The structure of taxes and license fees on motor vehicles varies widely across the states. In 1997, automobile owners in 12 states and the District of Columbia paid only a fixed license fee independent of the age or value of the vehicle. But statewide license fees in 15 states declined as the...

Agencies charged with collecting taxes and enforcing the tax code generally use information provided by taxpayers to decide whether to subject individual returns to a variety of review procedures. One consequence of such conditional screening is the creation of incentives for strategic income...