Issue Research: Taxes

Many political leaders have a way of forgetting that tax monies come from our pocketbook. Put federal, state and local taxes together and we work many months just to pay our share to all levels of government. You need to be informed about what you pay and how it is used. Check out these sites and suggest others that have been helpful to you.

• The American Council for Capital Formation and ACCF Center for Policy Research - www.accf.org
  "The mission of the ACCF and the ACCF Center for Policy Research is to help redefine and restructure U.S. tax, regulatory, and environmental policies so that this country can increase the pace of economic growth, provide high-quality jobs, and compete effectively in world markets."
• Americans for Tax Reform - www.atr.org
  "A national clearinghouse for the grassroots taxpayers' movement."
• The Banneker Center for Economic Justice - www.progress.org/banneker
  "The Center is dedicated to finding and following the shortest path to the restoration of economic justice. That means such things as: tax reform based on sound American principles, not cynical vote-counting; a completely fresh approach to our nation's unemployment problem, not a superficial handout of money; and proper accounting for "external" costs to our economy such as pollution and premature suburban sprawl, and assigning those costs fairly."
• Citizens Against Government Waste - www.cagw.org
  "Educates the American people about government waste, fraud, and mismanagement and encourages Congress to implement Grace Commission recommendations."
• Citizens for an Alternative Tax System - www.cats.org
  "A national grass roots public interest group established to solve the very serious problems caused by the United States' unfair and destructive income tax system. The answer: Abolish the federal income tax completely and replace it with a National Retail Sales Tax."
• Citizens for Tax Justice - www.ctj.org
  "Non-partisan research and advocacy organization working for a fair, progressive tax system."
• Citizens for a Sound Economy - www.cse.org
  "Since 1984, CSE has advocated market-based solutions to public policy problems...That is why we strongly support less government, lower taxes, and less regulation."
• The Death Tax - www.deathtax.com
  This page supports the repealing of the current Estate Tax laws.
• Federation of Tax Administrators - www.taxadmin.org
  "A non-profit association representing the major state tax collection agencies in all 50 states."
• Institute for Policy Innovation - www.ipi.org
  "Though IPI's work covers a wide variety of issues, we concentrate on such issues as taxation and government spending, economic growth initiatives, and government regulation. Though IPI is a non-partisan organization, we approach policy issues from a consistant philosophical viewpoint of individual liberty and responsibility, free markets, and limited government."
• National Tax Association - www.ntanet.org
  An "association of professional tax preparers." This sites contains general information and links to related sites.
• National Taxpayers Union - www.ntu.org
  "Seeks to reduce government spending, cut taxes, and protect the rights of taxpayers. NTU lobbies Congress and the state legislatures, educates the public, politicians, and the media on tax issues."
• OMB Watch: Tax Policy - www.ombwatch.org
  Links to articles and pages dedicated to tax policy.
• Save-a-Patriot Fellowship - www.save-a-patriot.org
  "A national organization of concerned Americans. We have joined together to resist illegal actions of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other government agencies by preventing their misapplication of law."
• The Self-Directed Income Tax - www.well.com/user/smendler/sedit
  "Would take the form of a chart at the end of your tax form, listing the various functions of government. You would just fill in the percentages to specify which areas of government you wanted your tax dollars to support."
• Tax and Accounting Sites Directory - www.taxsites.com
  A directory of tax and accounting resources on the Internet.
• Tax Analysts - www.taxanalysts.com
  A "non-profit organization dedicated to providing timely and comprehensive information to tax professionals at a reasonable cost...offers a wide range of print, electronic, and CD-ROM products."
• Tax Foundation - www.taxfoundation.org
  "The mission of the Tax Foundation is to educate taxpayers about sound tax policy and the size of the tax burden borne by Americans at all levels of government. From its founding in 1937, the Tax Foundation has been grounded in the belief that the dissemination of basic information about government finance is the foundation of sound policy in a free society."
• Tax History Project - www.taxhistory.org
  This project works to "provide scholars, policy makers, and the media with information on the history of American taxation." Site includes a web archive of presidential tax returns. The Tax History Project is a division of Tax Analysts.
• Tax Law - www.findlaw.com/01topics/35tax
  Includes primary materials (Laws, Codes, Regulations, and Cases), government resources, links to non-governmental tax pages, publications, law school course outlines, mailing lists, and usenet groups.
• The Heritage Foundation - www.heritage.org/research/taxes
  This page from The Heritage Foundation contains articles and links concerning current tax reform issues.
• U.S. Supreme Court Syllabi: Tax - www.law.cornell.edu/syllabi?tax
  Provides a searchable index to identify tax cases heard by the Supreme Court.
• U.S. Tax Code On-line - www.fourmilab.ch/ustax/ustax.html
  Allows "access to the complete text of the United States Internal Revenue Code, Title 26 of the U.S. Code (26 USC)." Note: This is not an official government document.