"An Inconvenient Tax," a new feature-length documentary film that sheds light on one of America's messiest problems, a fundamentally broken tax code, will be shown on Friday, April 16, at the College of Law.

The free screening, scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Great Hall of the College's Armstrong Hall, is sponsored by the College's Tax Literacy Project. The project aims to informally educate the public about basic aspects of taxation in three distinct, but overlapping, areas

• Why we have taxation (the purpose of taxes; the connection between taxing and spending)
• Fairness of taxation (how to distribute the burden of taxation, including choice of tax base and rate structure)
• Basic concepts of taxation (marginal rates versus effective rates and credits versus deductions)

"An Inconvenient Tax," from Life Is My Movie Entertainment and the Moving Picture Institute, provides a crucial, honest look at the income tax and it reveals the many ways Congress uses the tax code to achieve political and social goals having nothing to do with raising revenue. The film also tackles the controversial issue of tax reform through a non-partisan presentation of U.S. tax history and current proposals to fix the code. To help crack the code, the film uses the country's top economic experts, commentators, and political voices.

"We face fiscal problems in this country right now that are so serious, we should all fear for the safety of our children down the road," said Joseph Thorndike, a tax historian who appears in the film. "Americans are going to have to deal with this topic of tax reform because it is just too important to ignore."

Thorndike will be at the screening, and will lead a one-hour discussion after its conclusion.