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Read My Lips : Why Americans Are Proud to Pay Taxes / Vanessa Williamson.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2017]Copyright date: ©2017Description: 1 online resource (304 p.) : 8 line illus. 1 tableContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780691191607
  • 9781400885015
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 336.200973 23
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Preface: The Tax Revolt Was a Long Time Ago -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Pride and Prejudice and Taxes -- 2. How the Taxpaying Experience Obscures Low- Income Taxpayers -- 3. Where Should Tax Money Go? -- 4. How the Taxpaying Experience Shapes Attitudes about Progressivity -- 5. (How) Is Tax Money Wasted? -- Conclusion -- Appendix A. The U.S. Tax System: A Brief Introduction -- Appendix B. Meet the Interviewees -- Notes -- Index
Summary: A surprising and revealing look at what Americans really believe about taxesConventional wisdom holds that Americans hate taxes. But the conventional wisdom is wrong. Bringing together national survey data with in-depth interviews, Read My Lips presents a surprising picture of tax attitudes in the United States. Vanessa Williamson demonstrates that Americans view taxpaying as a civic responsibility and a moral obligation. But they worry that others are shirking their duties, in part because the experience of taxpaying misleads Americans about who pays taxes and how much. Perceived "loopholes" convince many income tax filers that a flat tax might actually raise taxes on the rich, and the relative invisibility of the sales and payroll taxes encourages many to underestimate the sizable tax contributions made by poor and working people.Americans see being a taxpayer as a role worthy of pride and respect, a sign that one is a contributing member of the community and the nation. For this reason, the belief that many Americans are not paying their share is deeply corrosive to the social fabric. The widespread misperception that immigrants, the poor, and working-class families pay little or no taxes substantially reduces public support for progressive spending programs and undercuts the political standing of low-income people. At the same time, the belief that the wealthy pay less than their share diminishes confidence that the political process represents most people.Upending the idea of Americans as knee-jerk opponents of taxes, Read My Lips examines American taxpaying as an act of political faith. Ironically, the depth of the American civic commitment to taxpaying makes the failures of the tax system, perceived and real, especially potent frustrations.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9781400885015

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Preface: The Tax Revolt Was a Long Time Ago -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Pride and Prejudice and Taxes -- 2. How the Taxpaying Experience Obscures Low- Income Taxpayers -- 3. Where Should Tax Money Go? -- 4. How the Taxpaying Experience Shapes Attitudes about Progressivity -- 5. (How) Is Tax Money Wasted? -- Conclusion -- Appendix A. The U.S. Tax System: A Brief Introduction -- Appendix B. Meet the Interviewees -- Notes -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

A surprising and revealing look at what Americans really believe about taxesConventional wisdom holds that Americans hate taxes. But the conventional wisdom is wrong. Bringing together national survey data with in-depth interviews, Read My Lips presents a surprising picture of tax attitudes in the United States. Vanessa Williamson demonstrates that Americans view taxpaying as a civic responsibility and a moral obligation. But they worry that others are shirking their duties, in part because the experience of taxpaying misleads Americans about who pays taxes and how much. Perceived "loopholes" convince many income tax filers that a flat tax might actually raise taxes on the rich, and the relative invisibility of the sales and payroll taxes encourages many to underestimate the sizable tax contributions made by poor and working people.Americans see being a taxpayer as a role worthy of pride and respect, a sign that one is a contributing member of the community and the nation. For this reason, the belief that many Americans are not paying their share is deeply corrosive to the social fabric. The widespread misperception that immigrants, the poor, and working-class families pay little or no taxes substantially reduces public support for progressive spending programs and undercuts the political standing of low-income people. At the same time, the belief that the wealthy pay less than their share diminishes confidence that the political process represents most people.Upending the idea of Americans as knee-jerk opponents of taxes, Read My Lips examines American taxpaying as an act of political faith. Ironically, the depth of the American civic commitment to taxpaying makes the failures of the tax system, perceived and real, especially potent frustrations.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 30. Aug 2021)