Joel Slemrod

Paul W. McCracken Collegiate Professor of Business Economics
Professor of Economics
Chair, Department of Economics
Faculty Director, Office of Tax Policy Research

Education

PhD Harvard University 1980
AB Princeton University 1973

Contact Information

Phone

(734) 936-3914

Fax

(734) 936-8716

Room

R5396

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Research

Research

Joel Slemrod studies and writes about tax policy. In 1984-5 he was senior staff economist at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and has been a consultant to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Canadian Department of Finance, the New Zealand Department of Treasury, the South African Ministry of Finance, the World Bank, the OECD, and several corporations. From 1992 to 1998, he was editor of the National Tax Journal. He is co-author with Leonard E. Burman of Taxes in America: What Everyone Needs to Know, co-author with Christian Gillitzer of Tax Systems, published in 2014, and co-author with Jon Bakija of Taxing Ourselves: A Citizen's Guide to the Debate over Taxes, whose 5th edition will be published in 2017.

Featured Books

Tax Systems

Slemrod, J. and Gillitzer, C.

Despite its theoretical elegance, the standard optimal tax model has significant limitations. In this book, Joel Slemrod and Christian Gillitzer argue that tax analysis must move beyond the emphasis on optimal tax rates and bases to consider such aspects of taxation as administration, compliance, and remittance.

Slemrod and Gillitzer explore what they term a tax-systems approach, which takes tax evasion seriously; revisits the issue of remittance, or who...

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Taxes in America: What Everyone Needs to Know

Joel Slemrod, Leonard E. Burman

Despite their passion and fury, contemporary Americans are remarkably clueless about how their tax system works. But with heated debates over taxation now roiling Congress and the nation, an understanding of our tax system is of vital importance. Taxes in America: What Everyone Needs to Know®, by preeminent tax scholars Leonard E. Burman and Joel Slemrod, offers a clear, concise explanation of how our tax system works, how it affects people and...

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Articles
Books
Chapters

Taxes in America: What Everyone Needs to Know, 2nd edition. Audiobook produced by Recorded Books, forthcoming, 2020.

Authors

Slemrod, J. and Burman, L. E.

Published Date

2020

Source

Oxford University Press

Taxing Ourselves: A Citizen's Guide to the Debate over Taxes, 5th edition

Authors

Slemrod, J. and Bakija, J.

Published Date

2017

Source

Cambridge, MA: MIT Press

Taxation and Migration

Authors

Avi-Yonah, R. and Slemrod, J.

Published Date

2015

Source

Kluwer Press

Tax Systems

Authors

Slemrod, J. and Gillitzer, C.

Published Date

2014

Source

MIT Press

978-0-262-02672-7

Taxes in America: What Everyone Needs to Know

Authors

Joel Slemrod, Leonard E. Burman

Published Date

2013

Source

Oxford University Press

978-0-19-989027-9

Tax Reform Made Me Do It!

Authors

Slemrod, J., Hanlon, M., and Hoopes, J.

Published Date

2019

Source

University of Chicago Press and NBER

Tax Policy and the Economy, Vol. 33

Moffitt, Robert

Tax Compliance and Enforcement: An Overview of New Research and Its Policy Implications

Authors

Slemrod, J.

Published Date

2017

Source

Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press

Pages:

81-102

The Economics of Tax Policy

Auerbach, A, Smetters, K.

Tax Compliance and Enforcement: An Overview of New Research and Its Policy Implications

Authors

Slemrod, J.

Published Date

2017

Source

Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press

The Economics of Tax Policy

Auerbach, A, Smetters, K.

Household Response to the 2008 Tax Rebates: Survey Evidence and Aggregate Implications

Authors

Joel Slemrod, Claudia R. Sahm, Matthew D. Shapiro

Published Date

2010

Source

NBER and University of Chicago Press

Pages:

69-110

Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 24

Jeffrey R. Brown

Tax Compliance and Enforcement

Authors

Slemrod, J.

Published Date

12/2019

Source

Journal of Economic Literature

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

904-54

Distributional Implications of Joint Tax Evasion

Authors

Nygard, O., Slemrod, J., and Thoresen, T.

Published Date

2018

Source

Economic Journal

Volume:

Issue:

111

Pages:

1-30

Do Firms Remit 85% of Tax Everywhere? New Evidence form India

Authors

Slemrod, J., and Velayudhan, T.

Published Date

2018

Source

Journal of Tax Administration

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

24-37

Is This Tax Reform, or Just Confusion?

Authors

Joel Slemrod

Published Date

2018

Source

Journal of Economic Perspectives

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

73-96

Public Tax-Return Disclosure

Authors

Hoopes, J., Neubig, T., Robinson, L., and Slemrod J.

Published Date

8/2018

Source

Journal of Accounting & Economics

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

142-162

Real Firms in Tax Systems

Authors

Boning, W. and Slemrod, J.

Published Date

2018

Source

Finanzarchiv (Public Finance Analysis)

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

131-143

Tax Reform and Tax Experts

Authors

Slemrod, J.

Published Date

2018

Source

Journal of the American Tax Association

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

83-88

A Characteristics Approach to Optimal Taxation: Line Drawing and Tax-Driven Product Innovation

Authors

Gillitzer, C., Kleven, H., and Slemrod, J.

Published Date

04/2017

Source

Scandinavian Journal of Economics

Volume:

119

Issue:

Pages:

240-267

A Characteristics Approach to Optimal Taxation: Line Drawing and Tax-Driven Product Innovation

Authors

Gillitzer, C., Kleven, H., and Slemrod, J.

Published Date

2017

Source

Scandinavian Journal of Economics

Volume:

119

Issue:

Pages:

240-267

Does Credit-Card Information Reporting Improve Small-Business Tax Compliance?

Authors

Collins, B., Hoopes, J., Reck, D., Sebastiani, and Slemrod, J.

Published Date

2017

Source

Journal of Public Economics

Volume:

149

Issue:

May

Pages:

1-19

Optimal Tax Administration

Authors

Keen, M. and Slemrod J.

Published Date

2017

Source

Journal of Public Economics

Volume:

152

Issue:

August

Pages:

133-142

The Behavioral Response to Housing Transfer Taxes: Evidence from a Notched Change in D.C. Policy

Authors

Shan, H., Slemrod, J., and Weber, C.

Published Date

2017

Source

Journal of Urban Economics

Volume:

100

Issue:

July

Pages:

137-153

Caveats on the Research Use of Tax-Return Administration Data

Authors

Slemrod, J.

Published Date

12/2016

Source

National Tax Journal

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

1003-1020

Does Evasion Invalidate the Welfare Sufficiency of the ETI?

Authors

Gillitzer, C. and Slemrod, J.

Published Date

10/2016

Source

BE Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy (Advances Tier)

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

Article 7

Does Tax-Collection Invariance Hold? Evasion and Pass-Through of State Diesel Taxes

Authors

Kopczuk, W., Marion, J., Muehlegger, E., and Slemrod, J.

Published Date

05/2016

Source

AEJ - Economic Policy

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

251-286

How Do Corporate Tax Bases Change When Corporate Tax Rates Change? With Implications for Tax Rate Elasticity of Corporate Taxable Income

Authors

Kawano, L. and Slemrod, J.

Published Date

06/2016

Source

International Tax and Public Finance

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

401-433

Using the "Smart Return" to Reduce Tax Evasion and Simplify Tax Filing

Authors

Bankman, J., Nass, C., and Slemrod, J.

Published Date

2016

Source

Tax Law Review

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

459-484

Sexing Up Tax Administration (lead article in inaugural issue)

Authors

Slemrod, Joel

Published Date

2015

Source

Journal of Tax Administration

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

6-22

Subnational Competition: Tax Competition, Competition in Urban Areas, and Education Competition

Authors

Agrawal, D., Fox, W., and Slemrod, J.

Published Date

2015

Source

National Tax Journal

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

701-734

Taxes on the Internet: Deterrence Effects of Public Disclosure in Norway

Authors

Slemrod, J., Thoresen, T.O., Bo, E. E.

Published Date

2015

Source

AEJ - Economic Policy

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

36-67

Taxpayer Search for Information: Implications for Rational Attention

Authors

Hoopes, J., Reck, D., and Slemrod, J.

Published Date

08/2015

Source

AEJ - Economic Policy

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

177-208

Distinguishing the Role of Authority "In" and Authority "To"

Authors

Silverman, D., Slemrod, J., Uler, N.

Published Date

2014

Source

Journal of Public Economics

Volume:

113

Issue:

(2014)

Pages:

32-42

Insights from a Tax-Systems Perspective

Authors

Slemrod, J. and Gillitzer, C.

Published Date

03/2014

Source

CESifo Economic Papers

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

1-31

Expert and Public Attitudes towards Tax Policy: 2013, 1994, and 1934

Authors

Lim, D., Slemrod, J., and Wilking, E.

Published Date

12/2013

Source

National Tax Journal

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

775-806

The Effect of Public Disclosure on Reported Taxable Income: Evidence from Individuals and Corporations in Japan

Authors

Slemrod, J., Hasegawa, M., Hoopes, J., and Ishida, R.

Published Date

09/2013

Source

National Tax Journal

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

571-608

Car Notches: Strategic Automaker Responses to Fuel Economy Policy

Authors

Joel Slemrod, James Sallee

Published Date

12/2012

Source

Journal of Public Economics

Volume:

Issue:

11-12

Pages:

981-999

Check in the Mail or More in the Paycheck? Does the Effectiveness of Fiscal Stimulus Depend on How It Is Delivered?

Authors

Joel Slemrod, Claudia Sahm, Matthew Shapiro

Published Date

08/2012

Source

AEJ - Economic Policy

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

216-250

Evidence of the Invisible? Toward a Credibility Revolution in the Empirical Analysis of Tax Evasion and the Informal Economy

Authors

Joel Slemrod, Caroline Weber

Published Date

02/2012

Source

International Tax and Public Finance

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

25-53

The Elasticity of Taxable Income with Respect to Marginal Tax Rates: A Critical Review

Authors

Joel Slemrod, Emmanuel Saez, Seth Giertz

Published Date

03/2012

Source

Journal of Economic Literature

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

3-50

Understanding Multidimensional Tax Systems

Authors

Joel Slemrod, Leslie Robinson

Published Date

04/2012

Source

International Tax and Public Finance

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

237-267

Financial Reporting, Tax, and Real Decisions: A Unifying Framework

Authors

Joel Slemrod, Douglas Shackelford, James M. Sallee

Published Date

11/2011

Source

International Tax and Public Finance

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

461-494

Tax Policy and the Missing Middle: Optimal Tax Remittances with Firm-Level Administrative Costs

Authors

Joel Slemrod, Dhammika Dharmapala, John D. Wilson

Published Date

10/2011

Source

Journal of Public Economics

Volume:

Issue:

9-10

Pages:

843-864

Complexity in the Australian Tax and Transfer System

Authors

Joel Slemrod

Published Date

2010

Source

Melbourne Institute -- Australia's Future Tax and Transfer Policy Conference: Proceedings of a Conference

Pages:

257-270

Location, (Real) Location, and Tax (Location): An Essay on the Place of Mobility in Optimal Taxation

Authors

Joel Slemrod

Published Date

12/2010

Source

National Tax Journal

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

843-864

Old George Orwell Got It Backward: Some Thoughts on Behavioral Tax Economics

Authors

Joel Slemrod

Published Date

03/2010

Source

Finanzarchiv (Public Finance Analysis)

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

15-33

Optimal Observability in a Linear Income Tax

Authors

Joel Slemrod, Christian Traxler

Published Date

08/2010

Source

Economics Letters

Volume:

108

Issue:

Pages:

105-108

Taxation and the Financial Sector

Authors

Joel Slemrod, Daniel Shaviro, Douglas Shackelford

Published Date

12/2010

Source

National Tax Journal

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

709-721

The Distribution of Income Tax Noncompliance

Authors

Joel Slemrod, Andrew Johns

Published Date

09/2010

Source

National Tax Journal

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

397-418

The Fatal Toll of Driving to Drink: The Effect of Minimum Legal Drinking Age Evasion on Traffic Fatalities

Authors

Joel Slemrod, Michael Lovenheim

Published Date

01/2010

Source

Journal of Health Economics

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

62-77

Lessons for Tax Policy and the Great Recession

Authors

Joel Slemrod

Published Date

09/2009

Source

National Tax Journal

Volume:

Issue:

Pages:

387-397

Tax Competition with Parasitic Tax Havens

Authors

Joel Slemrod, John D. Wilson

Published Date

12/2009

Source

Journal of Public Economics

Volume:

Issue:

11-12

Pages:

1261-1270

Photo illustration with stacks of coins and a business graph

Ross Thought In Action

December 16, 2019

Forecast 2020 - Taxes: Income Inequality May Get Attention, While the Budget Deficit Needs More

Commentary on Business Economics and Public Policy, Tax Policy featuring Joel Slemrod

Michigan Ross Professor Joel Slemrod looks ahead to what 2020 may hold for federal tax policy.

Read