Commentary The Internal Revenue Code should be considered a contract between citizens and the government. When Congress makes changes to the law, prior promises should rarely if ever be withdrawn or modified. Government should never subsequently punish taxpayers for arranging their transactions as allowed by the existing tax law at the time of a transaction….

Tax policies and government spending are used to encourage or discourage certain behaviors within society and can be considered instruments of social policy, said Wendy Damron, external relations manager at Citizens for Self Governance Charleston and the district captain for the South Carolina Convention of States Project. There are some favors and loopholes in the…