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Learned Hand's remarks are moral in the sense that he says there is nothing sinister (wrong or evil) in following the tax law by arranging your affairs to pay t
by sverige 10y ago
Learned Hand's remarks are moral in the sense that he says there is nothing sinister (wrong or evil) in following the tax law by arranging your affairs to pay the least, and also that those who say it is immoral to do so are wrong (in the legal sense). But it was a legal opinion rendered by a Supreme Court justice. (Sorry, I don't recall the particulars of the case he was addressing.)
As to the tu quoque fallacy, that is a moral argument, not a legal one. If you want to pass laws that only target some but not others, there is a moral judgment there. If you argue against doing so by pointing out that the advocates of such laws would not like to have them applied to themselves, that is a reasonable response to such an argument to highlight the hypocrisy of that position.
- ubernostrum 10y agoThe bigger issue is what is usually implied by the quote, which is a sort of naturalistic fallacy of law. Namely, that whatever is legal is moral, and therefore by implication changing the law would be immoral.
- sverige 10y agoYes, I agree. But let's not slander Learned Hand by attributing to him the intentions of those who quote him. In fact, compared to some more recent justices, I am confident that he would have filed outraged dissenting opinions in recent cases where the law made by representatives was set aside and, in some cases, new law was imposed from the bench.
- eridius 10y agoThe quote doesn't say that whatever is legal is moral. It makes a specific judgement that arranging your affairs to keep taxes as low as possible is not immoral, and it points out that everybody does this, rich and poor, corporations and people alike, and that demanding others pay more than their required amount is hypocritical and sanctimonious.