Ghosting in Tax Law: Sunset Provisions and Their Unfaithfulness

Authors

Alli Sutherland

Abstract

Tax is a subject that could easily put many to sleep. It is dense, convoluted, and intimidating. But it also touches practically every American. This note will discuss how the recent tax overhaul by the Trump Administration includes dangerous provisions, called sunset provisions. These sunset provisions, which get their name from how the law expire after a specified date, are dangerous because they constitute a legislative runaround. Rarely, if ever, do these provisions actually expire. Rather, law makers are able to avoid procedural requirements by placing an end date on the law, but then extending the law’s effective date. This amounts to a violation of taxpayers’ procedural due process, a constitutional violation which can, and should, be challenged through the court system.

Recommended Citation

Alli Sutherland, Ghosting in Tax Law: Sunset Provisions and Their Unfaithfulness, 46 Hastings Const. L.Q. 479 (2019).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly/vol46/iss2/5