Charlotte Crane (Northwestern) has published The Income Tax and the Burden of Perfection, 100 Nw. U. L. Rev. 171 (2006).  Here is the concluding paragraph:

Does all of this mean that the income tax should be abandoned? No. The solution lies not in throwing out the instrument, but instead in admitting that, although the income tax can be administered more rationally than other taxes, it simply is not worth the cost of striving for perfection. The gap between the concept of income–so heavily relied upon to justify the tax–and the realities of the actual tax instrument we have developed has always been there. Practical observers have always urged others to simply calm down and accept the disparity between concept and reality.