Annotated Bibliography – Blue

-, M. R., -, Mousumi Royhttps://www.valuewalk.com/Mousumi Roy is an author, Roy, M., & author, M. R. is an. (2020, September 30). Eliminating tax loopholes that benefit corporations and wealthy individuals. ValueWalk. Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://www.valuewalk.com/2020/09/threat-of-taxation/

Background: This article goes into detail about the history found behind the race to pay less taxes between the extremely wealthy and the middle class. As it seems, the middle class is much less interested in taxes than the wealthy. Presumably because the wealthy have a lot more to gain from using tax loopholes and a lot more accessible methods,they take advantage much more. With wealth comes power and influence. The upper class is able to influence government policies and such for their gain, leading to everyone else footing the bill. A collective effort of the middle class to stop this would be necessary, but because of the complete lack of interest in the topic, it is extremely unlikely. Other factors have also skewed this “race” in the wealthy’s favor, such as the weakening of workers unions. The solution is to turn to the IRS, which could be the answer to stop the wealthy from using tax loopholes. If more revenue is in play from the rich, the pinch would be significantly less for the middle class. Unfortunately, the IRS is underfunded and neglected because the rich have a lot of say in how much the IRS is funded.

How I used it: To emphasize to the reader the basis of why the wealthy use tax loopholes, why the general public does not, and I used some information about the underfunding of the IRS as well.

Mckenna, J. (1963). Tax loopholes: A procedural proposal – JSTOR. Jstor. Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/41791049

Background: This source is about many different methods that can be used to dodge taxes, whether they are taking advantage of returns, offshore accounts, and many more. This book provides a lot of significant data on what people define as a tax loophole and the amount of money that is lost because of it.

How I used it: To further my own understanding of what is going on with tax evasion and use of other loopholes, as well as bring more examples of where all of that missing revenue has gone to emphasize the severity of the current situation to the reader.

Edelberg, W., Lee, E., Estep, S., & Bober, M. (2022, March 9). Tax reforms to raise revenue efficiently and equitably. Brookings. Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2021/04/28/tax-reforms-to-raise-revenue-efficiently-and-equitably/

Background: This article is about some potential solutions to the issue. Some of the most notable solutions are taxing inheritance as income, raising multinational corporations taxation rate, and funding the IRS. The first two are very notable ways that wealthy individuals have been getting out of taxes. All of these solutions would increase the government’s income and balance out the disproportionalities between wealthy and middle class. 

How I used it: I took advantage of the information in their third solution, funding the IRS, to find reasons as to why increased funding of the IRS would be beneficial to the general public. It also gave me a lot of valuable statistics about the IRS to choose from.

Au advises IRS to close voucher funding loophole in Tax Code. Americans United. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://www.au.org/the-latest/church-and-state/articles/au-advises-irs-to-close-voucher-funding

Background: This article is about a very prominent tax loophole, where wealthy individuals are able to donate to private schools, receive all their money back, and then get extra money off their tax forms.

How I used it: To emphasize what a tax loophole can look like and how destructive a tax loophole can be, particularly to public services such as schools, police stations, et cetera.

Waddell, M. (2022, January 27). Senators press yellen to boost IRS funding. ThinkAdvisor. Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2022/01/27/senators-press-yellen-to-boost-irs-funding

Background: This was my most useful article. It gave a ton of statistics about the IRS’s underfunding issue and some examples of past legislation to fund the IRS that have failed.

How I used it: To emphasize what role congress plays in this scenario, and give some useful statistics about how underfunded the IRS is to drive my points home.

Responsible officials definition of problem. taxpayer advocate. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Most-Serious-Problems-The-Preservation-of-Fundamental-Taxpayer-Rights-Is-Critical-as-the-IRS-Develops-a-Real-Time-Tax-System.pdf

Background: An article outlining the most serious issues with the IRS currently. Gives a lot of good statistics on how the average taxpayer can benefit with an IRS with a higher budget.

How I used it: Used in my rebuttal argument mostly to persuade the reader to agree with my argument and show them some ways that they can gain from funding the IRS.

Yarmuth, J. (2020, October 1). The Congressional Budget Process: A Brief Overview. Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://budget.house.gov/sites/democrats.budget.house.gov/files/documents/crs%20budget%20overview.pdf

Background: An article detailing Congress’ history involving the IRS’s budget. Gives some ideas as to why congress has failed to fund the IRS.

How I used it: To persuade the reader that the government is not looking out for them in this situation, as the wealthy can lobby the government to push things in their favor. This is a solution that they will have to push for.