Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2011
Abstract
Congress and the Treasury have commissioned the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) “to undertake a comprehensive review of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to identify the types of and specific tax provisions that have the largest effects on carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions and to estimate the magnitude of those effects.” The hope of the proponents of the NAS carbon audit is that Congress, once informed of the results of the audit, will respond by “greening” the Internal Revenue Code. This Essay cautions that a more environmentally friendly Code will not necessarily follow from the legislative consciousness-raising of the carbon audit. It offers the story of the “SUV loophole” as a case study in the difficulty of removing environmentally offensive provisions from the tax laws, even when Congress is well aware of the existence of those provisions.
Citation
Lawrence A. Zelenak, The Loophole That Would Not Die: A Case Study in the Difficulty of Greening the Internal Revenue Code, 15 Lewis & Clark Law Review 469-481 (2011)
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Carbon offsetting, Tax deductions, Emissions trading, Taxation, Sport utility vehicles, Tax incentives, Fiscal policy, Internal Revenue Code of 1986, United States
Included in
Available at: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/faculty_scholarship/2419