"Money-Shortage," the Middle-Class, and Tax Justice: Federal Tax Reforms in the 1970s and the 1980s

Seiichiro Mozumi, Yokohama National University

This paper examines how and why federal tax reforms in the 1980s left the federal tax system standing on the "ability to pay" principle. To accomplish this aim, this paper focuses on the processes how and why the administration of Ronald Reagan (1) chose reforms of federal income tax system for cutting budget deficits while enhancing tax equity and (2) ruled out the implement of the federal value-added tax as a new measure to finance the federal government.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 14. Taxes, Business, and Society