Tax Law Commons^™

Difficulties In Achieving Coherent State And Local Fiscal Policy At The Intersection Of Direct Democracy And Republicanism: The Property Tax As A Case In Point, Mildred Wigfall Robinson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Professor Robinson explores the uneasiness present when acts of "direct democracy" through means of voter referenda and ballot initiatives conflict with the ideals of representative government, using fiscal matters, such as the property tax, as an example.

Part I explores the changes that have taken place in the last two decades in voter strategy and in patterns of judicial interpretation, briefly reviewing the history of the property tax focusing on taxpayer reaction to long overdue attempts at administrative reform, and showing how that effort indirectly contributed to the "taxpayer revolt. "It further examines how and why broad-scale attempts to utilize …

Gimme Shelter: Reform Of Real Estate Tax Shelters, Farrell C. Glasser

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Of the many different kinds of tax shelter investments that are available to high bracket taxpayers, the most commonly encountered device is the real estate tax shelter. This article describes the way a tax shelter operates, from both a business-economic and a tax viewpoint, and examines the real estate tax shelter from the standpoint of possible tax reform to correct the abuses that stem from real estate syndications.