How Tax Codes Negatively Distort Our Energy Choices - Nuclear Power Industry News - 0 views
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Energy Net on 19 Oct 09How Tax Codes Negatively Distort Our Energy Choices Tax codes are often written to support national goals, above and beyond mere revenue generation. This is often called "social engineering" although an engineer might not recognize it as such - By Joseph Somsel - The U.S. tax code is a marvelous and impressive intellectual structure. As an engineer I took a business class in taxation for corporations while getting my MBA. Engineering is the art of extracting utility from first principles of science and combining it with hard-won practical experience. I found, to my frustration, that taxation is not like that. Taxes are whatever Congress and the IRS say they are, logic or principle be damned. "The power to tax is the power to destroy." - Chief Justice John Marshall
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Energy Net on 19 Oct 09How Tax Codes Negatively Distort Our Energy Choices Tax codes are often written to support national goals, above and beyond mere revenue generation. This is often called "social engineering" although an engineer might not recognize it as such - By Joseph Somsel - The U.S. tax code is a marvelous and impressive intellectual structure. As an engineer I took a business class in taxation for corporations while getting my MBA. Engineering is the art of extracting utility from first principles of science and combining it with hard-won practical experience. I found, to my frustration, that taxation is not like that. Taxes are whatever Congress and the IRS say they are, logic or principle be damned. "The power to tax is the power to destroy." - Chief Justice John Marshall