James Hausman Tax Law & Policy Workshop: Jacob Goldin

The James Hausman Tax Law & Policy Workshop

presents

Jacob Goldin
Stanford Law School

Sharp Lines and Sliding Scales in Tax Law

Wednesday, February 6, 2019
12:30 - 2:00
Solarium (room FA2), Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park

The law is full of sharp lines, where small changes in one’s circumstances lead to significant changes in legal treatment. In many cases, a sharp line can be smoothed out by replacing it with a sliding scale. Under a sliding scale, small changes in one’s circumstances lead to small changes in legal treatment. In this paper, we study the policy choice between sharp lines and sliding scales in the tax law, focusing particularly on concerns related to efficiency, complexity, and administration. Sliding scales are common for tax provisions that depend on income, but relatively uncommon for provisions that depend on non-income factors. We argue that sliding scales merit more consideration than they typically receive, and set out several principles for choosing between the two designs.

Jacob Goldin is a lawyer and economist whose research focuses on the taxation of low income households and the application of behavioral economics to the design of policy. Prior to joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 2016, he worked in the Office of Tax Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department. Professor Goldin holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University, and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. He clerked for Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. 

 For additional workshop information, please contact events.law@utoronto.ca