Taxation-State and Local Commons^™

Citizenship And Worldwide Taxation: Citizenship As An Administrable Proxy For Domicile, Edward A. Zelinsky

Articles

The United States' worldwide taxation of its citizens is less different from international, residence-based norms than is widely believed and is sensible as a matter of tax policy. An individual's citizenship is an administrable, if sometimes overly broad, proxy for his domicile, his permanent home. Both citizenship and domicile measure an individual's permanent allegiance rather than his immediate physical presence. Because citizenship and domicile resemble each other, and because other nations often define residence for tax purposes as domicile, the U.S. system of citizenship-based taxation typically reaches the same results as the residence-based systems of these other nations, but reaches …

Conditional Deference To Tax Authorities, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

Recent installments of this column have explored an important point of intersection between administrative law and tax law: the degree of deference that courts accord to rules, regulations, and statutory interpretation positions of state and -local revenue agencies. This column continues that exploration. It examines what I call “conditional deference,” that is, according deference to the agency only when particular, defined conditions are present.

The first part below sets the context by describing Skidmore and Mead, two leading federal conditional deference cases. The second part contrasts state conditional deference doctrines, with particular emphasis on the operation of those doctrines in …

The Effect Of U.S. State Taxes On State Economic Prosperity, Casey Dainsberg

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Policy makers today are faced with trying to create solutions for economic troubles that become increasingly more complex and foreboding. Tax cuts and tax hikes are proposed and considered as possible solutions to various economic problems. However, the question still remains regarding which policies are most effective. The purpose of this research is to asses these competing claims. It seeks to find evidence that will shed light on one of these views. I have done this by accumulating tax and economic data from the fifty U.S. States between the years 2001-2009. Previous research has concluded that taxes do affect the …

Chevron Deference To State Tax Agencies, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

The last installment of this column inaugurated a multi-installment project examining judicial doctrines of deference to interpretations and positions taken by state and local tax agencies. We noted that in the various states, these doctrines fall into about a half dozen categories.

This installment explores one of those categories. A major deference rule in federal administrative law (including tax law) emanates from the U.S. Supreme Court’s famous Chevron case. This installment considers the extent to which Chevron and similar approaches are applied in state and local tax cases.

The first part be low briefly describes C …

Who’S Going To Pick Up The Trash? Using The Build America Bond Program To Help State And Local Governments’ Cash Deficits, Randle B. Pollard

Scholarly Articles

All over the United States, state and local governments are facing increasing revenue deficits due to the current economic recession. Even during good economic times, state and local governments experience temporary cash-flow deficits. State and local governments use short-term municipal bond debt to finance temporary cash-flow deficits caused by the normal erratic collection of tax revenue. The issuance of short-term debt secured by future tax revenue has always been a financing tool that helped local governments with cash-flow problems.

The effects of the subprime mortgage crisis and the current recession threaten state and local governments’ ability to use this financial …

The Sale Of State Tax Credits: A Tax Court Decision Isn’T A Temple Of Doom, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

In Tempel v. Commissioner, decided in April 211, the Tax Court came to a number of important conclusions about sales of state income tax credits that occurred shortly after the credits had been received. The gain was held to be capital gain (with the court implicitly concluding that the credits were property), but the holding period for the credits began at receipt and the taxpayers had no basis in the credits. The bottom line was that the gain was short-term capital gain, with no basis offset, a negative result for these taxpayers. But the Tax Court’s conclusion that the …

On Tax Increase Limitations: Part I -- A Costly Incoherence, David Gamage, Darien Shanske

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this essay, the first of a series, we explore the theoretical implications of one particular type of fiscal limitation on state legislatures - namely, special rules limiting tax increases. In this first essay we will explore the analytic soundness of these tax increase limitations (TILs). In future essays in this series we will analyze some of the consequences of TILs and in particular how they can be 'evaded.' We will argue over the course of this series of essays that because there is no meaningful content to the term 'tax increase' as it is used in TILs, legislative majorities …

Giving State Tax Incentives To Corporations: How Much Is Too Much?, Kathleen E. Mcdavid

South Carolina Journal of International Law and Business

No abstract provided.

Just A Matter Of Fairness: Tax Consequences Of The Service’S Revised Community Property Treatment Of California Registered Domestic Partners (Rdps), Francine J. Lipman

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Economic Development Incentives And The Legal And Economic Issues Of Open Versus Sealed Bids, Sherry L. Jarrell, J. Neal Robbins, Gary L. Shoesmith, Brendan A. Fox

South Carolina Journal of International Law and Business

No abstract provided.

The Fading Bright Line Of Physical Presence: Did Kfc Corporation V. Iowa Department Of Revenue Give States The Secret Recipe For Repudiating Quill?, Adam B. Thimmesch

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Stable American Mind: Understanding Attitudes Towards Government And Taxes, 1990-2011, Christopher P. Eldred

CMC Senior Theses

As the federal government seeks ways to stimulate our economy and reduce our national debt, understanding public attitudes on the role and size of government and the taxes that support it is important. This thesis evaluates how US public opinion towards government and taxes has changed from 1990 to the present, and analyzes several potential causes for changes that have occurred. It is intended to be an update of William G. Mayer’s 1992 book entitled The Changing American Mind, which analyzed changing public opinion from 1960-1988. In following his analysis, the causes I have analyzed are generational replacement, fiscal …

Summaries From The 26th Annual Tei-Sjsu High Technology Tax Institute, Ankit Mathur, Zhihua Cai, Tim Kelly, Marja Mirkovic, Sampada Deshmukh, Ami Shah

The Contemporary Tax Journal

No abstract provided.

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.

Taxation, Craig D. Bell

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Estimating The Costs Per Job Created Of Employer Subsidy Programs, Timothy J. Bartik

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

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 …

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, …

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 …

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, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …