Posted on 10/26/2004 4:47:02 AM PDT by NotchJohnson
Are we to discount their work because of this relationship?
No, for the underlying agenda counter to substantial tax reform and repeal of income taxes, which is the underlying premise of their compilation.
And how does Payne calculate these? Guestimates at best.
LOL, anything counter to your premises is always a guestimate.
I find it interesting you take the low end estimates of incometax compliance costs by Slemrod's/AAron/Gale's/Brookings piece to be the definitive tome of such guestimates;. Especially considering, Slemrod's disclaimer of the accuracy of his own work concerning direct compliance cost based on reporting hours, and the fact that not once did he ever make the claim his estimates in anyway discounted the prior works reviewed and summarized by James Payne. In fact I find no mention of Payne's work at all in Slemrods chapter on Poll/capitation taxes as a baseline for simplicity that you refer to out of the Brookings tome.
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