Prof. Maule on Strategies for Closing the Tax Gap

Villanova’s always-interesting Prof. James Maule has a thoughtful post on strategies for addressing the so-called federal “tax gap.” He boils down 28 years of experience teaching tax law into six basic ways Congress can make the U.S. tax code do its job better, ranging from tax education to tax simplification.

Here are his thoughts on the relationship between tax compliance and the complexity of the federal tax code—something we’ve often pointed out in the past:

Tax simplification is essential if rates of noncompliance are to be reduced. There is a direct correlation between noncompliance and complexity. As the tax law becomes more complicated, the ability of taxpayers to comply decreases. Even tax professionals who have every wish to keep their clients’ planning and return filing within the bounds of excellent compliance struggle with the rapidity of change, the dearth of guidance on many issues, and the numerous questions arising from the interaction of multiple provisions. The opportunities for tax simplification are easy to identify, and have been addressed by many commentators during the past decade. At this stage of analysis, the specifics do not matter as much as establishing a commitment to simplification as part of the effort to improve tax compliance.

Read the full post here. For more on tax compliance and complexity, check out our “Compliance Costs and Tax Complexity” section.