Publication Date
3-2006
Document Type
Article
Abstract
While American taxpayers spend the vast majority of their tax lives shouldering the monetary burden of the prevailing progressive tax scheme, Congress will, periodically, lighten the load and extend the warm hand of legislative grace. New deductions, creative tax credits, and outright reductions in income tax rates are not uncommon, and in fact, political motivations have long fueled an aggressive interest in the modification of federal tax rules to curry favor with large segments of the population. The protection of retirement savings from the burden of immediate taxation is a special congressional favorite.6 In addition to easing the tax burden on those disciplined enough to make financial provision for their retirement years, shielding money earmarked for use in old age makes eminently good sense and is profoundly appealing from a political perspective. One unfortunate side effect of Congress's occasional, tax-sheltering largesse, however, is the enhanced potential for taxpayer abuse. And for creative tax planners, retirement vehicles-like life insurance contracts and annuities-have been ripe with potential for quite some time.
Recommended Citation
Dexter, Bobby Lewis
(2006)
"Tax Terrorism: Nasty Truths about Investor Control Theory and the Accommodation of Social Security Privatization,"
Mercer Law Review: Vol. 57:
No.
2, Article 4.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.mercer.edu/jour_mlr/vol57/iss2/4