Evaluating Tax Expenditures Tools and Techniques for Assessing Outcomes

Social justice and good governance both demand determination of whether tax expAnditures-preferential provisions such as special exemptions, deductions, credits, or deferrals-are yielding the benefits anticipated in the original legislation, and if they are as good or better than policy alternatives in direct expAnditure programs. The six case studies in this issue of New Directions for Evaluation examine a variety of tax expAnditures, some affecting human services programs such as housing and some aimed at broader investment purposes. Applying a range of evaluative, research, and analytic techniques, the authors demonstrate how publicly available data and the familiar tools of evaluation can be successfully used to examine the effectiveness, results, and impacts of tax expAnditures. This is the 79th issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for Evaluation. For more information on the series, please see the Journals and Periodicals section.Datta, Lois-Ellin is the author of 'Evaluating Tax Expenditures Tools and Techniques for Assessing Outcomes' with ISBN 9780787915520 and ISBN 0787915521.