Shaviro: Evaluating The New U.S. Pass-Through Rules

Daniel Shaviro (NYU), Evaluating the New US Pass-Through Rules, 2018 British Tax Rev. 49:

The pass-through rules that the US Congress enacted in 2017 — permitting the owners of unincorporated businesses in favored industries to escape tax on 20 per cent of their income — achieved a rare and unenviable trifecta, by making the tax system less efficient, less fair, and more complicated. It lacked any coherent (or even clearly articulated) underlying principle, was shoddily executed, and ought to be promptly repealed.

Given the broader surrounding circumstances, the mere fact of its enactment sends out a disturbing message about disregard among high-ranking US policymakers for basic principles of competence, transparency, and fair governance.