Assessing Donald Trump’s plans for tax reform

AMERICA’S tax system is a disaster. It is a self-defeating combination of fairly high tax rates and generous exemptions that mean little money is actually raised. It is mind-bogglingly complex: the income-tax code is so knotty that America has as many tax preparers per 1,000 people as Indonesia has doctors. It distorts behaviour: American firms have at least $1trn-worth of cash stashed abroad to avoid the taxman.