Explaining the Prevalence of Illegitimate Wage Practices in Southern Europe: An Institutional Analysis

This paper proposes that the prevalence of illegitimate wage practices in Southern European societies results from the discord between the formal rules (formal institutions) and the socially shared unwritten rules that reflect citizens' beliefs (informal institutions). To evaluate this, a 2013 survey is reported on whether employers in five Southern European countries fraudulently evade tax and social security payments by paying employees a portion of their salary off the books. A strong association is revealed between the extent of wage under-reporting and the degree of institutional asymmetry across these societies. The implications for theorising illegitimate wage practices are then explored.     

我国企业税收筹划的现状分析及发展对策

相对于发达国家 ,我国税收筹划发展缓慢。我国税收筹划的发展对策应该是完善税收法制 ,以法治税 ;加强法制宣传和税收筹划指导。企业税收筹划要注意长远和整体利益 ,大力发展税务代理机构     

试论税法对环境污染行为的调控

在环境保护领域 ,市场失灵使政府干预成为必要 ;而政府干预也会失灵又需要干预政府。税法作为经济法宏观调控的重要组成部分 ,集经济手段和法律手段于一身 ;税法其实又是一个综合的领域 ,具有不同法律部门的功能。故税法既能干预市场 ,又能干预政府 ;既能解决市场失灵 ,又能解决政府失败     

论税收执法权的监督制约

依法治税是依法治国方略的重要组成部分 ,是建设社会主义法治国家的客观需要 ,也是建立和发展社会主义市场经济的必然要求。强化税收执法权的监督制约 ,规范税收执法行为 ,是依法治税的关键之一。本文在分析当前我国税收执法存在的问题及原因的基础上 ,论证了税收执法权的监督制约 ,并提出了强化税收执法监督的对策措施。     

关于我国开征物业税的思考

我国房地产业税收存在租、税、费界定不清等问题,造成我国房价高。因此,从整体上改革房地产税费制度已成必须。而房地产税费改革的基本方向应该是“明租、正税、清费”。具体来说,就是在法律中明确规定,土地出让金作为地租形式,从原来购房时一次性交纳改为在使用期内逐年向当地政府交纳;统一征收物业税;清理房地产业中的各项杂费。     

虚开增值税专用发票罪认定中的几个疑难问题

虚开增值税专用发票罪,在司法实践中存在比较大的争议:一是多人分别实施虚开与骗税行为如何适用刑法第二百零五条第二款;二是虚开数额的认定;三是虚开增值税专用发票罪与其他相关犯罪的竞合问题;四是单位和自然人构成虚开增值税专用发票罪的认定。     

Do Industrial Tax Abatements Spur Property Value Growth?

Despite ongoing debate regarding the effectiveness of tax abatements, Michigan's Industrial Facilities Tax (IFT) abatement program has been widely and extensively used to boost local economic development. In this article, we estimate the effects of industrial property tax abatements on industrial, residential, and commercial property value growth in the context of regional competition for a panel of 152 communities in the five counties surrounding Detroit from 1983 through 2002. We find that: (1) offering tax abatements yields statistically significant positive impacts on industrial property value growth; (2) the impacts are larger in high tax than in low tax communities; (3) there are positive spillover effects of industrial tax abatements on residential and commercial property value growth; (4) tax abatements offered in competitor communities do not appear to influence own industrial property value growth; and (5) changes in the own as well as competitor property tax rates are important determinants of industrial property value growth. However, the fiscal benefits of tax abatements are quite small as compared with the costs of offering abatements even when spillover benefits to residential and commercial properties are considered.     

The low‐income housing tax credit as an aid to housing finance: How well has it worked?

Abstract

The Low‐Income Housing Tax Credit program has been operating for over 10 years and has helped finance thousands of developments with units set aside for low‐ or moderate‐income households. However, the program has been criticized for requiring additional layers of subsidy to leverage investment and for providing benefits to developers in excess of the amount necessary to induce them to invest.

An analysis of a sample of developments from Missouri finds that the tax credits are syndicated, with virtually all of the syndication proceeds (about 33 percent of the financing) used to pay for development costs. Conventional lending provides another 44 percent of the financing. Unfortunately, because these sources do not cover all of the costs, developers enter into a complex, costly process of layering additional subsidies, one on top of another, to fully finance the development.     

Comment on Michael A. Stegman,Walter R. Davis,and Roberto Quercia's “The Earned Income Tax Credit as an instrument of housing policy”

Abstract

The article by Stegman, Davis, and Quercia is a careful, comprehensive analysis of the current impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) on the housing cost burdens of working families. Its major proposal, a graduated supplement to the EITC to reflect housing costs, is compared with my broader concept of addressing severe cost burdens through supplements to major income support programs. Criticisms of my concept, chiefly administrative difficulties and incompatibility with the EITC benefit structure, are discussed.

My primary concerns are that Stegman, Davis, and Quercia's proposal does not sufficiently target families with severe housing costs and that the formula for calculating the additional benefit does not reflect diverse housing costs throughout the country and provides the smallest increases to the recipients with the lowest incomes. However, it is more important to generate discussion of the reality that “income policy IS housing policy” than to argue about details.     

Expanding the R&;E tax credit to drive innovation,competitiveness and prosperity

The research and experimentation (R&E) tax credit has long been the subject of criticism. Some argue that if the goal is more research and innovation, it’s better to increase direct federal funding of research. Others argue that the credit is not effective, that companies would do the research in any case. Some object the very notion of using tax policy to influence private sector behavior, preferring instead a more “neutral” tax code. Still others, including Tassey in this volume, point to what they see are a host of design flaws in the current credit, including that its incremental nature reduces its effectiveness. I will argue here that most of these arguments are mistaken. To promote innovation in a global economy both direct funding and indirect tax incentives are needed. The credit, while it can be improved, has been shown to be effective in stimulating research. Moreover, far from distorting the market, the credit corrects for a market failure where firms are unable to capture all of the benefits of corporate research, leading them to under invest in research. Finally, while reform and expansion are needed, it would be a mistake to shift to a completely flat credit. However, several important changes should be made including doubling the current value of the credit, modifying the Alternative Simplified Credit to become incremental, and expanding the flat credit for collaborative R&D.