Is the Federal Income Tax Code Unconstitutionally Vague
Year: 2013
Type: preprint
Abstract: Taxes are the price of living in a civilized society and no one disputes the right of the federal government to tax income. However, the federal tax code may have become so complicated that it is unconstitutionally vague. A law is unconstitutionally vague when a person of ordinary intelligence cannot determine what is required of him or her. There is a presumption that laws are constitutional and that presumption can only be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence. However, there is a broad and deep body of clear and convincing evidence that the tax code is so complex that it is unconstitutionally vague. The contribution of this article is to create a record of tax code complexity that can be used as the basis for judicial action.
Source: SSRN Electronic Journal
Author: David E. Vance
Institution: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1539441203