Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2022
Journal Title
University of Richmond Law Review
ISSN
0566-2389
Abstract
With a few caveats, standard economic models assume that, from society’s perspective, the payment of a tax constitutes a costless transfer from the taxpayer to the government. The financial loss to the taxpayer is exactly offset by the financial gain to the government, which can use the resulting tax revenue for the benefit of its citizens. In other words, paying taxes forces taxpayers to forgo private consumption, but the resulting loss in utility can be counterbalanced by an increase in utility from government spending. In fact, if the government spends wisely on beneficial public goods that are undersupplied by private markets, then the taxand-transfer system can produce a net gain in utility that increases social welfare.
First Page
545
Last Page
600
Num Pages
56
Volume Number
56
Issue Number
2
Publisher
University of Richmond
Recommended Citation
Gary M. Lucas Jr,
The Pain of Paying Taxes,
56
U. Rich. L. Rev.
545
(2022).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar/1537
File Type
Included in
Law and Economics Commons, Law and Society Commons, Taxation-Federal Commons, Taxation-State and Local Commons, Tax Law Commons