To most Americans, the United States tax code has become a vast and confounding puzzle. In 1940, the instructions to the form 1040 were about four pages long. Today, they have ballooned to more than a hundred pages, and the form itself contains more than 10 schedules and 20 worksheets. The complete tax code totals about 2.8 million words, about four times the length of "War and Peace". In this intriguing book, Michael Graetz maintains that our tax code has become a tangle of loopholes, paperwork, and inconsistencies, a massive social programme that fails tests of simplicity and fairness. More importantly, our tax system has failed to keep pace with the changing economy, creating burdens and wastes of resources that weigh our nation down. Graetz offers a solution. Imagine a world in which most Americans pay no income tax at all, and those who do enjoy a far simpler tax process; all this without decreasing government revenues or removing key incentives for employer-sponsored health care plans and pensions. As "100 Million Unnecessary Returns" adeptly and clearly describes, this world is within our grasp.

Michael J. Graetz is Justus S. Hotchkiss Professor of Law, Yale University, and he publishes frequently on the subject of federal taxation. He has served as Assistant to the Secretary and Special Counsel at the Treasury Department, as Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, and as a member of the Commissioner's Advisory Group of the Internal Revenue Service.

"Michael Graetz, one of the world's leading tax policy experts, has put forth a plan that joins sensible economics with political possibility. His proposal should be essential reading for the next president."--Glenn Hubbard, Dean, Columbia University Graduate School of Business, former chair of the Council of Economic Advisors under President George W. Bush
--Glenn Hubbard