"Perfectly Legal"

Paper Summary:

This paper introduces and analyzes the book "Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else," written by David Cay Johnston. The paper discusses the content of the book and reviews the writer's skill and qualifications to write the book. The paper concludes that the book is startling and illuminating.

From the Paper:

"The author is not against taxes. Again, in the Prologue, he notes, "A good tax system flows from the economic order and greases the wheels of commerce" (Johnston 2). However, in the pages that follow, he illustrates a tax system that is so seriously flawed it would be laughable if it were not so pathetic, and an IRS that is out of touch even with its own laws and regulations. It also shows that even when the IRS knows that certain tax laws have been manipulated by the rich and powerful, they tend to overlook these "transgressions" rather than attempting to collect the taxes. Take for example, the case of the "accelerated charitable remainder trust" scheme that tax consultant Jonathan Blattmachr engineered in the 1990s for Bill Gates (it is not known if Gates used the dodge before it was outlawed) (Johnston 7-8). Schemes like this continue, and as soon as one is outlawed, another takes its place, allowing the super rich to live extravagant and lavish lifestyles at the cost of "normal" American taxpayers."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Johnston, David Cay. Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else. New York: Portfolio, 2003.

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