New Research on the Stubborn Persistence of Tax Expenditures

Abstract

In this essay I examine new research on tax expenditures. By utilizing survey experiments, several new studies have explored when and why the public prefers spending programs organized as tax credits rather than direct expenditures, even when the substance and cost of the policies are the same. I argue that this 'framing effects' research can help explain why tax expenditures have continued to grow faster than government spending as a whole, and why tax expenditure budgets have failed to stop this growth.

Keywords: tax, tax law, tax expenditures