Blaine G. Saito (Ohio State), Granting Tax, 63 Hous. L. Rev. 629 (2026):

The U.S. federal tax system is failing to promote the values of democracy and egalitarianism. Powerful interests like the wealthy and multinational entities have bent the tax system to their whim. Meanwhile, disadvantaged groups and the working class have little voice or input in the development of tax policy, even as taxation serves as the foundation of the state and touches almost every aspect of people’s lives. The result then is a system that further entrenches these interests.

This Article seeks to intervene to restore democratic values to taxation. It advances the idea of democratic equality as a guiding value for the tax system. The idea is that taxation should aid in providing people the ability to participate in all aspects of civil society, and that in developing policies, everyone should be treated with equal regard. Under its current structure, the tax system fails.

The intervention proposed is to create a grant program to develop tax capacity in a broad range of civil society organizations.

The grants fund a range of civil society and academic organizations to develop the capacity to push back against the powerful interests in the regulatory guidance process. In administering the grants, the Treasury Department and the IRS should also actively engage recipients in the development of any form of administrative guidance, ranging from regulations to notices. Such a program could help advance democratic equality in the tax system as well as improve the overall outcomes of taxation.

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