Tax Law Complexity: The Impact of Style

This study examines the impact of two facets of income tax law complexity-text and content complexity-to determine the effect of variation in style on professional tasks. The research results deal with the effectiveness of standard readability tests for profes sional readers, as well as how our tax...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of business communication (1973) 1992-09, Vol.29 (4), p.383-400
Main Authors: Martindale, Bobbie Cook, Koch, Bruce S., Karlinsky, Stewart S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Audiences
Experiments
Hypotheses
Impacts
Income tax returns
Insurance policies
Law
Legal documents
Professionals
Readability
Readability Formulas
Reading comprehension
Reading Tests
Studies
Tax legislation
Tax services
Validity
Citations: Items that cite this one
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Summary:This study examines the impact of two facets of income tax law complexity-text and content complexity-to determine the effect of variation in style on professional tasks. The research results deal with the effectiveness of standard readability tests for profes sional readers, as well as how our tax laws should be drafted. The study shows that text presentation style magnifies the complexity of difficult tax law concepts. Also, results indicate that the Reading Complexity Evaluation Index is a better measure for technical writing than standard readability tests currently used by industry and government agencies.
ISSN:0021-9436
2329-4884
1552-4582
2329-4892
DOI:10.1177/002194369202900405