National Tax Journal articles from June 2004

National Tax Journal archives from June 2004

Interstate competition and state lottery revenues.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Since 1964, 38 states and the District of Columbia have enacted lotteries. In many states lotteries were enacted with high approval ratings in statewide referenda, averaging better than 64 percent overall (La Fleur and La...

Are all lotteries regressive? Evidence from the Powerball.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Currently in the United States 38 states either run their own lottery or participate in multi-state lottery consortiums. Lottery revenues amounted to $12 billion in 1998, and have continued to climb since that time. (1)...

An empirical examination of the impact of college financial aid on family savings.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Most colleges and universities in the United States adjust the prices they charge some of their students based on their ability to pay. Middle and lower income families are often eligible for and receive financial aid from...

Audit selection and firm compliance with a broad-based sales tax.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION The retail sales tax is a major revenue instrument of most state and local governments in the United States, accounting for roughly one-third of state and local own-source revenues in recent years. Numerous aspects of the...

Taxation and risk-taking with multiple tax rates.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Since Domar and Musgrave (1944) and subsequent literature, it has been known that taxpayers can make portfolio adjustments that effectively eliminate the portion of an income tax nominally imposed on the risky return to...

The institutions of federalism: toward an analytical framework.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION: THE INSTITUTIONS OF FEDERALISM Ideally, the fiscal policies of state and local governments, and of subnational governments in countries throughout the world, should enable them to provide highly-valued public goods and...

Plan design and 401(k) savings outcomes.(Forum on Pensions)
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Over the last 20 years, defined contribution pension plans have gradually replaced defined benefit pension plans as the primary privately-sponsored vehicle to provide retirement income. At year-end 2000, employers sponsored...

Company stock in pension funds.(Forum on Pensions)
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION "If I had not been so loyal to the company and left all of my 401(k) in Enron stock, if I'd diversified, then I would be in a lot better shape than I am now." --Enron retiree As a result of several highly publicized...

Cash balance plans: what do they mean for retirement security?(Forum on Pensions)
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION The conversion of traditional defined benefit plans to cash balance plans and the rules governing these conversions are among the most controversial aspects of pension policy today. In recent years, several large employers...

Pension plan choice in the pubic sector: the case of Michigan state employees.(Forum on Pensions)
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Public sector pension plans are a large, influential segment of the pension market. Pension plans for state and local employees in the U.S. include almost 13 million workers, pay benefits to more than five million...

State and Local Finances Under Pressure.(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... State and Local Finances under Pressure. Edited by DAVID L. SJOQUIST. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc., 2003, pp. 340. Although the recession has officially ended, you would never know it by looking at the fiscal condition of...

Taxation in a Global Economy.(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... Taxation in a Global Economy. By ANDREAS HAUFLER. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. 340. This book discusses tax competition between countries, a topic of considerable importance in today's world, and provides a nice...

Who benefits from the education saving incentives? Income, educational expectations and the value of the 529 and Coverdell.(Coverdell Education Savings Accounts)
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION In the past few years, a new breed of tax-advantaged savings vehicle has emerged. The federal Coverdell Education Savings Account (ESA) allows annual, after-tax deposits of up to $2,000 a year, with asset earnings untaxed so...

Employee stock purchase plans.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION There has been great interest recently in the use of stock-based compensation in American companies. Although there is an older literature on employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and an emerging one on stock options (see...

The alternative minimum tax and effective marginal tax rates.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) is a provision of the U.S. income tax code that traces its history to the Tax Reform Act of 1969. That tax legislation included a minimum tax, which took effect in 1970. The minimum tax was...

Estate and gift tax incentives and inter vivos giving.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Policy makers and the American public have strongly supported elimination of the estate and gift taxes, or "death taxes" as they have been termed by some. A recent CBS News/New York Times poll found that 71 percent of...

Top wealth shares in the United States, 1916-2000: evidence from estate tax returns.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION The pattern of wealth and income inequality during the process of development of modern economies has attracted enormous attention since Kuznets (1955) formulated his famous inverted U-curve hypothesis. Wealth tends to be much...

Valuing assets in retirement saving accounts.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION The rising importance of assets in tax-deferred accounts has changed the way U.S. households prepare for retirement. Assets in Individual Retirement Accounts and 401(k) plans, which have only been widely available since the...