The corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT) was hailed in the Tax Reform Act of 1986 as instrumental to ensuring that tax loopholes would not permit corporations to avoid paying their fair share of tax liability. In 1995, less than ten years later, repeal of the AMT was pledged as part of the Republican Party's " Contract with America" and passed by the House of Representatives. Opponents of the AMT object that it penalizes new investment by firms and prevents the use of legitimate deductions. Its defenders tout the ability of the AMT to address public perceptions of unfairness in the tax system. At first glance, the debate over the AMT seems to be another example of the classic struggle between equity and efficiency. But, as this book reveals, there are serious flaws in the arguments used on both sides of this issue. As a result, the AMT may fail to achieve any notable equity objectives and may miss the opportunity to make significant improvements in the efficiency with which the nation's scarce capital is employed. Whether or not reforms of the AMT are ultimately enacted, the debate over the AMT raises fundamental questions of tax policy that will persist: Who benefits from tax subsidies? How much should the tax code be used to direct resources in the economy? If corporate taxes are ultimately borne by individuals, how do corporate tax provisions affect fairness? Andrew Lyon opens these topics up to a wide audience, presenting new data on the impact of the AMT, and offering suggestions for future policy reform. He argues that the legislative desire to respond to an apparent inequity should be channeled into considering whether there are efficiency reasons for reducing the taxadvantages observed. The best solutions to these considerations, he contends, are not found in a minimum tax.

Taxing behavior deemed "politically incorrect" has long been a convenient way for politicians to fund programs benefiting special interest groups, to the public's disadvantage. Government policy toward various goods--drugs, tobacco and alcohol, for example--has been locked into a regulatory cycle of tax and taboo. Support for legalizing other substances is buttressed by the revenue-generating power of so-called "sin" taxesi And the products subjected to excise taxation have varied from soft drinks, fishing gear and margarine to airline tickets, telephone calls and gasoline. "Taxing Choice "thoroughly addresses the costs and benefits of these predatory public policies.

Shughart notes that the record of such punitive selective taxation has been anything but successful, hindering economic progress and failing to deliver the promised social benefits. In addition, the costs of selective taxes fall disproportionately on lower-income people, while more politically powerful interest groups benefit. At the same time, such policies are a poor way to raise funding for public services, and foster political corruption and self-serving bureaucracies accountable to no one. Indeed, policies discriminating against certain products may represent ominous trends easily extended into virtually every facet of people's lives. One can envision policies proscribing foods, sun bathing, obesity, and even books, films, and political and religious beliefs deemed "dangerous."

Part I is devoted to the political economy of selective taxation. Contributors trace the history and politics of selective excise taxes in the United States, discussing the range of products that have been subject to such taxation from the founding period to the present. Part II explains how these taxes emerge in a political marketplace with opposing pressure groups scrambling for wealth transfers in their own favor. Part III looks at taxes on specific products as well as such banning policies as Prohibition and the war on drugs. Constitutional, economic, and civil liberty issues, including civil asset forfeiture and product liability, are discussed in Part IV. With the accelerating national debate over tax reform and the downsizing of government, "Taxing Choice is "a timely and far-reaching contribution to a debate of great interest to economists, policymakers, historians, sociologists, and taxpayers in general.

What began as a relatively localized crisis in Greece in early 2010 soon escalated to envelop Ireland and Portugal. By the second half of 2011, the contagion had spread to the far larger economies of Italy and Spain. In mid-September the Peterson Institute and Bruegel hosted a conference designed to contribute to the formulation of policies that could help resolve the euro area debt crisis. This volume presents the conference papers; several are updated through end-2011. European experts examine the political context in Greece (Loukas Tsoukalis), Ireland (Alan Ahearne), Portugal (Pedro Lourtie), Spain (Guillermo de la Dehesa), Italy (Riccardo Perissich), Germany (Daniela Schwarzer), and France (Zaki Laidi). Lessons from past debt restructurings are then examined by Jeromin Zettelmeyer (economic) and Lee Buchheit (legal). The two editors separately consider the main current policy issues: debt sustainability by country, private sector involvement and contagion, alternative restructuring approaches, how to assemble a large emergency financing capacity, whether the European Central Bank (ECB) should be a lender of last resort, whether joint-liability "eurobonds" would be feasible and desirable, and the implications of a possible break-up of the euro area. The luncheon address by George Soros and a description (by Steven R. Weisman with Silvia B. Merler) of the policy simulation game played on the second day of the conference complete the volume. Involving market participants and experts representing the roles of euro area governments, the ECB, IMF, G-7, and credit rating agencies, the game led to a proposal for leveraging the capacity of the European Financial Stability Facility through arrangements with the ECB.

The European Commission envisages putting forward a proposal for a tax reform that would allow improving the efficiency and simplicity of the corporate income tax systems. This report assesses the impact of a Common Corporate Tax Base (CCTB) on the size of the corporate tax bases of EU companies. The results of the report shall help to evaluate the economic consequences of the introduction of a harmonised set of tax accounting rules. The estimates are based on the European Tax Analyzer with data from the year 2006 and apply options specified by the Commission 's Steering Group.

David F. Bradford discusses key concepts in consumption and income taxes and identifies the problems of a transition to a consumption-based system. He addresses how such a transition would affect interest rates and shows how price changes would alter the distribution of gains and losses.

The distribution of taxes over different income groups, has, rightly or wrongly, assumed a central position in tax policy decisions. All serious tax proposals are now accompanied by tables illustrating this distribution. This volume shows how the accuracy of these tables can be improved.

The Dutch tax system distorts economic decisions, treats equal economic positions unequally for tax purposes, and is extraordinarily complex. Following in the footsteps of the Mirrlees Review, prominent economists from academia and the policy arena, at home and abroad, provide independent, evidence-based analyses of the system's shortcomings, as well as detailed proposals for reform. Tax by Design for the Netherlands spans the whole spectrum of taxes on labor and capital income, profits, consumption, wealth, inheritance, and charges to correct for market and individual failure, including the environment.

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While nearly everyone in the United States pays careful attention to the federal government in Washington, it is the state and local officials and bodies who are generally providing education, protecting the environment, caring for AIDS patients, financing affordable housing, and putting police and firefighters on the streets. In this text, Henry Raimondo gives these local governments some of the notice they are due, examining why state and local public finance has assumed such an important role in domestic fiscal policy matters. Traditional topics such as the theories of taxation and intergovernmental grants are combined with numerous overlooked subjects to reveal the dynamic and complex nature of state and local government fiscal behavior.

Raimondo begins his text with a look at the relationship between regional economic performance and state and local government finance, and follows with a description of U.S. economic geography. The organization of the public sector is outlined through a discussion of the political and economic dimensions of the federal system, and the guidelines for delegating services to different levels of government. Among the other topics covered are methods for financing elementary and secondary education that adjust for regional economic differences; taxation in a federal system; state and local taxes on property, sales, and personal income; user charges and gambling revenues; and the actual beneficiaries of state and local governments. The book concludes with an overview of the grants-in-aid system and its effect on spending decisions. Students of economics, urban studies, and political science will find this work to be an invaluable resource, as will professionals in public policy and planning.

Governments around the world are wrestling with the problems of enormous debts, low growth, high unemployment and a gap between the demands of public expenditure and what can be raised through taxation. This problem has been acute since the financial crisis, but has been a hallmark of western economies for decades.Only a few countries have been able to avoid this pattern, mostly those blessed with vast natural resources such as oil. However, there are two small islands with no natural resources which have also enjoyed high growth combined with low taxation: Hong Kong and Singapore. Nor do they have any public debts, in fact, on the contrary, they generally run a budget surplus, and investment income is a feature of their government revenue.Andrew Purves, who grew up on the island of Hong Kong, has gone beyond the conventional analysis of taxation, and asked what each jurisdiction has in common, to bring about this happy state of affairs.The result is quite surprising for two countries which sit at the top of the table for promoting free markets and other capitalist ideals of small government.All land in Hong Kong is owned by the government, who makes it available for use by lease in return for a Government Rent, while Singapore now controls over half of its land area, as well as significant stakes in its strategic industries, which deliver a steady stream of unconventional income. Although in Hong Kong this situation has developed almost by accident, Purves suggests that here lies a model for generating public revenue that could be adopted in other countries to allow a shift in taxation from production and consumption to the Economic Rent of land, as advocated by Adam Smith over two hundred years ago.As a businessman in London, Andrew Purves, is keenly aware of the damaging impact of current taxation on economic activity.

Major economic and environmental crises stem from imperfections in the land market, yet the theory which explains the allocation and value of natural resources is relegated to the periphery of social science and ignored by policy-makers. This is the thesis advanced by the authors who argue that problems ranging from the deforestation of the Amason basin to urban decay can be traced to a common factor: the failure to put a proper value on the resources of nature. Western governments have in recent years freed the labour and capital markets of restrictive practices and exchange controls, but restrictions on the land market have escaped attention so that policy decisions continue to be made in ignorance of social, economic and ecological consequences of shifts in the supply and price of land. This book explains how the malfunctioning of the land market affects economic performance, the distribution of income and the use of abuse of natural resources. It retrieves a classical theory of economics from limbo and explains how the market mechanism, if made to work properly, collaborates sympathetically with strategies aimed at enhancing the environment and conserving finite resources. To demonstrate the practicality of their argument, the authors have valued the land and natural resources of Britain - the first authoritative assessment since William the Conqueror's Domesday Book. They claim that, given a similar valuation, any country could develop a sustainable framework for the complex interactions of social, economic and ecological variables. They compare the unreliability of statistics in the United States with the comprehensive valuation available in Denmark.

Dieses Buch stellt Zeitmanagement-Strategien speziell fur Juristen und Rechtsanwalte, Steuerberater und Wirtschaftsprufer vor. Diese Berufsgruppen sind Standesregeln und hohem wirtschaftlichen Druck ausgesetzt und klagen haufig uber Zeitprobleme. Doch die ublichen Ratschlage zum Thema Zeitmanagement helfen ihnen aufgrund der besonderen beruflichen Anforderungen meist nicht weiter. Zudem sind die Zeitprobleme so individuell, dass eine "allgemeine" Strategie nicht passt. Hier setzt dieses Buch an: Es vermittelt Juristen und Rechtsanwalten, Steuerberatern und Wirtschaftsprufern das Wissen und die Werkzeuge, um selbststandig Strategien fur ihre persoenlichen Zeitprobleme zu entwickeln und diese erfolgreich in ihrem beruflichen Alltag umzusetzen. Die uberarbeitete 4. Auflage wurde um Erfahrungen aus der Corona-Pandemie und ein Kapitel uber Gesundheit und Koerper erweitert.

Der Arbeitsmarkt stellt traditionell in vielen marktwirtschaftlich organisierten Gesellschaften einen Ausnahmebereich dar. Dabei darf nicht vergessen werden, dass es sich auch beim Arbeitsmarkt um einen Markt handelt, bei dem die Preisbildung durch Angebot und Nachfrage zustande kommt. Derzeit sind Fachkraftemangel und Migration die zentralen Themen. Die Beitrage diskutieren die Interdependenz dieser beiden Entwicklungen sowohl aus volkswirtschaftlicher als auch aus betriebswirtschaftlicher Perspektive. Zusatzlich untersuchen sie sektorale Arbeitsmarkte in Europa sowie internationale Entwicklungen, sowohl im Hinblick auf die marktlichen Aspekte als auch auf die staatliche Regulierung. Damit bietet der Band einen vielseitigen UEberblick uber die derzeit meistdiskutierten Themen der Arbeitsmarktentwicklung.

Das Werk erlautert praxisnah alle Besonderheiten der Grundung, Fuhrung und Verwaltung der haftungsbeschrankten Unternehmergesellschaft (UG). Die UG ist eine Mini-GmbH, die bereits mit 1 EURO Stammkapital gegrundet werden kann und damit attraktive Voraussetzungen mitbringt. Interessant ist die UG vor allem fur Einzelunternehmer und BGB-Gesellschaften ohne groesseres Anlagevermoegen, die ihre Haftung einschranken wollen. Aber auch fur die Grundung von Tochtergesellschaften oder als Komplementar-UG in der UG & Co. KG ergeben sich Vorteile. Erganzt wird das Werk mit zahlreichen Arbeitshilfen und Mustern.

Dieses Buch informiert uber die steuerlichen und sozialversicherungsrechtlichen Folgen von Homeoffice im Ausland und hilft beim richtigen Verhalten wie bei der korrekten Dokumentation. Neben einer ubersichtlichen Beschreibung der Grundsatze internationaler Besteuerung gehen die Autoren detailliert auf die steuerlichen Konsequenzen jeweils gesondert fur ArbeitnehmerInnen, ArbeitgeberInnen und Selbststandige ein. Zudem bieten sie einen UEberblick uber die steuerlichen Eckdaten popularer Home-Office-Wunschlander und schliessen mit konkreten Dokumentationsempfehlungen. Ein fundiertes und vor allem relevantes Nachschlagewerk fur alle Gruppen und Arten von Beschaftigten, FreelancerInnen und UnternehmerInnen bzw. deren Steuer- und Buchhaltungsabteilungen, von dem auch steuerlich zum Homeoffice im Ausland Beratende profitieren.

Das Faszinosum des Kapitals und die Illusion seiner (Selbst-)Vermehrung geben seit jeher zu denken und mehr noch zu erzahlen. Massloser Reichtum und bittere Armut, entfesseltes Begehren und ebensolche Verschwendung befeuern die Einbildungskraft, heben schillernde Protagonisten aus der Taufe und bringen virtuose Sujets, spannende Plots oder effektvolle Motive hervor. Narrative und Narrationen, die sich solcherart der Finanzen annehmen, generieren starke Affekte, extreme Reaktionen und scharfe Kontraste; sie nehmen Subjekte in Beschlag, spornen sie unablassig an, treiben sie aber auch in den Wahnsinn und in den Abgrund. Derlei kapitale Krisen zu diagnostizieren und auf diesem Weg Erzahlmuster, Konfliktherde und Figurenkonstellationen zu analysieren, macht sich der vorliegende Band in einem literarhistorischen Durchgang von Fruher Neuzeit bis in die Gegenwart zur Aufgabe.

Despite costing hundreds of billions of dollars and subsidizing everything from homeownership and child care to health insurance, tax expenditures (commonly known as tax loopholes) have received little attention from those who study American government. This oversight has contributed to an incomplete and misleading portrait of U.S. social policy. Here Christopher Howard analyzes the "hidden" welfare state created by such programs as tax deductions for home mortgage interest and employer-provided retirement pensions, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Targeted Jobs Tax Credit. Basing his work on the histories of these four tax expenditures, Howard highlights the distinctive characteristics of all such policies. Tax expenditures are created more routinely and quietly than traditional social programs, for instance, and over time generate unusual coalitions of support. They expand and contract without deliberate changes to individual programs.

Howard helps the reader to appreciate the historic links between the hidden welfare state and U.S. tax policy, which accentuate the importance of Congress and political parties. He also focuses on the reasons why individuals, businesses, and public officials support tax expenditures. "The Hidden Welfare State" will appeal to anyone interested in the origins, development, and structure of the American welfare state. Students of public finance will gain new insights into the politics of taxation. And as policymakers increasingly promote tax expenditures to address social problems, the book offers some sobering lessons about how such programs work.

Im Zuge der Neuordnung des europaischen Bankensektors hat die EU Neuland betreten - auch und gerade im Hinblick auf die unionsrechtlichen Instrumente fur oeffentlich-rechtliche Geldleistungspflichten. Dabei wirft insbesondere die "Europaische Bankenabgabe" nicht nur eine Vielzahl von konkreten Auslegungs- und Anwendungsfragen auf, sondern testet auch die kompetenzrechtlichen Grenzen der Unionsgesetzgebung sowie die Vorgaben der europaischen Grundrechte und Grundfreiheiten aus. Die vorliegende Publikation widmet sich den aufgeworfenen rechtlichen Fragen. Dabei stellt der Autor die Grundzuge und Einzelheiten der Europaischen Bankenabgabe dar und wurdigt das Regelungswerk dogmatisch im Lichte hoeherrangigen Rechts.

While this volume presents the important writings of James M. Buchanan on taxation and debt, Geoffrey Brennan makes it clear in the foreword that the thrust of Buchanan's work in this area has been to integrate theories of taxation and debt with public-expenditure theory. Therefore, the editors strongly urge that the present volume on taxation and debt be read in tandem with the subsequent Volume 15, "Externalities and Public Expenditure Theory."
Included in this present volume are thirty-five important writings by Buchanan on taxation and debt. These are grouped into the following major subject categories:
1.Taxation, Politics, and Public Choice
2.Earmarking and Incidence in Democratic Process
3.Analytical and Ethical Foundations of Tax Limits
4.The Fiscal Constitution
5.Confessions of a Burden Monger
6.Ricardian Equivalence
7.The Constitution of a Debt-Free Polity
As Geoffrey Brennan points out in the foreword to this volume, "Although James Buchanan's interests are wide-ranging, the core of his professional reputation as an economist and the origin of much of his broader thinking lie in public economics--in engagement with the questions of what governments do and how governments should properly finance what they do." This volume together with its partner subsequent volume present clear and accessible insights into the rich economic work for which Buchanan is best known.
James M. Buchanan is an eminent economist who won the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1986 and is considered one of the greatest scholars of liberty in the twentieth century.
The entire series will include:
Volume 1 "The Logical Foundations of Constitutional Liberty"
Volume 2 "Public Principles of Public Debt "
Volume 3 "The Calculus of Consent "
Volume 4 "Public Finance in Democratic Process"
Volume 5 "The Demand and Supply of Public Goods"
Volume 6 "Cost and Choice"
Volume 7 "The Limits of Liberty"
Volume 8 "Democracy in Deficit"
Volume 9 "The Power to Tax"
Volume 10 "The Reason of Rules"
Volume 11 "Politics by Principle, Not Interest"
Volume 12 "Economic Inquiry and Its Logic"
Volume 13 "Politics as Public Choice"
Volume 14 "Debt and Taxes"
Volume 15 "Externalities and Public Expenditure Theory"
Volume 16 "Choice, Contract, and Constitutions"
Volume 17 "Moral Science and Moral Order"
Volume 18 "Federalism, Liberty, and the Law"
Volume 19 "Ideas, Persons, and Events"
Volume 20 "Indexes"

Taxation in Colonial America examines life in the thirteen original American colonies through the revealing lens of the taxes levied on and by the colonists. Spanning the turbulent years from the founding of the Jamestown settlement to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Alvin Rabushka provides the definitive history of taxation in the colonial era, and sets it against the backdrop of enormous economic, political, and social upheaval in the colonies and Europe. Rabushka shows how the colonists strove to minimize, avoid, and evade British and local taxation, and how they used tax incentives to foster settlement. He describes the systems of public finance they created to reduce taxation, and reveals how they gained control over taxes through elected representatives in colonial legislatures. Rabushka takes a comprehensive look at the external taxes imposed on the colonists by Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden, as well as internal direct taxes like poll and income taxes. He examines indirect taxes like duties and tonnage fees, as well as county and town taxes, church and education taxes, bounties, and other charges. He links the types and amounts of taxes with the means of payment--be it gold coins, agricultural commodities, wampum, or furs--and he compares tax systems and burdens among the colonies and with Britain. This book brings the colonial period to life in all its rich complexity, and shows how colonial attitudes toward taxation offer a unique window into the causes of the revolution.

Dieses Essential bietet eine systematische und auch fur den Laien verstandliche Einfuhrung in die Grundlagen der komplexen Besteuerung von Dividendenausschuttungen und anderen Kapitaleinkunften aus dem In- und Ausland. Die wesentlichen ertragsteuerlichen Implikationen fur unbeschrankt steuerpflichtige naturliche Personen, Personengesellschaften sowie Koerperschaften werden in den Blick genommen. Dabei profitieren die Leser*innen von den ubersichtlichen Erlauterungen, praxisnahen Anmerkungen und Hinweisen.