Taxation through the job guarantee shores up IRS credibility.

School of Law; 2021, “FROM STIGMA TO DIGNITY? TRANSFORMING WORKFARE WITH UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME AND A FEDERAL JOB GUARANTEE”, SSRN, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3764224 DOA 7/24/23] nmui

Federal tax administration may offer one area in which collection and redistribution of revenue could be accomplished by prioritizing equity and administrability over fault, so long as due process in revenue collection and fairness in audit exposure can be assured.1 62 To the extent an option is modeled after, or expanded from, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in order to reach more recipients, some could be refunded through payroll. But in order to streamline administration for those without earned income, some coordination would be required. The IRS arguably has greater experience working with taxpayers to assess, collect, and resolve overpayment or other disputes through the Taxpayer Advocate and under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. In the pandemic, the fastest and smoothest method for distributing "economic stimulus payments" turned out to be a combination of direct deposit to previous tax filers; automatic distribution by the IRS to SSA recipients and veterans through an interagency matching system; and, most difficult, creation of a new process for non-filers.1 63 Additional credits, made fully refundable to those with no tax liability, could be instituted and made available-even for those lacking a social security number-without onerous filing procedures. Some of the advantages of using IRS administration would be symbolic and intangible. As commentators note, the EITC need not be administered by the IRS.1 64 Yet there are advantages: claimants could file without having to visit a welfare agency in person, which might raise concerns about stigma,165 and the EITC's location in the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) would somewhat insulate it from budget cuts as a spending program. 166 Indeed, the IRC can mask policy choices that, arguably, would not be popular if they were more visible.16 7 The perceived relationship between taxpaying and social provision persists as a way of reflecting shared public values about which forms of wealth, income, or consumption should be taxed, exempted, or subsidized (and whether those are simply different versions of the same action).1 68 Because tax policy reflects social choices and is typically protected from political whims and judicial review, it lends legitimacy to tax assessments, which most individuals report they are willing to pay so long as they are accurately calculated (and so long as others also comply).1 69 A UBI administered through the IRC might only displace concerns about fraud, abuse, and program integrity onto the administration of a JG, but such concerns would not be insurmountable in a voluntary JG regime. Existing administrative schemes, such as the unemployment insurance benefit system, may be ill-equipped to handle the issues that currently arise in the workfare sanctions context and could still arise in a combined UBI and JG regime. During the pandemic, the burdensome state-run unemployment insurance benefit expansion resulted in highly visible fraud in some instances and lack of skilled coders to quickly adapt the system in others. 7 0 Significant policy making or other substantive expertise would be required to identify and define the kinds of activities that would qualify for a paid JG-for example caregiving or maintenance work that might be done regardless of whether compensation was available. Restrictions on educational and training activities, such as participation in college coursework, currently consign many TANF recipients to low-wage, dead-end jobs that disappear in times of economic recession thus necessitating a return to public assistance.' 7 ' Any JG must fully account for and, indeed, affirmatively support participation in postsecondary education and caregiving work, as well as in other occupations that confer a public benefit. 7 2 Again, tax administration could be part of the solution as treatment of income or benefits from a range of sources is already a task of the Department of Treasury. For good or ill, the tax arena already operates as a default system for determining which activities confer sufficient public over private benefit or which advocacy efforts cross the line into impermissible political activity, and it could perform this function for JG job selection as well.7 3 Meanwhile, workfare agencies currently tasked with administering punitive sanctions could adjudicate a broader range of employment-related issues in the vein of unemployment insurance benefit hearings.