 103, 2018, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3089423.
[7] Zachary Mider, “How Wal-Mart’s Waltons Maintain Their Billionaire Fortune,” Bloomberg, September 12, 2013, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-09-12/how-wal-mart-s-waltons-maintain-their-billionaire-fortune-taxes.
[8] The gift tax is imposed on the gift-giver rather than the recipient, and the amount of tax is based on the value of the gift. Accordingly, a low appraisal value generates lower gift taxes.
[9] Chuck Marr, Brendan Duke, and Chye-Ching Huang, “New Tax Law Is Fundamentally Flawed and Will Require Basic Restructuring,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, August 14, 2018, https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/new-tax-law-is-fundamentally-flawed-and-will-require-basic-restructuring.
[10] Michael Moss and Kate Zernike, “THE 2004 CAMPAIGN: THE NORTH CAROLINA SENATOR; Campaign Releases Edwards’s Earnings,” New York Times, July 10, 2004, https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/10/us/2004-campaign-north-carolina-senator-campaign-releases-edwards-s-earnings.html.
[11] Chuck Marr, “JCT Highlights Pass-Through Deduction’s Tilt Toward the Top,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 24, 2018, https://www.cbpp.org/blog/jct-highlights-pass-through-deductions-tilt-toward-the-top.
[12] Ibid.
[13] “2017 Internal Revenue Service Data Book,” https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/17databk.pdf.
[14] Ibid.
[15] David Kamin, “Capital: Paths to a Fairer and Broader U.S. Tax System,” Washington Center for Equitable Growth, August 2016, https://equitablegrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/081016-kamin-taxing-capital.pdf.