The functioning and regulation of escrow accounts

Abstract

About 40 million Americans have mortgages serviced by escrow accounts. Yet escrow accounts are rarely covered by an explicit agreement between borrower and lender and are often poorly understood. As a result, escrow accounts have become the subject of growing controversy. Federal regulation of escrow accounts has become increasingly detailed and intrusive during the past two decades, and the subject is under almost continuous regulatory review. In the 1990s, the attorneys general of at least 10 states have sued large escrow account servicers over administration of accounts.

The purposes of this article are to explain briefly how escrow accounts work, benefit relevant parties, and are regulated by federal agencies, and to evaluate alternative regulatory programs. Most of the legitimate social goals of federal regulation could be achieved by requiring an explicit escrow agreement at the time of closing on a mortgage. A second‐best requirement would be that interest be paid on escrow balances.     

Introduction to session 3: Estimating the costs: Perspectives on preservation of the nation's lower‐income housing stock

Abstract

This article uses survey data from the Moving to Opportunity demonstration program in Chicago to explore changes for households moving from public housing. The focus is on two key areas: housing and neighborhood conditions, and labor force participation and employment of householders. The experimental design of the program allows the differences between comparison households, which moved with a regular Section 8 voucher, and experimental households, which moved to low‐poverty neighborhoods with housing counseling assistance, to be examined.

The findings, based on interviews an average of 18 months after families moved, reveal dramatic improvements in neighborhood and housing conditions for all participating families; experimental families experienced even greater gains in terms of housing and especially neighborhood conditions. Labor force participation and employment increased for householders in both groups, likely fueled by the robust economy throughout much of the country and supporting similar findings for program participants in New York and Boston.     

Comment on Jack Goodman's “houses,apartments, and the incidence of property taxes”

Abstract

Goodman finds from his analysis of the 2001 Residential Finance Survey that multifamily housing bears a higher effective property tax rate (EPTR) than single‐family owner‐occupied housing and argues that much of the differential is associated with the lower average property value of apartments. We offer comments on how this important research can be enhanced and analyze the EPTR by using a different database, the Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) of the decennial census.

Like Goodman, we find from the PUMS that the EPTR of multifamily housing is high relative to that of single‐family detached housing and that lower‐value multifamily housing has a higher EPTR relative to that of higher‐value multifamily units. We offer preliminary findings from the PUMS on the implications of the EPTR for development patterns (it may discourage smart growth), equity (the poor and minorities bear a higher tax burden), and housing (high EPTRs challenge affordability).     

企业税收筹划法律风险的若干基础理论问题探析

目前,企业税收筹划理论和实践中存在着一定程度的概念混淆,使得许多避税策划甚至是偷逃税的手段被冠之以税收筹划。为避免税收筹划法律风险,有必要对税收筹划等基本概念进行澄清。宜将税收筹划界定为区别于偷税与避税而具有特定内涵的概念,从而构建一个与税收筹划相关且逻辑自洽的概念体系,并在此基础上探明税收筹划法律风险的内涵。     

我国开征环境保护税的基本构思

生态环境的日益恶化已严重制约我国经济的发展,运用税收手段保护环境、治理污染在我国已有20余年的历史,但现行税制中有关保护环境的税种不够完善,缺乏针对性。应借鉴发达国家环保税制的成功经验,设计我国环保税的基本框架,完善税制,充分发挥税收的宏观调控作用。     

俄罗斯单一税改革的内容、评价与借鉴

俄罗斯联邦新个人所得税制的主要特征是取消了原比例税率的递增性,对应税收入实行单一税率。从马丁兹—凡奎兹和麦克纳伯的税制改革标准来看,俄罗斯单一税改革总的说来是非常成功的,对我国个人所得税改革具有一定的借鉴意义。     

财产权、税收和法治的实现

2007年5月30日财政部突然大幅提高印花税,导致股市遭受重创,也给人们带来了很多思索。财政部不恰当地使用税收手段调整股市,凸显了税收法定主义在当下中国阙失所造成的严重后果。毫无疑问,不符合税收法定主义的课税行为不但是对公民财产权的严重侵犯,而且可能会使实现法治的梦想最终落空。在此意义上,行政法学应当关注因税收而引发的种种法治问题并做出自己应有的贡献。     

从税权划分看我国地方税制立法体系的完善

税权划分规范与否,关系到中央和地方两级税制体系能否规范建立和有效运行。针对我国税收立法权高度集中于中央、税收征管权交叉重叠等税收权划分问题,本文比较国际上通行的三种税权划分模式,认为我国应选择“合理集权、适度分权”的分权模式。并指出赋予地方适度税收立法权、合理调整税种归属及其征管权、完善转移支付制度是当前规范我国税权划分、重新架构地方税制体系的具体政策选择。     

我国开征遗产税的若干问题探析

在我国,随着国民经济的持续快速发展,居民的个人资产已经到达了一定的规模,开征遗产税已是势在必行。本文首先分析了我国开征遗产税的价值目标,认为它主要包括调节社会分配不公,防止贫富分化过大;弥补个人所得税,完善财产税制;维护国家主权利益,促进国际间平等互利的交往。对我国开征遗产税亟待确立或完善的个人财产申报、登记制度,个人财产评估制度和财产法律制度等相关基础或配套制度予以了深入地探讨。着重提出了我国遗产税立法中的一些具体规定的设想。     

我国私人汽车消费宏观政策选择研究

展示性消费是一种消费者并不在乎消费品本身的效用,更多地是在追求这种消费可以显示消费者金钱或地位的消费。因城市建设、道路设施等问题的制约,中国大多城市还不具备普及私人汽车的条件,目前仍处于展示性消费阶段。为保障全民福利水平,遵循享用与付费对应的原则,建议适度提高汽车和汽油的消费税税率,由私人汽车的消费者承担更多的城市建设改造费用。