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It highlights the burdens of regulations and frequent compliance errors that can cause overpayments or underpayments subject to IRS enforcement. The piece also illustrates practical consequences through the size of Romney’s 2010 return and discusses how political shaping of provisions can create perceived inequities, undermining tax compliance.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":51,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/general/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/the-complexity-and-wordiness-of-tax-law/303118/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-complexity-and-wordiness-of-tax-law/303118.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Theodore","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-21","2026-09-19",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":73},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"Why does the article describe tax law as especially complex to understand?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"It argues that the Internal Revenue Code is inherently hard to understand due to its sheer complexity and extensive regulations.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"How does tax complexity affect taxpayers in the article?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"The article states that it contributes to honest taxpayers making frequent errors, leading to tax overpayments or underpayments that can trigger IRS enforcement.",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What example does the article use to show how complicated returns can be?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"It cites Romney’s 2010 income tax return, described as 547 pages with multiple schedules, forms, and income statements.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},303118,1790033084,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":50,"category_name":51,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":76,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":73,"language":135,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":136,"faqs":137,"seo_title":138,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":139,"read_time":9},7971461740886,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","Michigan Bar Journal  \nJuly 2012  \n50 Libraries and Legal Research  \n3.8 Million and Counting  \nThe Complexity and Wordiness of Tax Law  \nBy Marjorie Gell  \nIt will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.  \n—James Madison ast week, I received an e-mail from the chairperson of the State Bar’s Libraries, Legal Research, and Legal Publications  \nCommittee on which I serve. The e-mail was to remind me of an upcoming deadline for a Michigan Bar Journal article on “any tax research-related issue that you choose:  \n1,250 words.”  \nAs I read the message, I had several thoughts. First, how could I possibly write an interesting article on such a barnburner of a topic? Second, how in the world was I going to meet the short deadline? And finally, what did “1,250 words” mean? No more than 1,250 words? At least 1,250 words? Exactly 1,250 words?  \nAfraid to inquire, I was taken back to my high school days (yes, before the days of personal computers) . And suddenly I was there, late at night at the kitchen table with my mother, a former English teacher. As I scribbled down the words on paper, my mother typed them on the electric Smith Corona. The goal: a 750-word essay on The Grapes of Wrath or Madame Bovary or The House of Mirth. I don’t remember caring much about the quality or substance of what I wrote; my main concern was meeting the 750-word requirement. The pressure was excruciating. As my mother would finish a page, I would count the words. And, I recall, I usually cut it pretty close.  \nWhile we were encouraged back in the’70s to express ourselves in as many words as possible, the more modern less-is-more approach emphasizes a clear, concise writing style. Succinctness. Brevity. Clarity. Which  \nL  \nbrings me to the tax research topic of my choice: the inherent complexity and wordiness of tax law.  \nIf there is a doubt as to the complex nature of tax law, consider that I (and many tax law professors across the country) teach an advanced law school course called Federal Tax Research. With the exception of tax and perhaps patent and insurance law, law schools do not typically offer research classes on specific areas of law. While many schools offer LLMs in taxation, post-JD degrees are not offered in most law disciplines (for instance, to my knowledge, there is no such thing as an LLM in torts, contracts, or civil procedure) . When I advise students who want to enter the field of tax law, I tell them that in addition to a JD, an LLM in tax or a CPA designation is recommended. Why is this so? What makes this necessary? And what is so special about tax law? To answer these questions, let’s take a look at a fundamental source of tax law, and one which most of our state tax laws follow: the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) .  \nIt Takes More Than an Einstein to Understand the Internal Revenue Code  \nThe Code is hard to understand. It just is. In fact, tax law in general is hard to understand. Even Albert Einstein admitted: “The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.”1 In her annual report to Congress in 2010,2 National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson identified the complexity of the Code as the number-one problem facing taxpayers . As she pointed out, the Code’s sheer complexity and regulations result in honest taxpayers making frequent errors that lead to either tax overpayments or, perhaps worse, tax underpayments that become subject to IRS enforcement. And so-  \nphisticated taxpayers—the ones who can afford to hire tax lawyers and accountants to find ways to reduce or eliminate taxes—are often viewed in a cynical light as receiving special tax breaks not available to everyone else. Such cynicism ultimately compromises tax compliance.3  \nThe cynicism is not hard to detect, particularly in an election year. For instance, much has been made of GOP candidate Mitt Romney’s reluctan","cbCaiiwvUkMW8ida","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiiwvUkMW8ida","pdf",2191839,"English","# The Complexity and Wordiness of Tax Law\n## Limited Word Counts and Writing Style\n## Understanding the Internal Revenue Code\n## Complexity, Compliance Errors, and Public Policy","[{\"question\":\"Why does the article describe tax law as especially complex to understand?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that the Internal Revenue Code is inherently hard to understand due to its sheer complexity and extensive regulations.\"},{\"question\":\"How does tax complexity affect taxpayers in the article?\",\"answer\":\"The article states that it contributes to honest taxpayers making frequent errors, leading to tax overpayments or underpayments that can trigger IRS enforcement.\"},{\"question\":\"What example does the article use to show how complicated returns can be?\",\"answer\":\"It cites Romney’s 2010 income tax return, described as 547 pages with multiple schedules, forms, and income statements.\"}]","The Complexity and Wordiness of Tax Law | PDF",1789800004]