The Income Tax Collapse

For more than a century, the United States has relied on the income tax to fund government and shape distributional policy. Designed to tax both labor and capital, the system has drifted from that ambition. The Income Tax Collapse offers a clear, accessible account of how this shift occurred. At the center of the book is the set of techniques known as "buy, borrow, die", longstanding features of tax law that allow wealthy households to accumulate and spend capital income while reporting little or none of it. These practices now shape outcomes for entrepreneurs, business owners, workers, mixed work-wealth households, and the wealthiest citizens. Looking ahead, the book identifies the structural pressures driving the system and presents realistic reform options, from adjustments to realization rules to broader shifts such as mark-to-market, wealth taxation, or progressive spending taxes.