Income from capital receives uneven treatment in both the tax system and the loan markets. This affects almost every investment decision make by the individuals, business, and government and causes major disruptions in the economy. In this book C. Eugene Steuerle shows how the misallocation of capital results from the interaction of tax laws, the operation of the market for loanable funds, and inflation. He first analyzes the taxation of capital income, focusing on the distortions caused by tax arbitrage and on inflation-induced discriminations among both taxpayer and borrowers. The author then applies this analysis to several related issues. He concludes with a reform agenda that calls for the adoption of a broader-based, flatter-rate income tax.

Despite much recent interest in a consumption tax, the Treasury Department's November 1984 tax plan proposes to adopt carefully coordinated features of a more comprehensive income tax, including the indexation of interest, depreciation, and capital gains. The May 1985 White House proposal would retain some of these indexing provisions. This paper looks at the incentives under alternative tax regimes to make marginal investments in the corporate sector, noncorporate sector, and in owner-occupied housing. It finds that the current system is characterized by effective tax rates that increase with inflation for some assets and decrease with inflation for other assets. Overall rates fall with inflation, and the corporate tax is completely offset by credits, allowances, and deductions. Under the Treasury or White House plans, the corporate tax re-emerges, effective tax rates are considerably more uniform, and the interference of inflation is virtually eliminated.

" Few issues in tax policy are as divisive as the capital gains tax. Should capital gains--the increase in value of assets such as stocks or businesses--be taxed at all? If so, when should they be taxed--when they are earned, or when they are realized? Should taxes be adjusted for inflation? And should gains be taxed at both the individual and corporate levels? In this book, Leonard Burman cuts through the political rhetoric to present the facts about capital gains. He begins by explaining the complex rules that govern the taxation of capital gains, examines the kinds of assets that produce them, and the factors that can lead to gains or losses. He then reviews the effects of capital gains taxation on saving and investment and considers the arguments for and against indexing capital gains taxes for inflation, as well as other options for altering the current system. "