The Growth and Stability of the Local Tax Revenue in Japan

This paper estimates the elasticity of the local tax revenue in Japan and analyzes the growth and stability of the Japanese local tax system. The main estimated results are as follows. The growth taxes in the long run are the Individual Enterprise Tax and the Fixed Asset Tax. There are no stable taxes in the short run. The total amount of prefectural tax revenue is low growth in the long run and unstable in the short run. The total amount of municipal tax revenue is low growth in the long run and neutral in the short run. The total amount of the local tax revenue in the prefecture and the municipality does not have stability and growth.     

Unintended Consequences of Local Sales Tax: Capitalization of Sales Taxes into Housing Prices

Local governments are under pressure to look for alternatives to property taxes as their main revenue source. One response has been to adopt local sales taxes. Prior studies offer little guidance on whether and how much local governments enhance their revenue capacity with local sales taxes. This article unveils the underlying mechanisms by exploring the capitalization of sales taxes into housing prices as a property tax base measure. The empirical analysis reveals a capitalization of local sales taxes into housing prices, indicating the reduction of property tax bases in higher sales tax areas from the long-term perspective. The findings suggest that a sales tax rate increase might not raise local revenue capacity as much as policymakers intend.     

Local Option Sales Taxes and Fiscal Disparity: The Case of Georgia Counties

While local option sales taxes (LOST) have become an important revenue source for local governments, there has been concern about the distribution of LOST revenues: the uneven distribution of sales tax bases may have introduced a new source of fiscal inequality and exacerbated existing fiscal disparity. Using Georgia county data (N=159, 1970–2000), this study examines whether and how LOST have affected local fiscal disparity. Our findings suggest that the effects of LOST on fiscal disparity vary with the approach to measure revenue‐raising capacity; thus the issue of LOST distribution is sensitive to the underlying conceptualization of “fiscal equity.”     

State Sales Tax Policy in a Changing Economy: Balancing Political and Economic Logic Against Revenue Needs

Soon after implementation in the 1930s, the general sales taxes emerged as the largest state tax source. In 1990, income taxes produced nearly as much state revenue as did sales taxes. Although income tax revenue have increased significantly, the sales tax is not in jeopardy of being replaced in the immediate future. The sales tax still remains a vital state fiscal concern, particularly to those states without a broad individual income tax.     

Diversifying Local Government Revenue in Bosnia-Herzegovina Through an Area-Based Property Tax

After a bitter and devastating war, Bosnia and Herzegovina is making slow but steady progress rebuilding its economy and government structure. As normalcy returns, the demand for government services invariably will continue to increase, especially at the sub-entity levels of government. Unfortunately, the current fiscal structure severely restricts the resources available to local governments. This article suggests that Bosnia and Herzegovina consider adopting a property tax as a means to provide much- needed revenue. After describing the current governmental and fiscal system that has evolved since the signing of the Dayton Accords, the authors discuss why an area-based property tax, rather than a more traditional property tax based on capital value or market prices, makes sense for this country in transition.     

The Impact of Tax Revenue from Capital Gains Realizations on State Income Tax Revenue and Budget Conditions

We explore the effect of the rapid increase in capital gains realizations on state income tax revenue during the 1990s and 2000s, and the effect that this had on state fiscal decisions regarding the use of these revenue. We find wide variation in the growth of capital gains realizations across states and that the growth in capital gains had a significant effect on state income tax revenue for many states. We find that states used a sizable portion of the additional revenue from capital gains to fund reserves in the year the revenue was generated, and that capital gains revenue lead to some reductions in taxes but not to increases in expenditures. The evidence suggests that states were conservative in their use of capital gains related revenues.     

The Revenue Impact of Repeated Tax Amnesties

Proponents argue that tax amnesties raise revenue both in the short and long run, by bringing former nonfilers back into the tax system. Opponents contend that amnesties produce little short‐run revenue and weaken incentives for long‐run tax compliance. However, over the last 21 years, 27 states offered tax amnesties for a second or third time. While previous research has estimated the impact of specific tax amnesties, none have estimated how the impact changes when offered repeatedly. We find that these additional tax amnesties generate less short‐run revenue than predecessors and tend to magnify revenue losses associated with disincentives for long‐run tax compliance.     

Revenue Diversification in Arkansas Cities: The Budgetary and Tax Effort Impacts

The consequences of revenue shortfalls for cities are particularly dramatic due to the balanced‐budget requirement. Revenue diversification is one method of stabilizing revenue streams because diversified revenue structures can mitigate the revenue fluctuations often associated with single source revenue. Using audited financial reports, this study examines the impact of revenue diversification in Arkansas cities over 10 years. To address the issue of revenue adequacy, this study examines diversification's impact on current year budget changes in revenue and expenditures as well as its impact on tax effort.     

The Effect of Tax and Expenditure Limitations on Revenue Volatility: Evidence from Colorado

Much of the research on tax and expenditure limitations (TELs) focuses on the impact that limits have on the size of the public sector or the distribution of expenditures at the state and local levels. While these results shed light on the extent to which TELs succeed in reducing government spending, they do not have much to say about the impact of TELs on government budgeting or financial planning, despite the fact that voters support TELs in the hope of reducing government inefficiency (Courant, Gramlich, and Rubinfeld 1980; Ladd and Wilson 1982). This paper examines the effect of TELs on the stability of government revenues; sound tax policy entails controlling the volatility of revenues in order to plan more effectively for the future. Using panel data from Colorado's Division of Local Government as well as the Census Bureau's Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, this paper examines the impact of Colorado's 1992 Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) on local government finances. Results from difference‐in‐difference estimation suggest that TELs increase revenue and expenditure volatility.     

完善地方税收法律体系的相关问题

本对完善地方税收法律体系的相关问题进行了讨论，认为：走出思想认识上的误区，是完善地方税收法律体系的前提；理顺中央与地方的财政关系，是完善地方税收法律体系的基础和保障；优化地方税种配置，是完善地方税收法律体系的中心内容；建立统一的、多层级的地方税收规范体系，是当前完善地方税收法律体系的首要任务。     

Tax Competition and Income Redistribution: An Empirical Analysis for Switzerland

Tax competition is supposed to lead to thecollapse of the welfare state because, first, it willbecome difficult for a single jurisdiction to levy aredistribution tax upon the rich and mobile, andsecond, such a policy, if undertaken in onejurisdiction, will attract poor individuals from otherjurisdictions and erode internal redistributionpolicies. In this paper, the impact of personal incometaxes and transfers on residence decisions oftaxpayers is analyzed with Swiss subfederal data. Therelationship of tax competition and the erosion of theSwiss welfare state is tested with aggregate data onincome redistribution.     

论税收的公平与效率原则及税制设计

税收是市场经济下政府组织财政收入的主要手段,一国税制设计应在满足财政收入前提下,尽量满足税收的公平与效率原则。税制设计如何在这二者之间取舍,经常引起经济学家和政策制定者的争议。发达国家关于最优所得税制的理论应该对我们有所借鉴。     

Effects of the Form of Government and Property Tax Limits on Local Finance in the Context of Revenue and Expenditure Simultaneity

This paper examines the impact of the form of government and state‐imposed property tax limits on municipal finance. We suggest that municipal revenues and expenditures are determined concurrently and estimate revenue and expenditure functions as simultaneous equations. We use the instrumental variable approach and fixed effects to address revenue and expenditure endogeneity. By testing the model on a cross‐section of rich municipal data for fiscal year 2002, we find evidence that revenues and expenditures are simultaneously determined, that potentially binding state‐imposed property tax limits effectively restrict local revenues and that the form of government is a significant predictor of local expenditures.     

Inertia and Neighboring Effects in Local Tax Policy: Illinois' Experience with a Local Option Tax on Telecommunications

Illinois reconfigured the legal basis and constraints for municipal telecommunications taxes in 2003. We use data on municipalities' initial (assigned) tax rate, fiscal condition, population, changes in tax rates of neighboring municipalities and neighbors' initial (assigned) tax rates to explain changes in telecommunications tax rates between 2003 and 2008. We find clear evidence of an important and statistically significant inertia effect—municipalities initially assigned a zero tax rate continued to stay tax free—and important and statistically significant neighboring effects—municipalities whose neighbors changed tax rates did the same, and municipalities whose neighbors were assigned relatively high initial rates increased their own rates faster.