The tweet is unconscionable

Reader comment on: State Taxes and Charitable Gift Deductions

Submitted by John Gillis (United States), Jan 11, 2018 18:54

Hemel's tweet phrase "no normatively defensible basis" is unconscionable. Presumably his wording is a fancy way of raising a moral question ("normative" often being a way to talk about morality without being so definite as to use the word "moral".)
A sensible moral view of taxation is that it is, in large measure as it exists in most states today, legal theft (yes, professor, I understand that you might think the last two words are an oxymoron, but legal theft is a useful concept in the discussion of taxation, nonetheless.)
The whole focus of Hemel and his co-signators, and Shaviro seems to take for granted that it is the job of moral taxation-lovers such as themselves to burn as many brain cells as they can coming up with giant tax loopholes for high-tax states. No discussion about perhaps being more judicious with the citizens-of-high-tax-states money. No discussion about this being an opportunity to rethink the overspending of the high-tax states. No such moral questions need be entertained -- only an attempt to cut off the moral discussion by asserting no normative arguments are possible.
Lastly, their mental machinations would do proud the most aggressive tax loophole lawyers and accountants who have worked hard for their private clients to minimize their tax payments. But somehow I doubt they think of themselves as tax-loophole gurus, since that is a bad word amongst all tax-lovers.

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