Tax Expenditures and Taxpayer Consent in the United States from Historical Perspective

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K13510
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 07050:Public economics and labor economics-related
• Research Institution: Yokohama National University
• Principal Investigator: Mozumi Seiichiro 横浜国立大学, 大学院国際社会科学研究院, 准教授 (50757094)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 財政学 / 財政社会学 / アメリカ財政史 / 租税支出 / 納税者の同意

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research project first examined how and why the U.S. federal government coined the concept of "tax expenditure." It also examined the historical interactions among the concept of tax expenditure, the U.S. federal tax reforms, and the U.S. taxpayers' evaluation of the reforms. Thirdly, this research project considered how and why the historical interaction has formed today's institutions and conditions of the U.S. federal public finance, its ability to obtain taxpayers' consent to the federal tax reform and to raise tax revenue. The principal researcher found that the use of tax expenditures has been encouraged by the rise of low- and middle-income taxpayers' sense of tax injustice and the federal budget squeeze provided by inflation and the deficit expenditures expansion. The principal researcher also demonstrated that this choice has undermined the extractive capacity, the possibility of introducing new taxes, and the fiscal flexibility of the federal government.

Free Research Field

財政学、財政社会学、アメリカ財政史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

研究成果の学術的・社会的な意義として、①ほぼ先行研究では等閑視されていた「政策の受け手」の視点を財政史研究や財政理論に取り込む重要性を提起したこと、②未公刊資料を活用した新たな史実の発掘、③政策の受け手が何を「公正」と捉えるかが、財政理論や実際の政策形成の場面で考慮されるべき事柄であるということを明らかにしたことが挙げられる。とりわけ、①租税支出のような、特定の条件を満たす場合に適用される租税優遇措置は、政府と納税者（人々）のつながりを弱め、政府に対する人々の信頼や財政運営に対する信認を得にくくすること、②その結果、人々が財政政策を公正と見做しにくくなることを明らかにした点が重要である。