Fixing Five Flaws of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

11(2) Columbia Journal of Tax Law 31-75 (2020)

UCLA School of Law, Law-Econ Research Paper No. 20-11

52 Pages Posted: 13 Jun 2019 Last revised: 13 Jan 2021

See all articles by Kimberly A. Clausing

Kimberly A. Clausing

UCLA School of Law; Peterson Institute for International Economics

Date Written: February 3, 2020

Abstract

The tax legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Public Law 115-97) came into effect in 2018. The new tax law was flawed in five important ways. First, the law generates large deficits that will reduce the ability of government to fund important priorities in the future; these deficits also risk justifying a more tepid fiscal response to the next recession. Second, after more than 35 years of increasing income inequality, the tax law moves the tax system in a regressive direction. Third, while the legislation increases economic efficiency in some ways, it decreases economic efficiency in other ways, moving the tax system away from optimal design principles. Fourth, the legislation misses an opportunity to combat profit shifting by multinational companies, changing the character of the problem but leaving its scale largely undiminished; also, the law provides new incentives for the offshoring of physical investment. And fifth, the legislation introduces new sources of complexity. This paper explains these five flaws in detail, setting the analysis within the context of relevant literature and facts. Thereafter, the paper suggests both short term and more fundamental ways to reform the tax code. Nearly immediately, simple fixes can address most of the TCJA flaws. Moving forward, a true tax reform can modernize the tax system to better handle the challenges posed by economic inequality, climate change, and the global nature of business activity.

Keywords: Tax Reform, Business Taxation, Corporate Taxation, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Profit Shifting

JEL Classification: H20, H21, H22, H25, H26, H62

Suggested Citation

Clausing, Kimberly A., Fixing Five Flaws of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (February 3, 2020). 11(2) Columbia Journal of Tax Law 31-75 (2020), UCLA School of Law, Law-Econ Research Paper No. 20-11, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3397387 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3397387

Kimberly A. Clausing (Contact Author)

UCLA School of Law ( email )

385 Charles E. Young Drive East
Los Angeles, CA 90095-0001
United States

HOME PAGE: http://law.ucla.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/kimberly-clausing

Peterson Institute for International Economics ( email )

1750 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
750
Abstract Views
4,315
Rank
70,629
PlumX Metrics