Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else (Hardcover)

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Amazon.com Review
Most Americans would agree that they are duty bound as beneficiaries of our democracy to pay taxes, and the majority of us do pay—-exorbitantly. But what about those who do not pay their fair share? David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the New York Times, here reveals how fairness and equity have eroded from the American tax system. Johnston describes in shocking detail the loopholes our government provides the "super rich"--from private individuals to profitable corporations—-to hide their wealth, to defer or evade tax payments, and to pass the bill to law-abiding middle-class Americans. The loss in revenue "imposes a severe cost on honest taxpayers" through reduced services, increased federal debt, and a weight on the middle class that threatens to impede its ability to achieve upward social mobility.

Admitting the extreme complexity of our economy and by extension our tax code, Johnston points out that the very wealthy do, of course, pay taxes. However, because of shelters that allow them to understate most of their income, they pay little more on average than most Americans on the dollar. This is regressive, and unquestionably favors the superrich. Johnston includes examples of outrageous corporate malfeasance (such as companies that establish off-shore tax addresses) and exposes the tax benefits of the particularly loathsome practice made famous by Jack Welch, in which thousands of wage earners are laid off while a handful of executives are granted hundreds of millions of dollars through deferred compensation, company stock options, and lucrative retirement packages, all at stock holders' xpense. In addition to these offenses, he describes the tax evasion methods of those who simply defy the law and are emboldened by a beleaguered IRS that is too underfunded to serve as an effective deterrent to tax cheats. Johnston calls for a complete overhaul of the system. But because those who most benefit from these laws comprise the "donor class" that supports the government power structure, our prospects for reform remain very bleak. --Silvana Tropea

From Publishers Weekly
Since he began writing about taxes for the New York Times in 1995, Johnston's investigative reporting has earned two Pulitzers. The journalistic legwork informs every page of this expos‚ of the ways in which, he says, America's taxation system is stacked in favor of the wealthy. Johnston evades the imposing abstractness of the tax code by keeping the story focused on individuals, from working-class parents facing audits to Internal Revenue Service officials desperate for the resources to revamp their procedures. Chapters addressing the inability of the IRS to go after the worst tax cheats, thanks in part to opposition from grandstanding members of Congress, are particularly effective in putting a spotlight on the problem, but there's plenty of space given to revealing how canny tax attorneys come up with legal (and barely legal) ways to get around the system. And for those who can afford it, he reports, there's always a new dodge available once the law has caught up to the latest tricks. At some points, dealing with numbers becomes unavoidable, but even here Johnston displays a knack for breaking the story down into easily grasped components. Though the tax cuts engineered by Presidents Reagan and George W. Bush receive most of the criticism, Democrats come in for their fair share of opprobrium. Genuine reform, he suggests, will require serious and sustained attention from the public, not just reflexive griping. His book is a thoughtful overview for any citizens willing to educate themselves on the issue.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Jonathan Blattmachr walked swiftly toward the Park Avenue curb, eager to find his driver so he could be whisked away from Manhattan to a waiting plane. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
political donor class, untaxed fortunes, stealth tax, tax law enforcement, alternative tax, alternative minimum tax, regular income tax, tax cut plan, income ladder, tax cheating, child credit, tax cheats Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Social Security, New York, United States, Global Crossing, White House, President Bush, Cayman Islands, Stanley Works, Department of the Treasury, Wall Street, Senate Finance Committee, New Britain, Bill Gates, Internal Revenue Service, Rochester Tel, Senator Roth, Jonathan Blattmachr, Los Angeles, Tax Notes, Comfortable Retirement, General Accounting Office, Maritza Reyes, Only the Rich Deserve, Capitol Hill, Dave Klaassen New!
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119 Reviews 5 star:  (86) 4 star:  (13) 3 star:  (7) 2 star:  (7) 1 star:  (6)           Average Customer Review 4.4 out of 5 stars (119 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   214 of 225 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read, January 9, 2004 By A Customer I am a traditional conservative who has been bothered by tough coverage of the tax code in WSJ for years, but I am deeply troubled by Johnson's book. I have spoken with three tax attorneys who read it and found it accurate. What upsets me most is that THEY are not outraged. It does not do justice to this remarkable popularizationof an extremely complex subject to say merely that we always knew that the tax system was unfair. Cynicism is not Johnson's issue. The tax code is not understood by ANY of officials we have elected and rely on to represent our interests,. It is a black hole that makes incalculable (literally) national wealth disappear from our common enterprise. While we argue about deficits or unfunded mandates, hundreds of billions of untaxed profits of the very rich are sheltered and deferred in ways unavailable to wage earners who will soon be further burdened by a perversion of the "alternative minimum tax." It is worth thousands of dollars to you, in all probability, to read this book carefully and then bring a copy to your Senators and Congressman with the demand that it be read. No vague review should divert every serious citizen from reading this clear and detailed explanation of why your government takes so much money from you while not securing your financial future. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   67 of 72 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Perfectly Legal, January 8, 2004 By  L. Hobson (Palmdale California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Written by David Cay Johnston I do not attack the Bush family in my book. In my book I explicitly state that it is perfectly proper for rich families to seek to tilt the tax system in their favor, that the problem is that the middle class has largely withdrawn from politics and the members of Congress -- many of whom, I have interviewed -- have their minds focused on the concerns of their donors, who are a narrow and rich group of Americans. That Congress behaves as it does fits perfectly with classic economic theory (I went to the Chicago graduate school of economics on a fellowship 31 years ago). I certainly say that the rich overall -- and they are not monolithic -- have changed our tax system and that the results we see today re not the result of normal capitalism, but a rigged market. But frankly I am just skimming here what commentators who have read the book, left and right and in the middle, have all been describing as -- and these are not my words, but theirs -- with terms like "extraordinary achievement," "One of the most important documents in the history of the Republic," "even handed," "the most extraordinary work of journalism I have ever read"..... Yesterday on the radio a leading lobbyist for the rich on taxes, who opened up on a radio interview with an attack, soon found himself saying again and again that he agreed with what I was saying....... So I hope you take the time to read the book, which is not an attack on the Bush family (and, indeed, makes no mention of any Bush other than the two presidents in their official role as President except for my examination of George W. Bush's income tax return to make a particular point about the tax system and the IRS). Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   43 of 45 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars SHOCKING TAX THRILLER, January 8, 2004 By  Peter Rost (Short Hills, NJ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This is one of the most amazing books about taxes I have ever read. Mr. Johnston proves, in convincing detail, how the US tax system has been hijacked by the super-rich. He does this in a wonderful prose and without ever resorting to exaggerations, just stating the embarrassing facts. If you ever wondered how so many executives can fly around to private vacations in corporate jets, this book will tell you why - the taxes they pay for this fringe benefit are less than they'd pay for the cheapest coach ticket, courtesy of the US Congress. There are dozens of other examples, such as this one. This is a book that will ruffle some powerful feathers that should have been dipped in tar a long time ago. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 119 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars The suckered unrich! How all but the wealthy are being cheated by "the best government that money can buy". This should be required reading by every American. Read more Published 3 days ago by TED L 5.0 out of 5 stars Useful Looking beyond the facts in this book it can be used as a blueprint to fix everything that is wrong with the current tax system. Read more Published 8 days ago by reader 5.0 out of 5 stars Greed A book about greed. This one is about ways to cheat the IRS thereby cheating all taxpayers. In the mid 60's business schools taught courses in ethics and often you would hear... Read more Published 5 months ago by Joseph D. Woodward 5.0 out of 5 stars Subsidizing the Rich. "Perfectly Legal" is the result of nine years of investigative research by the author. Some sources that he cites are tax lawyers, accountants, preparers, and tax protesters... Read more Published 6 months ago by Scripture Studier 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and disturbing I read this book when it came to paperback a couple of years after its published date. I was so disturbed by some of the stories of freeloaders and tax cheats that I had to stop... Read more Published 14 months ago by J New York 5.0 out of 5 stars Do you wanna know how little you matter to our government--enough to be audited because you aren't the super rich! Read this book yesterday! This is important stuff and will piss you off on every page--get to it! Published 14 months ago by Aaron P. Crosetto 5.0 out of 5 stars Easy but difficult read I cannot offer enough enthusiasm in the written word to tell all Americans to read this book. It is easy and clear reading; but, I also add difficult because I could read only a... Read more Published 16 months ago by William L. Fell 5.0 out of 5 stars I dont have much to add To some of the excellent reviews already published. I just wanted to say READ THIS BOOK! The author does an enormous amount of personal research on the subject. Read more Published 16 months ago by polit reader 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reporting Johnston is an articulate writer who has a broad understanding of the US tax system, and has written on the topic for the NYT for some time. Read more Published 16 months ago by Kevin_N 4.0 out of 5 stars How our goverment fails the middle class. Very informative. I am disappointed in how our president and congress have mislead us with their phoney catch phases. Read more Published 17 months ago by Joseph Raphoon Jr. Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 119 customer reviews...

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