Article
Winn and the Inadvisability of Constitutionalizing Tax Expenditure Analysis
Yale Law Journal Online
(2011)
Abstract
Tax expenditure analysis, despite its contribution to tax policy debate, is ill-suited as a tool of constitutional decisionmaking. Sometimes tax provisions are, for constitutional purposes, equivalent to direct monetary outlays; sometimes they are not. That equivalence can only be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, considering the nature of the specific tax provision and the particular constitutional clause at issue. Contrary to the approach of the Winn dissent, the Court is ill-advised to invoke tax expenditure analysis as a tool of constitutional decisionmaking. At the end of the day, we do not know what a tax expenditure is.
Keywords
- tax expenditure,
- Winn,
- Flast,
- tax credit,
- direct expenditure
Disciplines
Publication Date
2011
Citation Information
Edward A. Zelinsky. "Winn and the Inadvisability of Constitutionalizing Tax Expenditure Analysis" Yale Law Journal Online Vol. 121 (2011) p. 25 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/edward-zelinsky/245/