National Tax Journal articles from December 2005

National Tax Journal archives from December 2005

Can competition tame the Leviathan? Evidence from California's proposition 39.
December 1, 2005... INTRODUCTION When budget-maximizing behavior on the part of local government leads to tax and expenditure outcomes that deviate from the desires of local voters, voters have an incentive to impose constraints on government behavior. So...

The theory of tax evasion: a retrospective view.
December 1, 2005... INTRODUCTION If someone were to write a full history of taxation, including both practitioners' experience and the thinking of theorists, it is probably a good guess that tax evasion would be part of the picture from the very start. The...

Evaluating the impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit on health insurance coverage.
December 1, 2005... INTRODUCTION Few public policy issues receive greater attention than the significant number of individuals in the United States who lack health insurance. The Census Bureau (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2004) estimated that in 2003 more...

Estimation of the return on capital in municipal water systems.
December 1, 2005... INTRODUCTION The optimal amount of public sector investment and the efficiency with which it is used to provide public services are enduring topics of economic research. This paper addresses both of these issues in the specific instance of...

An analysis of the effects of vehicle property taxes on vehicle demand.
December 1, 2005... INTRODUCTION Personal property taxes on vehicles recently existed in 31 states. In some states, there is a uniform rate across all political jurisdictions; in others, the tax rates vary by county, city, town, school, and even fire district...

Estimating aggregate levels of property tax assessment within local jurisdictions: an extension of the Ihlanfeldt model to multiple land uses.
December 1, 2005... INTRODUCTION Assessment-sales ratio studies use property sales samples to estimate the level of property tax assessment (LOA) within local jurisdictions, where the LOA is defined as the overall ratio of assessed value to market value....

Utilization of income tax credits by low-income individuals.(Forum: Federal Income Tax Credits for Low-Income Families)
December 1, 2005... This is our objective--to give you the broad-based tax relief you deserve--to cut taxes, to increase access to health insurance, and to make education more affordable. I can think of no goals that are more important as we look to provide for...

Utilization of the saver's credit: an analysis of the first year.(Forum: Federal Income Tax Credits for Low-Income Families)
December 1, 2005... INTRODUCTION The Federal tax system includes a variety of deductions, exclusions and tax credits, the purpose of which, in many cases, is to encourage the type of behavior that is being subsidized. Retirement savings in tax preferred...

Distinguishing between short-term and long-term recipients of the earned income tax credit.(Forum: Federal Income Tax Credits for Low-Income Families)
December 1, 2005... INTRODUCTION During the almost 30 years since its creation, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has expanded from a small program costing $2.4 billion annually to a significant mechanism for transferring income to the poor, representing...

Death by a Thousand Cuts: The Fight over Taxing Inherited Wealth.(Book Review)
December 1, 2005... Death by a Thousand Cuts: The Fight over Taxing Inherited Wealth. By MICHAEL J. GRAETZ and IAN SHAPIRO. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2005, pp. 372. By most economic measures, the federal estate tax is fairly...

Theory and Practice of Excise Taxation: Smoking, Drinking, Gambling, Polluting, and Driving.(Book Review)
December 1, 2005... Theory and Practice of Excise Taxation: Smoking, Drinking, Gambling, Polluting, and Driving. Edited by SIJBREN CNOSSEN. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 255. INTRODUCTION This book provides an interesting collection of essays...

Helping Children Left Behind: State Aid and the Pursuit of Educational Equity.(Book Review)
December 1, 2005... Helping Children Left Behind: State Aid and the Pursuit of Educational Equity. Edited by JOHN YINGER. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004, pp. 404. Public elementary and secondary education in the United States was...