Taxing and Spending: Issues of Process

Comprehensive tax reform must address issues of process as well as the structure of the tax system. The first paper in this volume (by Doern) addresses the process through which tax policy is formulated, its openness (including the important issue of budget secrecy) and recent trends. Considerations of tax expenditures are closely linked to the tax policy process; accounting for tax expenditures more adequately in the budget is the subject of the second paper (Lindquist). The final paper (Thirsk and Bird) assesses earmarking, which has received increasing attention in recent years as an alternative method for allocating revenues.