Re:A Modern Compiler for the French Tax Code
by noughtme on Monday January 30, 2023 @04:42PM
(#34586840)
> Indeed, code is probably a better medium for unambiguously communicating calculations.
Ambiguity and obfuscation are usually intentional. Legislators and individual citizens do not necessarily have the same interests. This is why omnibus bills exist.
Re:A Modern Compiler for the French Tax Code
by astrange on Monday January 30, 2023 @08:44PM
(#34589735)
Laws (in the US anyway) are "ambiguous" because they can't be changed very often, so implementing regulations are left to the executive branch, and the judicial branch can edit either one however they feel like anyway and aren't programmers.
Re:A Modern Compiler for the French Tax Code
by quartesixte on Monday January 30, 2023 @09:15PM
(#34590024)
Yeah I think the slight nuance that some people miss is that many of the regulations in place are interpretations and implementations of more ambiguous laws.
And they are updated quite frequently and implemented quite programmatically!
But the laws also remain ambiguous because the world is an ambiguous place with a lot of edge and corner cases with unforeseen knock on effects.
Re:A Modern Compiler for the French Tax Code
by bee_rider on Monday January 30, 2023 @11:17PM
(#34590995)
Definitely agree. Having lawmakers micromanage everything would be a pain.
That said, one would hope
1) the tax code would be one of the least open-to-creative-interpretation parts of the system
2) the IRS equivalent could actually produce this code, rather than legislators
Unless you rewrite the law to make the code the spec. Indeed, code is probably a better medium for unambiguously communicating calculations.
> 2. France does provide an executable encoding of the tax code, TFA is literally a compiler for that.
But other countries might not do so.
> 4. You can use OpenFisca to encode your own country's tax law, or lobby for your country to encode its tax law there (https://openfisca.org/en/packages/).
This would be amazing!