Taxation-State and Local Commons^™

Who Wins Residential Property Tax Appeals?, Randall K. Johnson

Faculty Works

This article explains who wins residential property tax appeals in Cook County, Illinois. It does so by collecting and combining public sector data, which has been recently released by the Cook County Assessor. The article then uses this data to compute three statistics. Lastly, it contextualizes each statistic in order to determine if some townships, or groups of townships, win more appeals than expected.

Preventing Government Shutdowns: Designing Default Rules For Budgets, David Gamage, David Scott Louk

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In nearly every area of law and governance, default policies exist when lawmakers cannot pass new legislation — typically, the status quo simply remains in effect. To its detriment, U.S. budget making at both the state and federal levels lacks effective defaults. If a new budget isn’t passed by year end, there is no budget, and the government shuts down. This lack of defaults, coupled with a dysfunctional era of budgetary politics, has led to a number of recent high-profile and costly state and federal government shutdowns at the state and federal levels.

To date, legal scholarship has failed to …

Change And Continuity In Fringe Benefit Taxation: Seeking Sense And Sensibility, Richard L. Kaplan, Dawson J. Price

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Using Taxes To Improve Cap And Trade, Part I: Distribution, David Gamage, Darien Shanske

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this article, the first of a series, we analyze the distributional issues involved in implementing U.S. state level cap-and-trade regimes. Specifically, we will argue that the structure of California’s AB 32 regime will unnecessarily disadvantage lower-income Californians under the announced plan to give away approximately half of the permits to businesses and pollution-emitting entities.

Modernizing The State Corporate Income Tax: Market-Based Apportionment For Content Providers, Richard Pomp

Faculty Articles and Papers

This Issue Paper discusses how technology has overtaken the traditional ways the states tax the income of “content providers” that operate broadcast and cable networks, sell advertising, and produce content such as movies and television programs. This content is licensed at wholesale to distributors and along with the advertising, is watched by customers of these distributors on their televisions, smart phones, tablets, gaming consoles, and computers— either in their homes or on the move.

The so-called “model” for taxing multistate businesses like content providers--the Uniform Division of Income for Tax Purposes Act (UDITPA)--was developed in 1957 and has been adopted …

Taxing State-Owned Enterprises: Understanding A Basic Institution Of State Capitalism, Wei Cui

All Faculty Publications

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) have become active investors in global markets in the last decade, challenging policymakers in Canada and other OECD countries to confront the logic of “state capitalism.” This article develops a novel theory of the income taxation of SOEs. Many countries subject their SOEs to the income tax, but economists tend to dismiss SOE taxation as superfluous. A contrary, popular belief holds that SOE taxation is necessary to ensure fair competition. This article shows that both views are mistaken and explains SOE taxation in terms of the agency problem for dividend policy. Because typical devices to give private …

Pro And Con (Law): Considering The Irrevocable Nongrantor Trust Technique, Alyssa A. Dirusso

Vanderbilt Law Review

Commentary on Jeffrey Schoenblum, Strange Bedfellows: The Federal Constitution, Out-of-State Nongrantor Accumulation Trusts, and the Complete Avoidance of State Income Taxation'

Advising Venture & Early-Stage Clients: Current Ear-To-The-Ground Assessment, Gary D. Leclair

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Taxation, Craig D. Bell

University of Richmond Law Review

This article reviews significant recent developments in the laws affecting Virginia taxation. Each section covers legislative changes, judicial decisions, and selected opinions or pronouncements from the Virginia Department of Taxation (the "Tax Department") and the Virginia Attorney General over the past year.

Recent Tax Developments In Virginia: 2013-2014, Craig D. Bell, William L.S Rowe

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Strange Bedfellows: The Federal Constitution, Out-Of-State Nongrantor Accumulation Trusts, And The Complete Avoidance Of State Income Taxation, Jeffrey Schoenblum

Vanderbilt Law Review

With the maximum rate of federal income tax at 39.6 percent, the Medicare surtax on investment income of 3.8 percent, and some state income tax rates exceeding 9 percent, taxpayers in the highest brackets have been seeking to develop strategies to lessen the tax burden. One strategy that has been receiving increased attention is the use of a highly specialized trust known as the NING, a Nevada incomplete gift nongrantor trust, which eliminates state income taxation of investment income altogether without generating additional federal income or transfer taxes. A major obstacle standing in the way of accomplishing this objective, however, …

State Taxation - Unitary Business/Formula Apportionment Tax Accounting Method - Application Of A Three Factor Formula To Apportion Income Of Foreign-Parent Corporations For State Tax Reporting Purposes Does Not Violate The Commerce Clausse Or The Due Process Clause Of The U.S. Constitution - Barclay's Bank Int'l, Ltd. V. Franchise Tax Bd., 10 Cal. App. 4th 1742, 14 Cal. Rptr. 2d 537 (Cal. Ct. App. 1992), Modified Reh'g Denied, 11 Cal. App. 4th 1678a (Cal. Ct. App. 1992)., Sarah B. Pierce

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Foul Play: Tennessee's Unequal Application Of Its Jock Tax Against Professional Athletes, Kirk Berger

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The Framers of the Constitution knew, and we should not forget today, that there is no more effective practical guaranty against arbitrary and unreasonable government than to require that the principles of law which officials would impose upon a minority must be imposed generally. Conversely, nothing opens the door to arbitrary action so effectively as to allow those officials to pick and choose only a few to whom they will apply legislation and thus escape political retribution that might be visited upon them if larger numbers were affected. Courts can take no better measure to assure that laws will be …

Summary Of Déjà Vu Showgirls V. Nev. Dept. Of Taxation, 130 Nev. Adv. Op. 73, Joseph Meissner

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Exotic dancing establishments sought a declaration that Nevada’s Live Entertainment Tax (NLET) violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because it singles out small groups based on the content of their speech and taxes them in an effort to suppress their ideas. The Supreme Court of Nevada found that NLET does not discriminate on the basis of speech, target a small group of speakers, or threaten to suppress viewpoints or ideas in violation of the First Amendment because appellants failed to show that NLET is not rationally related to a legitimate government purpose.

Congress Promotes Perpetual Trusts: Why?, Lawrence W. Waggoner

Law & Economics Working Papers

This posting updates the article titled Congress Promotes Perpetual Trusts: Why?. The article was originally posted on SSRN in September 2013. The updated version incorporates a discussion of two new developments—the unveiling of the long-awaited House Ways and Means Committee’s proposal for comprehensive tax reform and the issuance of the president’s proposed budget for 2015. Both of these new developments are disappointing because neither proposes curtailing or effectively curtailing perpetual trusts. By unwittingly granting a tax exemption for perpetual trusts, Congress undermined state perpetuity law and promoted private trusts that can last and remain tax exempt for many centuries and …

Fairness, Equity, And A Level Playing Field: Development Goals For The Resilient City, Christopher K. Odinet

Faculty Scholarship

In the wake of the Great Recession and in the midst of a political climate that endorses the devolution of governmental power to more localized levels there has been a resurgence in recent years of the idea of the city as the center of American life. Competition between cities in capturing economic development projects has become palpable. Success can lead to job creation and growth, private investment, and, importantly, increased tax revenues. Cities often compete with one another by each offering their own package of public incentives. In the waning hours of negotiations hundreds of millions of public dollars can …

The Impact Of The Tax Revolt And School Reform On Oregon Schools During The 1990s, Beth Cookler

Dissertations and Theses

When Oregon voters passed the property tax limitation initiative, Measure 5, and the state legislature enacted school reform under the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century during the 1990-91 school year, the trajectory of public schooling in the state changed significantly. After Oregon's tax revolt, the state legislature also enacted legislation that equalized school funding throughout the state. The combination of equalization and the Measure 5 step-down to the $5 per $1000 tax limitation led to a decrease in statewide school funding over the decade. Many wealthy urban districts experienced years of budget cuts, while rural districts received additional …

When Everything Matters, Nothing Matters: Minnesota's Unprincipled Approach For Determining Domicile In Tax Disputes, And A Path Forward, Joseph E. Cooch

Hamline Law Review

abstract

Winning The Crowd: Harnessing Taxpayer Choices To Improve Educational Quality, W. Edward Afield

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sales Suppression As A Service (Ssaas) & The Apple Store Solution, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

The problem of sales suppression fraud is estimated to cost state and local governments $20 billion annually ($2 billion in New York restaurants alone). Modern sales suppression (skimming) is carried out with technology (Zappers and Phantom-ware). Nine undercover sting operations in and around Manhattan and the Bronx by investigators working for New York’s Department of Taxation and Finance (NY-DT&F) have identified the SSaaS variant of modern skimming.

A striking example of SSaaS may be unfolding in the $1 million sales suppression case against Congressman Michael Grimm (R-NY). It is alleged that Grimm skimmed sales from his Healthalicious restaurant in Manhattan, …