Telewinz said:
Even when everybody abides by the law, middle-income households pay more taxes than rich ones.
BS, look it up.
I did it's a DIRECT Quote!
http://www.askquestions.org/articles/taxes/Who Really Pays Taxes in America?
Taxes and Politics in 2004
By Cheryl Woodard, Executive Director
AskQuestions.org
Edited by Christy Harrison
April 15, 2004
AskQuestions.org is a public interest news site devoted to raising awareness
about urgent popular issues. People pose questions about a range of subjects
health, politics, economics, environmental issues and we collect public
comments and me too votes from other site visitors. We research the most
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public agenda.
1563 Solano Avenue, #108
Berkeley, CA 94707
www.askquestions.orgPage 2
CONTENTS
Why We Need A Fair Taxes Campaign in America...................................3
Who Pays Taxes? ....................................................................................3
The Tax Code Feeds Income Inequities and Increases the Problem of
Concentrated Wealth ..............................................................................5
Whats So Unfair About the Personal Income Tax?.................................7
The Estate Tax Increases Income Equality By Funding Public
Investments But Gets A Death Sentence in Washington......................8
Excess Social Security Taxes Paid by Working Families Fund Income
Tax Cuts for Wealthy Households and Corporations ...............................9
Cities, Counties and States Raise Taxes to Compensate for Federal Tax
Cuts.......................................................................................................11
Record-Breaking Tax Fraud Continues Without Any Significant Political
Response...............................................................................................13
Corporate Tax Incentives Fail to Produce the Promised Economic
Benefits.................................................................................................15
Practical Solutions to the Tax-Based Class War....................................17
References and Resources ....................................................................18
Figures
Figure 1: Richest Taxpayers Pay 33% Less Tax Than Average Households,
When All Federal. State, and Local Taxes Are Combined ........................... 4
Figure 2: The Corporate Share of Taxes is Half What It Was 30 Years Ago........ 5
Figure 3: American Wealth is More Concentrated Than Ever Before ................. 6
Figure 4: CEO Pay Outstrips Profits and Worker Pay....................................... 7
Figure 5: A Lower Tax on Investment Income Favors the Wealthiest
Households Who Own Most of the Nations Investments ........................... 8
Figure 6: Low and Middle-Income Households Pay More Social Security than
Income Taxes, and A Bigger Income Share than Rich Households Pay...... 10
Figure 7: The Tax Burden Is Shifting From National to Local Governments ..... 11
Figure 8: State Taxes Put the Greatest Burden on The Poorest Households .... 12
Figure 9: American 'Spend' More On Tax Fraud Than We Spend on Medicare.. 13
Figure 10: The IRS Audits Poor People Three Times More Frequently Than Rich
Ones................................................................................................. 14
Figure 11: The IRS Only Audits 7 Out Of 1000 Corporate Tax Returns ........... 15
Figure 12: US Corporations Pay the Lowest Income Taxes in The World ......... 16
Page 3
Why We Need A Fair Taxes Campaign in America
Fifteen years ago, socialite Leona Helmsley bragged, only the little people pay
taxes, but then she went to jail for tax fraud.1 Unfortunately, Helmsleys
statement is even more accurate today than it was at the time.
Tax fraud is estimated at $311 billion this year, more than the entire budget
for Medicare and more than last years revenues at Walmart or General
Electric. Most cheaters go unpunished. Whats worse, the legal tax system is
rigged to favor rich people and large corporations at the expense of ordinary
citizens and small businesses. Even when everybody abides by the law,
middle-income households pay more taxes than rich ones. And politicians keep
handing out tax favors to their campaign contributors at our expense.
A chorus of academics, journalists, and private citizens are warning that a tax
system favoring the rich fuels the growing concentration of wealth in America
and therefore threatens our economic growth and even our democracy.
Middle class spending is the growth engine in a free market economy, and
when taxes rob the middle class in favor of the rich, the economy shuts down.
Huge fortunes also produce political power that is hard to control. Thats why
all modern democracies use their tax laws to prevent excessive concentration
of wealth. And thats why we need a fair taxes campaign in America.
In this election year, both candidates are certain to say a lot of things about
taxes. But neither of them is likely to talk about fraud, favoritism and abuse of
power unless voters raise these issues and ask for reforms.
Who Pays Taxes?
The short answer is this: you and I pay the taxes that rich and powerful people
ought to pay, but dont.
In the year 2000 at the height of the last economic boom and before the
most recent round of tax cuts were enacted IRS data shows that the richest
400 taxpayers paid 27% of their income in federal, state, and local taxes. On
average, these 400 taxpayers each had taxable income of $151 million. All
other taxpayers had average taxable income of only $34,600, and yet their tax
burden was 40%.2
Political candidates always focus on income taxes. But we have to look at all
taxes people pay in order to grasp how our tax system has been quietly
1 Leona Helmsley,New York Times, July 12, 1989. Quoted in the Barlett and Steele
book (see resources).
2 IRS Report, Individual Income Tax Returns: Selected Items for Taxpayers with the
Top 400 Adjusted Gross Income, 1992 to 2000.
Page 4
transferring the tax burden from the wealthiest households to the rest of us for
the last twenty years.
Top 400 Taxpayers All Other Taxpayers
Average Taxes Paid in 2000
as Percentage of Income
(Source: IRS Data)
Federal Income Social Security State/Local
27%
27%
40%
Figure 1: Richest Taxpayers Pay 33% Less Tax Than Average Households,
When All Federal. State, and Local Taxes Are Combined
Journalists Donald Barlett and James Steele point out that this inequity results
from a political system that has been put up for auction: Over the last three
decades, Americas elected officials have turned a reasonably fair tax code into
one crafted for the benefit of those who give the largest campaign
contributions, enjoy the greatest access, hire the most influential lobbyists, or
otherwise exercise power beyond that enjoyed by average citizens. 3
Corporations have profited, too. In 1965, individual taxpayers paid 66% of all
US income taxes, and corporations paid about a third. But by 2, the
corporate share had dropped to 18%, just about half what it used to be.4
3 The Great American Tax Dodge, by Donald Barlett and James Steele, Little, Brown
and Company, 2000.
4 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
www.oecd.org.
Publishes statistics for the 30 member nations.
Page 5
34%
66%
18%
82%
1965 2000
Corporate V Individual Share
of Total Income Taxes Paid
(Source: OECD Data)
Corporations Individuals
Figure 2: The Corporate Share of Taxes is Half What It Was 30 Years Ago
A recent Congressional study reported that 63% of US corporations paid no
income taxes at all in 2000.5 Six in ten American corporations reported no tax
liability for the five years from 1996 through 2, even though corporate
profits were growing at record-breaking levels during that period.
The Tax Code Feeds Income Inequities and Increases the
Problem of Concentrated Wealth
Not since 1929 have so few people controlled so much of the wealth in our
country. In his new book, New York Times reporter David Cay Johnston reports
that between 1970 and 2000 average income for the top 13,400 households in
America increased from $3.6 million to nearly $24 million. Thats a staggering
538% increase. At the same time, the average income for 90% of US
households actually fell from $27,060 to $27,035. These 13,400 households
account for just .001% of the population, according to Johnston. 6
Income distribution in the United States is the most unequal among all
developed nations, according to OECD data.
5 General Accounting Office (GAO) Report to Congress, February 2004, Comparison of
the Reported Tax Liabilities of Foreign and US-Controlled Corporations, 1996-2000.
6 Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig our Tax System to Benefit the Super
Richand Cheat Everybody Else, by David Cay Johnston, Penguin Books, 2004.
Income table on page 38.
Page 6
$27,035 $23,900,000
$3,600,000
$27,060
Income Growth 1970 to 2000
(Source: Johnston)
Top 13,400 Households Everyone Else
1970
2000
Figure 3: American Wealth is More Concentrated Than Ever Before
Prosperity that was supposed to trickle down has instead flowed straight
uphill. Between 1990 and 2, the average CEOs pay increased by 571%
and corporate profits grew by 93%, while workers pay barely stayed ahead of
inflation. 7
7 United for a Fair Economy is a Boston-based Nonprofit group that publishes a range
of economic data. This report is an analysis of the annual CEO surveys published by
Business Week magazines.
www.ufenet.orgPage 7
CEO Pay, Corporate Profits,
Worker Pay, and Inflation
(Source: Business Week)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000
CEO Pay
Corporate
Profits
Worker
Pay
Inflation
Figure 4: CEO Pay Outstrips Profits and Worker Pay
Whats So Unfair About the Personal Income Tax?
Investors pay lower income taxes than workers. Roughly 85% of stock market
wealth is owned by 10% of American households and there is no logical reason
why income from those investments (called capital gains by the tax code)
should be taxed less than income from work. But the top tax rate on wages is
35% while the top tax rate on capital gains is only 15%. This rate structure
gives the richest households enormous advantages without producing any
obvious social benefit. If we reversed the favor and let workers pay lower tax
rates than investors then working families would have greater opportunity to
accumulate wealth.
Historians point out that more people moved up into the middle class during
the 1950s and 1960s and American wealth was much less concentrated
when the top income tax rate was 91%, impacting salaries and capital gains
equally.8 According to IRS data for 2, most American households earned
70% of their income from work and only 10% from capital gains. But in the
highest tax bracket, the situation is completely reversed.9
8 Barlett and Steele, page 263.
9 IRS Tax Statistics on the Top 400 Taxpayers,available at
www.irs.govPage 8
72%
17%
10%
70%
Top 400 Taxpayers All Other Taxpayers
Percent of Total Income in 2000
From Capital Gains v Wages
(Source: IRS data)
Capital Gains Wages
Figure 5: A Lower Tax on Investment Income Favors the Wealthiest
Households Who Own Most of the Nations Investments
Eliminating the special rate for capital gains taxes would reverse a major
inequity in the current income tax. And we could reduce rampant underreporting
of capital gains income by instituting automatic withholding, just as
we do with salaries.10
The Estate Tax Increases Income Equality By Funding Public
Investments But Gets A Death Sentence in Washington
The Federal Estate tax is the only tax that directly combats the problem of
excessive accumulation of private wealth. Public investments provide American
entrepreneurs with a literate work force, court-enforced property laws, and a
stable business environment, among many other benefits. The estate tax
recaptures some of those investments and makes them available to future
generations. Oftentimes, the assets in an estate have never been taxed.
In 2, only 52,000 estates (out of over 2 million deaths that year) were
large enough to pay estate taxes. Even though the heirs of rich families kept
75% to 80% of their familys fortunes, the tax generated vast sums for the
government. According to the analysts at United for a Fair Economy, In 2000,
the estate tax alone raised more than double the total amount of federal
10 Barlett and Steele
Page 9
income taxes paid by the bottom half of American taxpayers. 11 And yet the
tax is slated for extinction by President Bush.
Analysts across the political spectrum recommend keeping the estate tax. And
dozens of wealthy individuals, including Bill Gates Senior and Warren Buffett,
are actively working to reform but retain the estate tax. Gates, who is father
to the worlds wealthiest man, has recommended earmarking the proceeds for
public investments, like education, that create broad-based economic
opportunities.12 Buffett, who holds the worlds second-largest private fortune,
joined several hundred wealthy private citizens who publicly advocated against
the Bush program to eliminate estate taxes.
Excess Social Security Taxes Paid by Working Families Fund
Income Tax Cuts for Wealthy Households and Corporations
The government collects more Social Security taxes than it needs for current
benefits, and yet we face enormous shortfalls when the Baby Boomers retire.
David Cay Johnston reports:
From 1984 to 2002, the government collected $1.7 trillion more in
Social Security taxes than the agency paid out in benefits to retirees,
widows, orphans, and in disability benefits. Instead of investing that
surplus to pay for the looming retirement of baby boomers, as
promised, that money was used to pay the ordinary bills of the
government, making up for the taxes that were no longer being paid
by the rich because of the 1981 tax cuts created by Ronald Reagan.
The only way that the taxes Americans have paid in advance
for their Social Security benefits can be turned into retirement checks
is by a new round of taxes. Because their money is gone now,
Johnston says, people have lost not just what they paid, but the
opportunity to invest the money for themselves.13
Three quarters of US households pay more Social Security taxes than income
taxes. Employers deduct the tax straight out of each paycheck and send the
money directly to the Federal government. A middle-income household pays
9.6% of its income in Social Security taxes, while households in the top 1% of
income pay less than 2%.14
11 Winning Responses to Tough Tax Questions, by Marty Liebowitz, May 12, 2003
published at the website
www.ufenet.org.
12 Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why Americans Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes,
by William H. Gates Sr. and Chuck Collins, Beacon Press, 2003, page 137. Specifically,
they recommend linking estate tax revenues to college funding.
13 Johnston, page 118 and page 123
14 Congressional Budget Office, Effective Tax Rates.
Page 10
5%
8% 9%
10%
1%
2%
Lowest 20% Middle 20% Top 1%
Social Security Taxes, Effective Tax Rate
1980 and 2, by Income
(Source: Congressional Budget Office)
1980 2000
Figure 6: Low and Middle-Income Households Pay More Social Security than
Income Taxes, and A Bigger Income Share than Rich Households Pay.
Social Security tax rates have increased since 1980, while income tax rates
have been cut repeatedly.
During the last presidential campaign, both candidates promised not to spend
the Social Security surplus. And candidate Bush specifically promised not to
use the surplus to finance tax cuts. But as Johnston reports, thats just what
he did: In June 2001, President Bush signed his tax cut package that lowered
rates on the rich, eliminated the estate tax for one year, and gave more than
half of the $1.3 trillion tax cut to the richest 1% of taxpayers. It was a tax cut
that also promised years of budget deficits . . . and more raiding of Social
Security so that the middle class could subsidize the rich. 15
The Social Security tax only applies to income up to $87,000 and people
earning above that ceiling get a break from paying the tax.
Refunding excess Social Security payments now will not repair the damages
already done. But we could fix the Social Security system by taxing all salaries
equally even salaries over $87,000 that are currently exempt from the tax
and by investing the funds in real assets, not government IOUs.
15 Johnston, page 127
Page 11
Cities, Counties and States Raise Taxes to Compensate for
Federal Tax Cuts
When Congress cuts Federal income and estate taxes it ends up sending less
money to the states and each state has to make up the lost revenue
somehow. Most states have responded by increasing their sales and excise
taxes, or by cutting essential programs, or both. Many states have also cut
taxes for their best-off residents. As a result, people in every state are losing
libraries, childcare centers and fire stations, while paying higher bus fares,
bridge tolls and sales taxes.
The federal income tax, which made up 11% of GDP in 1965, now consumes
under 9% of the national income. Total taxes increased from 25% of GDP to
29% during those years, according to data from the Office of Management and
Budgets (OMB), but the burden has shifted from the national government to
the states.16
1965 2003
Federal and State Taxes Combined
as Percent of GDP
(Source: OMB Data)
Federal Taxes State Taxes
25% 29%
Figure 7: The Tax Burden Is Shifting From National to Local Governments
The Bush budget for 2005 cuts another $6 billion in federal support to states,
and yet public investment in education, job training, child care, the
16 Data comes from the Office of Management and Budgets (OMB) in the White House
available at
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/index.html, Table 15.1: Total
Government Receipts in Absolute Amounts and as Percentage of GDP: 1947-2002
Page 12
environment, energy, and research is already less than half what it was during
the 1960s and 1970s.
States rely on regressive taxes, like sales taxes, car taxes and property taxes
for their revenue. Because they impact everyone at the same rate, regardless
of ability to pay, these taxes take a bigger bite from modest incomes than
huge fortunes, even if the rich folks own very expensive property or buy more
expensive goods.
11%
10%
7%
Poorest
Households
(Bottom 20%)
In Between
(Middle 20%)
Richest
Households
(Top 1%)
Average State and Local Taxes in 2002
as a Percent of Household Income
(Source: ITEP Report)
Figure 8: State Taxes Put the Greatest Burden on The Poorest Households
Because state and local taxes are regressive, as one study recently reported,
only four states require their best-off citizens to pay as much of their incomes
in taxes as middle-income families have to pay. 17 Therefore, when we shift
taxes from the national government to the states, we are once again shifting
the burden from wealthy people to poor and middle class people. Raising taxes
and collecting more revenue at the national level and then passing the
resources back to the states would greatly increase tax equity in America.
17 Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States, by the
Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, January 2003. Available from them through
the group Citizens for Tax Justice at
www.ctj.org.
Page 13
Record-Breaking Tax Fraud Continues Without Any Significant
Political Response
If tax dodging were a business, it would be the nations largest corporation,
said journalists Barlett and Steele. The current $311 billion tax gap is the
equivalent of the total income taxes paid annually by all individuals and
families earning less than $75,000.18
If we simply collected the taxes cheaters are withholding from the system, we
would have enough to give a free college education to every child in America,
or to provide health insurance for small business employees, or to cut Social
Security taxes in half. It amounts to more money than we spent for Medicare
in 2003, almost as much as the Defense budget, and almost enough to pay
last years deficit.
Fraud v Other Expenses in 2003 (Billions)
(Source: Federal Budget, IRS Oversight Board)
$388
$375
$311
$246
Department of
Defense
Federal deficit
'Tax Gap'
(Fraud)
Total Medicare
Spending
Figure 9: Americans 'Spend' More On Tax Fraud Than We Spend on Medicare
Large corporations and rich individuals have greater incentive and many more
opportunities to cheat by understating income or shipping money to foreign
tax havens, by inflating deductions or claiming expenses that never existed, or
by speculating in the stock market and then not reporting the gains. People
18 Barlett and Steele, page 13
Page 14
with a job or a pension have no similar opportunity to lie about income or
evade taxes.
Unfortunately, as their biggest donors turned into the biggest tax cheaters,
politicians have reacted by handcuffing the tax police. Congress has
consistently under-funded IRS enforcement efforts and computer upgrades
that would catch more tax dodgers.19
Congressional misdirection of IRS resources is even worse than their failure to
properly fund the agency. Statistics cited by Johnston show that the IRS
polices the poor more than the richeven though the rich have greater
opportunity and incentive to cheat20
2.13%
0.69%
Working Poor Affluent ($100,000+)
IRS Audits in 2001 By Taxpayer Income
(Source: Johnston)
Figure 10: The IRS Audits Poor People Three Times More Frequently Than
Rich Ones
Corporate tax dodgers get off easy, too: in 2002, the IRS assessed just 22
penalties against corporations, a decline of more than 99% from 1993 when
2,400 penalties were imposed. Audits of corporate returns fell sharply from 26
per 1000 returns in 1997 to just 7 per thousand returns in 2003.21
19 IRS Oversight Board, FY2005 Report.
20 Johnston, page 134.
21 National Profile and Enforcement Trends Over Time, by the Transactional Records
Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. Available online at
http://trac.syr.edu/tracirs/newfindings/current/Page 15
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
S1
IRS Audits Per 1000 Corporate Returns
(Source: TRAC Analysis of IRS Data)
Figure 11: The IRS Only Audits 7 Out Of 1000 Corporate Tax Returns
The independent IRS Oversight Board recommends beefing up the IRS
enforcement budget, targeting the biggest cheaters first (not the smaller
ones), and modernizing or automating more of the IRS enforcement systems.
Others have also suggested de-criminalizing tax fraud, arguing that we can
catch more people and recapture more revenue if the penalty is a fine
instead of jail.22
Corporate Tax Incentives Fail to Produce the Promised Economic
Benefits
Corporate tax incentives have been used in the past to encourage socially
valuable behavior, like locating a factory in an inner city, for example, or
cleaning up pollution levels. But with corporate taxes already at their lowest
levels in history, there is very little room left for further incentives. In 2000,
only 8% (of more than 27 million American businesses that filed tax returns)
were subject to the corporate income tax.
Current tax law favors the wrong kind of corporate behavior. Global companies
can park assets overseas, for example, and evade taxes that smaller, local
companies still have to pay. Corporations can also justify excessive CEO
compensation and executive perks (like private jets) because the tax code
22 Barlett and Steele.
Page 16
makes those expenses tax deductible. Economists argue that the current tax
code encourages waste and fraudulent accounting.
Some claim that expensive US income taxes give advantages to foreign
corporations who pay less tax in their home countries, but the evidence does
not support this claim. Total federal and state corporate income taxes in the
US were less than the average for other developed countries.23
16%
9% 9%
10%
1965 2000
Corporate Taxes: US and Foreign
1965 v 2000
(Source: OECD data)
USA Others
Figure 12: US Corporations Pay the Lowest Income Taxes in The World
Corporate taxes that were common in earlier generations have quietly dropped
from public discussion. War profits taxes, for example, were once widely used
to offset the costs of war, to share the sacrifices fairly among foot soldiers and
financiers, and to prevent outright profiteering. 24 A recent issue of Newsweek
magazine called for reinstituting war taxes to finance the war on terror.25
Special windfall profit taxes were levied against companies in the past when an
unfair economic advantage resulted from unusual circumstances. For instance,
when the Arab oil cartel (OPEC) hiked the world oil prices in 1973, the US
government initially responded by setting price controls on American crude oil,
23 OECD annual report on taxes as a percentage of GDP.
24 Warhogs: A history of War Profits in America, by Stuart Brandes, University Press of
Kentucky, 1997
25 Six Fixes for the Tax Mess, by Allan Sloan, Newsweek April 12, 2004.
Page 17
but then switched to a windfall profits tax. The proceeds were earmarked for
energy conservation research.
Both candidates talk about corporate tax incentives, but before we consider
additional tax breaks for corporations, we should evaluate the effectiveness of
existing programs. Are we keeping jobs where we want them? Are we
encouraging openness with shareholders and employees? Are we rewarding
efficiency?
Many analysts recommend reducing corporate tax evasion, closing loopholes,
and increasing economic efficiency by making corporations pay taxes on the
income they report to stockholders, not a separate figure cooked up for the
IRS.26 Another recommendation: boost IRS audit rates for companies that use
aggressive tax avoidance tactics.27
Practical Solutions to the Tax-Based Class War
Warren Buffett has famously said, if there is a class war in America, my side
is winning. In his annual letter to shareholders this year, the billionaire
investment guru urged corporations to pony up on taxes, saying, "we hope our
[Berkshire Hathaway corporate income] taxes continue to rise in the futureit
will mean we are prosperingbut we also hope that the rest of corporate
America antes up along with us.
Another voice from the billionaire class, Bill Gates Senior, reminds us that
public investments in our courts, schools, transit systems, public utilities, and
research programs have pushed the United States to the top of the worlds
economy. No other investment scheme in the history of the world has been so
successful, says Gates. As taxpayers, we should take pride in the fact that the
US government is the worlds largest venture capitalist. 28
We can end the apparent abuse of economic power and political influence that
has led us where we are today, and get the economy growing, by revamping
our tax laws and boosting public investment with the proceeds. Beyond the
recommendations already offered, here are three key ways we can accomplish
this goal:
ß Increase Federal investments in the states, by providing funds for
universal public pre-school, for example, or by offering low-cost health
insurance for small businesses.
26 The Great American Tax Dodge, by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, Little,
Brown and Company, 2000. And also David Cay Johnston.
27 IRS Oversight Board, FY2005 Budget Report, March 2004.
28 Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why Americans Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes,
by William H. Gates Sr. and Chuck Collins, Beacon Press, 2003.
Page 18
ß Reinstate War and Windfall Profits taxes in selected circumstances and
invest the proceeds in an all-out public effort to reduce American
dependence on foreign oil.
ß Sunshine the tax code so that politicians must name the beneficiaries
from tax legislation they propose, and disclose donations received from
them.
Previous generations of Americans addressed the political problem of
concentrated wealth and power by actively breaking up monopolies, jailing
people who put undue pressure on politicians, and helping disenfranchised
people win the right to vote. This generation must find solutions appropriate to
our own times.
References and Resources
The Tax Policy Center (
www.taxpolicycenter.org) provides a wealth of tax statistics
and analysis.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (
www.cbpp.org) goes beyond taxes to look
at issues of budget priorities and economic development.
Citizens for Tax Justice (
www.ctj.org) advocates for poor and middle-income families.
Responsible Wealth (
www.responsiblewealth.org) is an advocacy organization headed
by Bill Gates Senior and Chuck Collins.
United for a Fair Economy (
www.ufenet.org) is a group working to preserve democracy
from the corrupting influences of concentrated wealth.
Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig our Tax System to Benefit the Super
Richand Cheat Everybody Else, by David Cay Johnston, Penguin Books, 2004.
Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why Americans Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes,
by William H. Gates Sr. and Chuck Collins, Beacon Press, 2003.
America: Who Really Pays the Taxes, by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, Simon
and Schuster, 1994.
Fuzzy Math: The Essential Guide to the Bush Tax Plan, by Paul Krugman, W.W. Norton
Company, 2001.
The Great American Tax Dodge: How Spiraling Fraud and Avoidance are Killing
Fairness, Destroying the Income Tax and Costing You, by Donald L. Barlett and James
B. Steele, Little Brown, 2000.
Warhogs: A history of War Profits in America, by Stuart Brandes, University Press of
Kentucky, 1997.
