Taxation-State and Local Commons^™

Does It Hurt A State To Introduce An Income Tax?, David J. Shakow

All Faculty Scholarship

In an article in the Wall Street Journal, Arthur Laffer argued that, since 1960, the introduction of state income taxes reduced the relative size of a state’s gross state product and its relative per capita personal income. This paper criticizes Laffer’s conclusions on a number of grounds. 1. He uses incorrect figures for per capita income. In fact, relative per capita income rose in a majority of states that introduced an income tax since 1960. 2. The results are not clear when a state’s data is compared to other states in its region, rather than to the United States as …

Tax Reform In Rhode Island: Developing A High Quality Revenue Stream, Nicholas A. Denice

Honors Projects in Accounting

The present study explores the current state of taxation in Rhode Island in relation to its sales tax. An analysis of the literature will examine how the current sales tax system compares with other alternatives and if it hurts the state's economic competitiveness as shown in tax burden studies. Using Rhode Island tax data from the Annual State Audit and Consumer Expenditure Survey, this study will analyze the current sales tax system in the state and determine whether an alternative model would lead to a higher-quality revenue stream. Data from the State of Rhode Island General Audit Report and the …

Tilted Versus Reasonable Interpretation Of Tax Law, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

In part, Interpretation Matters is about the craft of advocacy, how statutory interpretation arguments can be effectively made – and effectively countered – in state and local tax cases. For example, when one’s opponent in such a case invokes one or another of the canons of construction, how is that canon to be blunted?

One strategy we often have explored is fighting fire with fire – that is, identifying and asserting another recognized canon that leads to an opposite conclusion. One of the most famous articles on statutory interpretation arrayed dozens of pairs of canons that seemingly contradict each other. …

Recent Developments In Virginia Taxation, Craig D. Bell, William L.S. Rowe

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Uso Social Del Suelo Ejidal Y Comunal Para El Desarrollo Equilibrado De Las Áreas Urbanas Del Estado De Puebla, Bruno L. Costantini García

Bruno L. Costantini García

De origen, difundir los diversos esquemas permitidos por la Ley para posibilitar la realización de proyectos con fines inmobiliarios, a efecto de que los núcleos agrarios y sus integrantes se beneficien equitativamente de la urbanización de sus tierras, coadyuvando con ello al desarrollo urbano planificado y ordenado de los centros de población del Estado de Puebla; como consecuencia, impulsar el desarrollo habitacional equilibrado de éste. Eliminar el circulo.- “necesidad de tierra – asentamiento irregular – solución de conflicto”, mediante la planeación socioeconómico de los núcleos agrarios ejidales y comunales, a fin de diseñar un mecanismo eficaz que satisfaga las necesidades …

State And Local Taxes, James E. Sabine, Ernest P. Goodman

Cal Law Trends and Developments

The year 1968 may have been more significant for constitutional changes that did not occur than for those that did. Proposition 9, the so-called "Watson Amendment," would have imposed severe limitations on the property tax as a source of revenue. According to its opponents, this measure, which was defeated, would have resulted in a drastic restriction on the borrowing power of the state and its political subdivisions, and would have required an extensive shift to other taxes if the present level of expenditure were to be maintained. But Proposition I-A, affording a moderate amount of property tax relief was adopted …

Taxation, Craig D. Bell

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

State And Local Taxes, James E. Sabine, Ernest P. Goodman

Cal Law Trends and Developments

The period covered by this survey saw a general increase in state taxes. Some new rules for the apportionment and allocation of income for purposes of the Bank and Corporation Tax Law became applicable as the Uniform Division of Income for Tax Purposes Act went into operation. The property tax field was, however, the most productive of case, constitutional and statutory developments.

This article does not purport to mention all the changes in the constitution and statutes or all cases decided during the period covered by the survey. Rather, it is an attempt on a selective basis to call attention …

Pennsylvania's Sales And Use Tax: Has Nearly $1 Billion Been 'Zapped' Away In Fraud?, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

The Sales and Use Tax is an essential part of Pennsylvania’s revenue profile. Not only is it the State’s second largest revenue source, it has historically played a critical role in reducing the volatility of Pennsylvania’s overall tax collections. The sales tax is also critical to the city of Philadelphia, and Allegheny County. During the current economic downturn both the revenue and structural attributes of this levy should be pushing it to the front of the tax policy line.

The two topics that should rest atop Pennsylvania’s tax policy agenda should be: (1) joining the Streamlined Sales Tax initiative and …

Allegheny Pittsburgh Coal V. Webster County: Are Proposition 13'S Days Numbered?, Bruce Stephan

Golden Gate University Law Review

A taxation system1 similar in practice to California's was ruled unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in Allegheny Pittsburgh Coal Co. v. County Commission of Webster County, West Virginia. As a result of this decision, the future of Proposition 13, which has kept property taxes affordable for millions of Californians, is uncertain. This Comment will first. discuss Proposition 13 and the cases which have interpreted it. The Allegheny Court's decision will then be closely analyzed in an attempt to predict the outcome of a constitutional challenge to Proposition 13. Lastly, changes to Proposition 13 will be recommended that could …

Minimizing The Harm Of State Fiscal Volatility, David Gamage, Jeremy Bearer-Friend

David Gamage

This report’s primary concern is how U.S. state governments should respond to the fiscal volatility created by their balanced budget constraints. Applying the principles of risk allocation theory to this recurring problem, we conclude that states should primarily adjust the rates of broad-based taxes as their economies cycle, rather than fluctuating public spending.

State Fiscal Policies And Transitory Income Fluctuations, James R. Hines Jr.

Articles

State and local expenditure and tax revenue respond less to the business cycle than do federal spending and revenue, thereby reducing the countercyclicality of total government expenditure and revenue. This paper considers forces responsible for the cyclical pattern of state expenditure and revenue. Annual fluctuations in state personal income are associated with small changes in state spending and significant changes in tax receipts; receipt of federal grants is associated with greater state spending. Tax collections, and to a lesser degree expenditure, of larger states are more closely associated with annual income fluctuations than are the tax collections and expenditure of …

The Judicial Instinct To Harmonize Statutes, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

Judges like to reach results that harmonize statutory meanings, both meanings within given statutes and meanings among statutes. That inclination applies as fully in tax cases as in nontax cases, and in state and local tax cases as well as in federal tax cases. Effective advocates in state-local tax controversies recognize that judicial tropism and use it, whenever possible, in their clients’ interests.

Part I discusses the harmonization instinct generally. Part II illustrates application of the harmonization approach in state and local cases. Part III notes some limitations on and unsettled questions regarding the harmonization.

Maine's General Sales Tax: An Exploration Of Policy Issues And Options, Sarah Rawlings

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Introduction The role of sales taxation in states’ economies has been a topic of much discussion and controversy since its inception in some states more than 70 years ago. The sales tax has been a critical component of revenue generation for some 98% of states over the last 50 years, but policy-makers and economists have become concerned in recent years about the dwindling revenues being generated by sales taxation in most states.

When General Statutes And Specific Statutes Conflict, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

It’s no secret that the pace of lawmaking in the United States has accelerated dramatically in recent decades. So much so that one may be forgiven for thinking that the best law reform would be a moratorium on further law reform – - to give citizens, their legal representatives, and government officials the opportunity to catch up with the laws we already have made.

Legislatures, agencies, and courts all have made their contributions to the torrent of lawmaking. The phenomenon has been attributed to various causes, including growing populations, greater population densities as a result of urbanization, rapid technological changes, …

Delimitación Téorica Del Delito Penal Fiscal, Bruno L. Costantini García

Bruno L. Costantini García

Anális de los elementos constitutivos del delito fiscal, la acción delictiva, los grados de ejecución, la consumación y los responsables.

Pretende distinguir el delito penal común del delito penal fiscal con base en sus elementos y pretende aportar una reflexión de la criminalización del delito fiscal en nuestros tiempos, usado por la Autoridad Hacendaria como un medio de represíón y de opresión de los derechos del contribuyente.

Online Travel Companies Find Issues With Hotels Extremely Taxing: Georgia's Hotel- Motel Occupancy Excise Tax And Expedia, Inc. V. City Of Columbus, T.J. Evans

Mercer Law Review

In Expedia, Inc. v. City of Columbus, the Georgia Supreme Court held that under a plain reading of the "Hotel-Motel Occupancy Excise Tax" ordinance of Columbus, Georgia, and the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) enabling statute, the applicable tax rate must be applied to the amount an online travel company (OTC) charges a purchaser for the right to occupy a hotel room, rather than the discounted amount for which the OTC contracts with hotels to pay for a room. The supreme court's decision "marks the first time any state's highest court has ruled on the substantive issues at …

La Globalización De La Legislación Cambiaria, Bruno L. Costantini García

Bruno L. Costantini García

No abstract provided.

Protección De Datos Personales, Bruno L. Costantini García, Norma E. Pimentel Méndez

Bruno L. Costantini García

Introducción a la regulación de la protección de datos personales en México.

Is Lost Tax Revenue Property Under Rico?, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

The last installment of this column began an examination of the use of the federal civil RICO Act in state and local tax administration controversies. This installment closes the loop by answering questions posed, but not resolved, last time. This column explores whether uncollected tax revenue - or loss of the opportunity to collect tax revenue - constitutes “business or property” under the civil RICO statute. This exploration also takes up the related question whether tax authorities will be able to overcome judicial reluctance to turning RICO into a tax collection statute.

Part I of this column reprises how RICO …

Civil Rico And State And Local Taxes, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

Vast is the garden of state and local taxation, and exotic are some of the blossoms to be found there. This installment of Interpretation Matters will consider one of those curious blooms: use of the civil RICO statute directly or collaterally in state-local tax administration. The U.S. Supreme Court has addressed the state-local tax implications of civil RICO three times in recent years: in the Anza case in 2006, Bridge in 2008, and Hemi, decided on January 25, 2010.

The first section below sketches civil actions under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The next three sections describe Anza, …

The Tax Injunction Act And Federal Jurisdiction: Reasoning From The Underlying Goals Of Federalism And Comity, David Fautsch

Michigan Law Review

States routinely contest federal jurisdiction when a state tax is challenged in federal district court on federal constitutional grounds. States argue that the Tax Injunction Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1341 (2006), bars jurisdiction and, even if the Tax Injunction Act does not apply, the principals of federalism and comity require abstention. The United States Supreme Court has not squarely addressed the scope of federalism and comity in relation to the Tax Injunction Act, and federal courts of appeal are split. In the Fourth and Tenth Circuits, federalism and comity require federal district courts to abstain even where the Tax Injunction …

Curing The Structural Defect In State Tax Systems: Expanding The Tax Base To Include Services, Timothy R. Hurley

Mercer Law Review

"The state retail sales tax in America can be likened to an illegitimate child that was not wanted but that came anyway." At least that is how one economist has described the sales tax. He went on to state, "Being unwanted is not really unusual and it is certainly no bar to normal growth. It is even possible for the illegitimate to gain respectability." Apparently, the sale tax has gained respectability. Less than eighty years ago, there was no such tax in the United States. In 1932 Mississippi introduced what is the modem-day sales tax. Since then, forty-four states have …

Derecho De La Seguridad Social En México, Bruno L. Costantini García

Bruno L. Costantini García

Breve presentación del Derecho de la Segurida Social en México.

¿Qué es?

¿Cómo funciona?

¿Su aplicación?

State Taxation: The Role Of Congress In Defining Nexus, Walter Hellerstein

Presentations and Speeches

Testimony before the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law Regulatory Reform and Oversight to "help us understand the implications of defining nexus."

Currently, States levy a tax on income earned or on a transaction occurring within its borders. The taxpayer is liable only if there exists a nexus or a connection between the State and the activities of the taxpayer. Some taxpayers have expressed concerns that current State tax policies are difficult to navigate, leading to unpredictable tax bills or incurring onerous paperwork. They contend that States utilize an overly broad tax nexus standard to impose unnecessary taxes and urge …

Foreword: Rights, Remedies, And Rose, Scott R. Bauries

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In this Foreword to the University of Kentucky’s “Rose at 20” Special Feature, I seek to introduce the three featured articles, as well as to identify two major paradigm shifts in school finance litigation that grew out of the Kentucky Supreme Court’s decision in Rose v. Council for Better Education. The Rose decision is commonly thought of as a bridge between prior education litigation strategies founded primarily on theories of equity or equality and subsequent litigation strategies founded primarily on theories of adequacy. Although the distinction between these two strategies is well-worn, it obscures two important changes to …

The Unfulfilled Promise Of The Indian Commerce Clause And State Taxation, Richard Pomp

Faculty Articles and Papers

The Constitution gives Congress the right to “regulate Commerce . . . with the Indian tribes.” Has the Indian Commerce Clause achieved its purpose? Have the Courts interpreted the Clause consistent with Congressional intent? I argue that the answer is, disappointingly, “no.”

The Supreme Court has emasculated and denigrated the Indian Commerce Clause, preventing implementation of the Founders’ vision. The Court has refused to use the Clause as a shield against state taxation.

Chief Justice John Marshall had the opportunity in 1832 in Worcester v. Georgia to shape the Clause into a powerful doctrine. As a ratifier, he was privy …

E-Vat: An Electronically Collected Progressive Consumption Tax, Daniel S. Goldberg

Faculty Scholarship

This report proposes replacing the income tax with an electronic, progressive consumption tax that couples a credit-method VAT (modified for wages) with a progressive wage tax. I have called this proposal e-VAT (a convenient contraction for an electronic value added tax), because it is based on a business-level-credit VAT and can be collected automatically and electronically at the point of sale.

The essential advantage of e-VAT over the Hall-Rabushka flat tax is that e-VAT’s use of a credit VAT as its foundation facilitates automatic and electronic collection of the tax. A credit VAT lends itself to electronic monitoring and auditing …

Beyond Batsa: State Taxation Without State Boundaries?, Neil V. Birkhoff

Washington and Lee Law Review

In his Note, Beyond BA TSA: Getting Serious About State Corporate Tax Reform, Quinn Ryan provides us with the following: (1) an overview of the problem of diminishing state corporate tax revenues;2 (2) the basic legal principles applicable in administering state corporate income taxes;3 and (3) a history of the development of state tax nexus standards.4 Ryan uses the Business Activity Tax Simplification Act of 2009 (BATSA) to point out where reform is necessary and argues that BATSA is not the answer.6 While Ryan notes the myriad of problems with corporate income tax apportionment statutes 7 he leaves the mechanics …

Sparks Nugget: State Tax Exemption Of Food Used By Casinos For Comped Meals, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.