The Most-Cited Tax Articles of All Time
Summer is nearly here, and for fellow tax nerds in need of beach reads, I’ve assembled a list of the 50 most widely cited tax law journal articles. The list is inspired by (and uses the same methodology as) Fred Shapiro and Michelle Pearse’s essay, The Most-Cited Law Review Articles of All Time.
The list below is ordered by number of citations in other law review articles, according to HeinOnline. For comparison, I also list Google Scholar citation counts, which include cites by certain non-law journals, practice publications, books, and courts. The correlation between the two lists is strong but not perfect—for the statistically minded, R2 = 0.7472.
Two caveats. First, the list relies on HeinOnline’s occasionally capricious categorization of articles by topic. Second, this methodology advantages older articles, which have had more time to accrue citations. To account for the latter issue, I’ve created a separate list of the most-cited tax articles of the past twenty years, further below.
Most-cited tax articles of all time
| Article | HeinOnline Article Cites | Google Scholar Cites | |
| 1. | William D. Andrews, A Consumption-Type or Cash Flow Personal Income Tax, 87 Harv. L. Rev. 1113 (1974) | 437 | 783 |
| 2. | Louis Kaplow & Steven Shavell, Why the Legal System Is Less Efficient than the Income Tax in Redistributing Income, 23 J. Legal Stud. 667 (1994) | 305 | 687 |
| 3. | Boris I. Bittker, A Comprehensive Tax Base as a Goal of Income Tax Reform, 80 Harv. L. Rev. 925 (1967) | 298 | 464 |
| 4. | Boris I. Bittker, Federal Income Taxation and the Family, 27 Stan. L. Rev. 1389 (1975) | 284 | 438 |
| 5. | Joseph Bankman & Thomas Griffith, Social Welfare and the Rate Structure: A New Look at Progressive Taxation, 75 Cal. L. Rev. 1905 (1987) | 227 | 352 |
| 6. | Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, Globalization, Tax Competition, and the Fiscal Crisis of the Welfare State, 113 Harv. L. Rev. 1573 (2000) | 226 | 748 |
| 7. | William T. Plumb, Jr., The Federal Income Tax Significance of Corporate Debt: A Critical Analysis and a Proposal, 26 Tax L. Rev. 369 (1971) | 208 | 355 |
| 8. | Walter J. Blum & Harry Kalven, Jr., The Uneasy Case for Progressive Taxation, 19 U. Chi. L. Rev. 417 (1952) | 200 | 418 |
| 9. | Peter D. Enrich, Saving the States from Themselves: Commerce Clause Constraints on State Tax Incentives for Business, 110 Harv. L. Rev. 377 (1996) | 193 | 371 |
| 10. | Michael J. Graetz, To Praise the Estate Tax, Not to Bury It, 93 Yale L.J. 259 (1983) | 185 | 264 |
| 11. | Erwin N. Griswold, The Need for a Court of Tax Appeals, 57 Harv. L. Rev. 1153 (1944) | 185 | 240 |
| 12. | Mark G. Kelman, Personal Deductions Revisited: Why They Fit Poorly in an Ideal Income Tax and Why They Fit Worse in a Far from Ideal World, 31 Stan. L. Rev. 831 (1979) | 177 | 248 |
| 13. | Daniel I. Halperin, Interest in Disguise: Taxing the Time Value of Money, 95 Yale L.J. 506 (1986) | 168 | 259 |
| 14. | Joseph T. Sneed, The Criteria of Federal Income Tax Policy, 17 Stan. L. Rev. 567 (1965) | 164 | 211 |
| 15. | Michael J. Graetz & Michael M. O’Hear, The “Original Intent” of U.S. International Taxation, 46 Duke L.J. 1021 (1997) | 162 | 345 |
| 16. | Eric A. Posner, Law and Social Norms: The Case of Tax Compliance, 86 Va. L. Rev. 1781 (2000) | 155 | 403 |
| 17. | David A. Weisbach & Jacob Nussim, The Integration of Tax and Spending Programs, 113 Yale L.J. 955 (2004) | 150 | 245 |
| 18. | Marjorie E. Kornhauser, The Rhetoric of the Anti-Progressive Income Tax Movement: A Typical Male Reaction, 86 Mich. L. Rev. 465 (1987) | 146 | 214 |
| 19. | R.A. Musgrave, In Defense of an Income Concept, 81 Harv. L. Rev. 44 (1967) | 140 | 228 |
| 20. | Marjorie E. Kornhauser, Love, Money, and the IRS: Family, Income-Sharing, and the Joint Income Tax Return, 45 Hastings L.J. 63 (1993) | 139 | 216 |
| 21. | Paul L. Caron, Tax Myopia, or Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow up to Be Tax Lawyers, 13 Va. Tax Rev. 517 (1994) | 137 | 155 |
| 22. | Richard L. Doernberg & Fred S. McChesney, On the Accelerating Rate and Decreasing Durability of Tax Reform, 71 Minn. L. Rev. 913 (1987) | 136 | 183 |
| 23. | Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, The Structure of International Taxation: A Proposal for Simplification, 74 Tex. L. Rev. 1301 (1996) | 129 | 285 |
| 24. | Anne L. Alstott, Tax Policy and Feminism: Competing Goals and Institutional Choices, 96 Colum. L. Rev. 2001 (1996) | 129 | 192 |
| 25. | Stanley S. Surrey, Federal Taxation of the Family—The Revenue Act of 1948, 61 Harv. L. Rev. 1097 (1948) | 127 | 218 |
| 26. | David A. Weisbach, Line Drawing Doctrine and Efficiency in the Tax Law, 84 Cornell L. Rev. 1627 (1998) | 126 | 221 |
| 27. | Edward A. Zelinsky, Efficiency and Income Taxes: The Rehabilitation of Tax Incentives, 64 Tex. L. Rev. 973 (1986) | 123 | 152 |
| 28. | Stanley S. Surrey, The Congress and the Tax Lobbyist—How Special Tax Provisions Get Enacted, 70 Harv. L. Rev. 1145 (1957) | 122 | 217 |
| 29. | Stanley S. Surrey, Definitional Problems in Capital Gains Taxation, 69 Harv. L. Rev. 985 (1956) | 121 | 220 |
| 30. | Kristin E. Hickman, The Need for Mead: Rejecting Tax Exceptionalism in Judicial Deference, 90 Minn. L. Rev. 1537 (2006) | 121 | 180 |
| 31. | Mark P. Gergen, The Case for a Charitable Contributions Deduction, 74 Va. L. Rev. 1393 (1988) | 120 | 189 |
| 32. | Lily L. Batchelder, Fred T. Goldberg, Jr. & Peter R. Orszag, Efficiency and Tax Incentives: The Case for Refundable Tax Credits, 59 Stan. L. Rev. 23 (2006) | 120 | 230 |
| 33. | Randolph E. Paul, Dobson v. Commissioner: The Strange Ways of Law and Fact, 57 Harv. L. Rev. 753 (1944) | 119 | 158 |
| 34. | David Slawson, Taxing as Ordinary Income the Appreciation of Publicly Held Stock, 76 Yale L.J. 623 (1967) | 119 | 152 |
| 35. | Edward A. Zelinsky, James Madison and Public Choice at Gucci Gulch: A Procedural Defense of Tax Expenditures and Tax Institutions, 102 Yale L.J. 1165 (1993) | 119 | 171 |
| 36. | Bruce Ackerman, Taxation and the Constitution, 99 Colum. L. Rev. 1 (1999) | 113 | 203 |
| 37. | Pamela B. Gann, Abandoning Marital Status as a Factor in Allocating Income Tax Burdens, 59 Tex. L. Rev. 1 (1980) | 112 | 171 |
| 38. | Boris I. Bittker, Churches, Taxes and the Constitution, 78 Yale L.J. 1285 (1969) | 110 | 166 |
| 39. | Walter Hellerstein & Dan T. Coenen, Commerce Clause Restraints on State Business Development Incentives, 81 Cornell L. Rev. 789 (1995) | 109 | 185 |
| 40. | Leandra Lederman, The Interplay Between Norms and Enforcement in Tax Compliance, 64 Ohio St. L.J. 1453 (2003) | 108 | 235 |
| 41. | David M. Schizer, Frictions as a Constraint on Tax Planning, 101 Colum. L. Rev. 1312 (2001) | 108 | 166 |
| 42. | David P. Hariton, Sorting out the Tangle of Economic Substance, 52 Tax Law. 235 (1999) | 106 | 148 |
| 43. | David A. Weisbach, Ten Truths About Tax Shelters, 55 Tax L. Rev. 215 (2002) | 105 | 336 |
| 44. | Marvin A. Chirelstein, Learned Hand’s Contribution to the Law of Tax Avoidance, 77 Yale L.J. 440 (1968) | 105 | 174 |
| 45. | Joseph Bankman, The Economic Substance Doctrine, 74 S. Cal. L. Rev. 5 (2000) | 103 | 181 |
| 46. | Boris I. Bittker, Charitable Contributions: Tax Deductions or Matching Grants, 28 Tax L. Rev. 37 (1972) | 103 | 185 |
| 47. | Dan Shaviro, An Economic and Political Look at Federalism in Taxation, 90 Mich. L. Rev. 895 (1992) | 103 | 179 |
| 48. | Victor Fleischer, Two and Twenty: Taxing Partnership Profits in Private Equity Funds, 83 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1 (2008) | 102 | 214 |
| 49. | Beverly I. Moran & William Whitford, A Black Critique of the Internal Revenue Code, 1996 Wis. L. Rev. 751 (1996) | 102 | 171 |
| 50. | Joseph Bankman & David A. Weisbach, The Superiority of an Ideal Consumption Tax over an Ideal Income Tax, 58 Stan. L. Rev. 1413 (2006) | 101 | 196 |
Most-cited tax articles since 2000
| Article | HeinOnline Article Cites | Google Scholar Cites | |
| 1. | Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, Globalization, Tax Competition, and the Fiscal Crisis of the Welfare State, 113 Harv. L. Rev. 1573 (2000) | 226 | 748 |
| 2. | Eric A. Posner, Law and Social Norms: The Case of Tax Compliance, 86 Va. L. Rev. 1781 (2000) | 155 | 403 |
| 3. | David A. Weisbach & Jacob Nussim, The Integration of Tax and Spending Programs, 113 Yale L.J. 955 (2004) | 150 | 245 |
| 4. | Kristin E. Hickman, The Need for Mead: Rejecting Tax Exceptionalism in Judicial Deference, 90 Minn. L. Rev. 1537 (2006) | 121 | 180 |
| 5. | Lily L. Batchelder, Fred T. Goldberg, Jr. & Peter R. Orszag, Efficiency and Tax Incentives: The Case for Refundable Tax Credits, 59 Stan. L. Rev. 23 (2006) | 120 | 230 |
| 6. | Leandra Lederman, The Interplay Between Norms and Enforcement in Tax Compliance, 64 Ohio St. L.J. 1453 (2003) | 108 | 235 |
| 7. | David M. Schizer, Frictions as a Constraint on Tax Planning, 101 Colum. L. Rev. 1312 (2001) | 108 | 166 |
| 8. | David A. Weisbach, Ten Truths About Tax Shelters, 55 Tax L. Rev. 215 (2002) | 105 | 336 |
| 9. | Joseph Bankman, The Economic Substance Doctrine, 74 S. Cal. L. Rev. 5 (2000) | 103 | 181 |
| 10. | Victor Fleischer, Two and Twenty: Taxing Partnership Profits in Private Equity Funds, 83 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1 (2008) | 102 | 214 |
| 11. | Joseph Bankman & David A. Weisbach, The Superiority of an Ideal Consumption Tax over an Ideal Income Tax, 58 Stan. L. Rev. 1413 (2006) | 101 | 196 |
