Newswise — When it comes to patriotic acts, paying taxes is as important as voting for president, according to John O. Fox, professor of complex organizations at Mount Holyoke College. Yet taxes are among the most dreaded and disdained aspects of modern life.
The real problem is not taxes, says Fox; it's the system. Too often the bulk of tax relief goes to those who least need it, rather than to taxpayers genuinely in need of help. And too many Americans " from lawmakers to the average taxpayer " lack a clear understanding of our tax laws, their purpose and their outcomes.
An expert on United States tax policy, John O. Fox is the author of If Americans Really Understood the Income Tax (Westview Press, 2001) and Ten Tax Questions the Candidates Don't Want You to Ask (2004). His editorials on tax issues have appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and numerous other newspapers around the country. He also has been a frequent guest commentator on radio and television programs.
As an attorney, Fox spent 36 years wrestling with the tax laws in Washington, D.C. , prior to coming to Mount Holyoke. Tax policies have social implications that politicians don't want to discuss, he said, when updating Ten Tax Questions for the 2008 presidential election cycle.
"I updated my book for the same reasons that prompted the book," he said. "Politicians from both parties speak about taxes in sound bites that make policies sound better or worse than they are. It is my hope that, with these 10 questions about important tax issues, framed in a manner that readers can understand, Americans will be able to form their own judgments about which policies make most sense."
Fox practiced law in in the nation's capital from 1964 to 2000, specializing in tax, business, and estate planning matters. Currently, he teaches Winners and Losers: Taxation, Social Justice, and Economic Choices at Mount Holyoke. In recent years he has also taught Poverty in the United States.
Related information:
http://www.10taxquestions.com/
RSS