WHAT WOULD A LIBERTARIAN TAx LOOK LIKE? JOHN R. DOROCAK* I.
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147 INTRODUCTION ................................. LIBERTARIAN TAX THEORY .......................................................... 148 LIBERTARIAN TAX THEORY AS PRAGMATICALLY APPLIED IN U .S. TAX ATION .......................................................................... 151 LIBERTARIAN TAX THEORY AS PRAGMATICALLY APPLIED IN THE FUTURE IN U.S. TAXATION ................................................. 157 THE REVENUE REDISTRIBUTION PROBLEM WITH LIBERTARIAN TAXES ......................................................................
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C ON CLU SION .................................................................................. 166
I.
INTRODUCTION
Libertarian ideas have been given attention, particularly recently, in academic, judicial, and political areas.' Those who have been involved with taxation as practitioners or academicians at some point in time likely wrestle with the question of what should "fair" taxation look like. The goal here is not to discuss all philosophical underpinnings of a tax system, but rather to discuss how libertarians might frame a tax system.
* John R. Dorocak, Honors A.B., Xavier University, J.D., Case Western Reserve University, LL.M. (Tax), University of Florida, C.P.A., California and Ohio, is a Professor of Accounting at California State University, San Bernardino. Thank you to my wife, Tanya, who constantly inspires me, our dog Murphy, who constantly entertains me, and our sons Jonathan and Garrett, who constantly interest me. Thank you also to Kathi Menard, who has taken on the task, from the now retired Marion Wiltjer, of trying to decipher my dictation and handwriting. 1. See, e.g., Randy E. Barnett, Is the Constitution Libertarian?, 2008-2009 CATO Sup. CT. REV. 9, 9; John R. Dorocak, Is the Constitution Only Libertarian and Not Socially Conservative? U.S. v. Windsor and the Unconstitutionalityof DOMA 's Definition of Marriageto Exclude Same-Sex Couples-Requiemfor a Heavyweight?, 24 GEO. MASON U. C.R. L.J. 263, 263 (2014); John R. Dorocak, Why is Obamacare Constitutional While DOMA Was Not? How LibertarianIs the Constitution? 14 CONN. PUB. INT. L.J. (forthcoming 2016). But see, e.g., Randy E. Barnett, Correspondence, GradingJustice Kennedy: A Reply to ProfessorCarpenter, 89 MINN. L. REV. 1582 (2005); Dale Carpenter, Is Lawrence Libertarian?,88 MINN. L. REV. 1140, 1141 (2004); Brian Doherty, Rand Paul, Lukewarm Libertarian, N.Y. TIMES, Apr. 21, 2015, Li Heidi http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/21/opinion/rand-paul-lukewarn-libertarian.html; Feldman, Libertarianismwith a Twist, 94 MICH. L. REV. 1883 (1996) (reviewing RICHARD A. EPSTEIN, SIMPLE RULES FOR A COMPLEX WORLD (1995)).