The Crisis in Tax Administration

Voluntary tax compliance and the mechanisms to catch the noncompliant are under stress as tax laws have become more complicated and IRS resources have not kept pace. These events in combination have created a genuine crisis in tax administration. The papers in this volume, prepared by economists, lawyers and accountants, evaluate the capacity of authorities to enforce the tax laws in a modern, global economy and examine the implications of failing to do so.

Author Biography

Henry J. Aaron is a senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, where he holds the Bruce and Virginia MacLaury Chair. Among his many books are Can We Say No? The Challenge of Rationing Health Care, with William B. Schwartz and Melissa Cox (Brookings, 2006), and Reforming Medicare: Options,Tradeoffs, and Opportunities, written with Jeanne Lambrew (Brookings, 2008). Joel Slemrod is Paul W. McCracken collegiate professor of business economics and public policy, professor of economics, and director, Office of Tax Policy Research, University of Michigan.