Vous voulez voir cette page en français ? Cliquez ici.

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich--and Cheat Everybody Else
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich--and Cheat Everybody Else [Paperback]

David Cay Johnston (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover --   -- --
Paperback --   -- --

Product Details

Product Description

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Truly shocking." —The New York Times Book Review



"Readers should take their blood pressure pills." —The Dallas Morning News



"Everyone who wants to understand what's happening with the tax system should read Perfectly Legal ... by David Cay Johnston, who shows how idealogues have made America safe for wealthy people who don't feel like paying taxes." —Paul Krugman, The New York Times



"Even if you suspected all along that the system favors the rich, you're going to be shocked to learn just how badly you're being screwed." —Greg Palast, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy



"Want to know how business execs get nearly free peraonal trips on their corporate jets? Johnston is your man." —Business Week



"This is a book that will either shame us or prod us into taking back the system." —Ralph Nader

See all Product Description

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

› Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

79 Reviews
5 star:
 (62)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (7)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (79 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most helpful customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars perfectly readable, July 13 2004
By 
Dave (Birmingham AL) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Perfectly Legal (Hardcover)
Mr. Johnston has written a very easy-to-understand and factual book that mainly documents specific historical events rather than many possible events. This slim book will probably confirm the reader's hunch that all is not well in terms of taxation in the United States. He gives examples of how the elite have managed to shift the load of paying for government onto an over-taxed middle class, and how the middle class shoots itself in the foot at election time by buying into slogans and wishful thinking. This book is not more than a good start for anyone wanting to get into the issues, and I therefore give it four stars; had the book been more extensive, it might deserve five stars, in my opinion.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


5.0 out of 5 stars A libertarian reviews Perfectly Legal, Feb 24 2004
By 
This review is from: Perfectly Legal (Hardcover)
This is a fantastic book that highlights the shortcomings of the American tax system. Though the author is clearly a Democrat or "Progressive" this book is a fair assessment of the most unfair tax system ever created.

The tax system is the most politicized law in the land. As a result, people with wealth and access to politicians have perverted the tax code to benefit themselves at the expense of all other Americans. For those of you making the "the top 50% pay 96% of federal taxes" argument you have it correct but you are lying due to an omission of fact. The income tax is only a portion of the government's revenues and that when all federal charges are considered as a whole the tax burden is (more and more) falling disproportionally on those with the least amount of money.

I have now finished reading this book and the ending is a bit of a let-down, yet not enough to deny the rating of five stars. The let down is that as it stands, the tax system is effectively a flat tax system. So then what is all the fuss about?

How about: when corrected for inflation per-capita income has slipped ever so slightly since 1970 for the majority of people whereas the higher your income goes, the faster income has grown. No the world is not a fair place but neither is it an unfair place. It is what we make of it. If America wants to continue down the yellow-brick road it has been travelling along, we will need to remake its tax system from the bottom-up because the game we are playing right now is rigged.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading in business school., Jun 21 2004
By 
C. Cyr "ZombieKiller" (STLMO, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Perfectly Legal (Hardcover)
This is a very well written book that shows how a few unscrupulous tax lawyers and accountants utilize schemes that no honorable CPA would ever endorse to avoid paying taxes on their actual income. The tone of the book is academic and non partisan, and despite what earlier reviewers have posted, it does not endorse class warfare.

The book shows that loopholes in the tax code (some intentionally placed there) allow the superwealthy to hide income from the IRS and reduce their tax liability. This avoidance, while legal in regards to the letter of the law, cost taxpayers billions of dollars a year. It also shifts more of the burden of running the country to those who don't have the money to participate in such schemes.

DCJ shows that by closing these loopholes, cracking down on money kept offshores and enforcing existing laws, the tax code becomes less unfair. The book is not a cry to punish the wealthy, just to make them pay the same portion of their real income in taxes that those less fortunate pay.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
› Go to Amazon.com to see all 132 reviews  4.4 out of 5 stars 
 
 		 Most recent customer reviews











Only search this product's reviews


Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject



















i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?