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Obamacare And The 'What Is A Tax?' Issue – Part Ii, Steve R. Johnson
Obamacare And The 'What Is A Tax?' Issue – Part Ii, Steve R. Johnson
Scholarly Publications
We are engaged in a two-part exploration. The previous installment of our column reviewed the perennial question of whether a given state or local exaction should be classified as a tax or something else. It rehearsed the contexts in which the issue has arisen in state and local tax controversies, the practical stakes involved in those controversies, and the criteria courts have developed to distinguish between truces and other types of governmental levies.
The previous installment also said that a new source of guidance as to the “what constitutes a tax?” question is developing: litigation over the individual mandate and …
Obamacare And The 'What Is A Tax?' Issue – Part I, Steve R. Johnson
Obamacare And The 'What Is A Tax?' Issue – Part I, Steve R. Johnson
Scholarly Publications
One of the hardiest perennials in the garden of state and local tax issues is the question whether particular revenue measures should be classified as taxes or some other type of exaction. The issue has been dispositive in numerous state and local tax cases and, befitting that significance, has been the topic of many reports in this journal.
Given the frequency of the decisions and commentary, authorities cited on the issue constantly evolve. State courts, omnivorous in their search for precedents and rationales, often cite federal cases. Recognizing this, a recent article in State Tax Notes examined decisions of the …