Obstacles to Federal Tax Reform: An Exploratory Inquiry Into the Fiscal Attitudes of a Small Group of Taxpayers

A bstract . An exploratory inquiry was conducted to identify legislative goals of Washington-based tax reformers and to learn bow a small group of taxpayers (n = 54) from various socio-economic backgrounds felt about some of these goals. On a general level most informants claimed they supported elimination of tax loopholes. However, on a more specific level informants tended not to see any tax provision they used to avoid taxes as a "loophole," According to these semi-structured conversations, these taxpayers held no allegience to any particular principle of tax equity or tax justice except that, believing that other taxpayers engage widely in avoiding taxes, they are anxious to lose no importunity to do so.