ABSTRACT
In the 1980s the tax system shifted the burden decisively from the rich to the middle class and the poor. While the attention of politicians, pundits, and the public has focused on government spending, America's national tax system has drifted into incoherence. In order to restore fairness to national tax policy and raise sufficient capital for government programs, the Clinton administration will have to work harder to reverse the trends of the Reagan-Bush era. While the average American is paying more taxes, corporations are paying a lot less. In the 1950s, businesses were responsible for 39 percent of the US income tax burden; individuals, 61 percent. The fundamental purpose of the tax system is to raise the revenue required to run the government. Of all the tax favors granted to corporations, the worst is undoubtedly the foreign tax credit.
