Federal Tax Restructuring and State and Local Governments: An Introduction to the Issues and the Literature

This short Article briefly outlines some of the issues inherent in substituting a comprehensive consumption tax for the existing federal personal and corporate income taxes. It addresses the effects of federal tax restructuring on state and local governments based on state reliance on the federal income tax infrastructure, as well as outlining other major issues for states and localities. The authors recommend that Congress consider the impact of tax reform on state and local governments as among the two or three most important issues it must study as it explores restructuring the federal tax system