State Taxation Policy

State Taxation Policy

Author: Michael Barker

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 1983

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9780822305354

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This volume discusses the problems of state governments in coping with contemporary issues of redesigning taxation policies to encourage economic growth.


Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries

Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries

Author: Deborah Brautigam

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2008-01-10

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 1139469258

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There is a widespread concern that, in some parts of the world, governments are unable to exercise effective authority. When governments fail, more sinister forces thrive: warlords, arms smugglers, narcotics enterprises, kidnap gangs, terrorist networks, armed militias. Why do governments fail? This book explores an old idea that has returned to prominence: that authority, effectiveness, accountability and responsiveness is closely related to the ways in which governments are financed. It matters that governments tax their citizens rather than live from oil revenues and foreign aid, and it matters how they tax them. Taxation stimulates demands for representation, and an effective revenue authority is the central pillar of state capacity. Using case studies from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, this book presents and evaluates these arguments, updates theories derived from European history in the light of conditions in contemporary poorer countries, and draws conclusions for policy-makers.


Growth and Variability in State Tax Revenue

Growth and Variability in State Tax Revenue

Author: Randall G. Holcombe

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 1997-10-28

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 0313029997

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During recessions state government fiscal crises are widespread, as states find their revenues inadequate to meet their expenditure demands. This volume shows that state fiscal crises have only one significant cause: revenue downturns associated with recessions. Other analysts have argued that fiscal crises are the result of an interaction of many complex causes, including inadequate tax bases, increasing expenditure demands, and limits placed on state governments by voters. This analysis examines these other factors and shows that while they present significant challenges to state policymakers, they are not the cause of fiscal crises. The book presents an improved methodology for measuring cyclical variability of revenues and uses this methodology to show that there is no way to restructure state tax systems in order to appreciably reduce the fiscal stress associated with recessions. Fiscal stress can be lessened by setting aside revenues during prosperous years in a rainy day fund, but current rainy day funds are not large enough to eliminate the fiscal stress caused by recessions.


Improving Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for Economic Development

Improving Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for Economic Development

Author: David Merriman

Publisher:

Published: 2018-09-05

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781558443778

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Economist David Merriman of the University of Illinois at Chicago reviews more than 30 individual studies in the most comprehensive assessment of tax increment financing (TIF) with practical recommendations for policy makers and practitioners. The report finds that while TIF has the potential to draw investment into neglected places, it has not accomplished the goal of promoting economic development in most cases. First implemented in the 1950s, TIF funds economic development within a defined district by earmarking increases in future property tax revenues that result from increases in real estate values in the district. The tax revenue can be used for public infrastructure or to compensate private developers for their investments, but TIF is prone to several pitfalls: it often captures some revenues that would have been generated through normal appreciation in property values, it can be exploited by cities to obtain revenues that would otherwise go to overlying government entities such as school districts, and it can make cities' financial decisions less transparent by separating them from the normal budget process. The report recommends several ways that state and local policy makers can reform TIF practices going forward.


The Future of State Taxation

The Future of State Taxation

Author: David Brunori

Publisher: The Urban Insitute

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 9780877666813

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State tax systems have generally not changed dramatically over the last 50 years, yet they are facing profound challenges. Increased international trade, the advent of electronic commerce, evolving federal-state relations, and interstate competition are just some of the developments that will have a powerful influence on how states collect revenue. This collection of essays from leading tax scholars addresses a wide variety of issues concerning the major sources of state tax revenue and provides insight into what has worked in the past and what will or will not work in the future.