Robert Kennedy is a professor of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.
Recent Articles by Robert G. Kennedy
Catholic Social Teaching and tax justice
In a letter written in 1789, Benjamin Franklin observed that the new American constitution seemed destined for permanency but also noted that “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Taxation, in one form or another, has been a feature of civilized life for 5,000 years or more and shows no sign of disappearing. No doubt complaints about the fairness of taxation are just as old.
My objective is to consider questions of justice with regard to taxation through the lens of the Catholic social tradition. By identifying some of the foundational concepts of the Church’s social teaching and applying them to the subject of taxation, we can draw a few conclusions about what the tradition teaches us—and does not teach us—about the levying of taxes.
What the Tradition teaches us
The social responsibility of business
In 1946, Congress enacted changes in the tax code that permitted publicly held business corporations to deduct charitable donations in amounts up to five percent of their federal taxable