The purpose of this case is to allow students the opportunity to examine how the recent changes to depreciation incentives in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-97, Dec. 22, 2017) may affect the purchase of capital assets. Bonus depreciation has been extended to allow an immediate 100% deduction for eligible property, which also now…

School districts may be affected by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 with regard to fixed assets management and education entities. The act avoids the scheduled increases to individual income tax rates for most Americans and extends a host of expired and expiring tax provisions for both individuals and businesses. The provisions described…

The purpose of this article was to present the results of a study that analyzed Pennsylvania local school boards' taxing authority, pre- and post-enactment of Special Session Act 1, "The Taxpayer Relief Act," in 2006, in terms of its percent share of school districts' total budget in order to better understand the impact of the new…

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to describe the implementation of Ohio's version of the Evidence-Based Model (OEBM) state school finance system in 2009. Data sources included state budget documents and analyses as well as interviews with local school officials. The new system was responsive to three policy objectives ordered by the…

Debt limits, interest coverage ratios, one-off balanced budget requirements, pay-as-you-go rules, and tax and expenditure limits are among the most important fiscal rules for constraining intertemporal transfers. There is considerable evidence that the least costly and most effective of such rules are those that focus directly on the rate of…

The United States is at a critical juncture. The deep recession and weak economic recovery have left one in 10 American workers without a job, and the federal budget is driving the country's debt to unprecedented levels. Business Roundtable believes that the nation's business community, the White House and Congress must work together to encourage…

Vermont lawmakers had grappled with the thorny issue of how to finance public education long before the Vermont Supreme Court's 1997 ruling that the state's funding system was unconstitutional. In "Brigham vs. State," the court found that the system in effect at that time violated the state's constitutional guarantee to equal protection…

Education finance policy in New Jersey has been shaped by over 30 years of school finance litigation. Through its decisions in "Robinson v. Cahill" (1973-1976) and "Abbott v. Burke" (1985-2005), the justices of New Jersey's supreme court have defined the state's constitutional guarantee of a "thorough and efficient"…

This report focuses on state and local taxation in the state of Kentucky. It looks into what "the ideal" tax system looks like and how Kentucky's system compares, whether the current system will provide adequate revenue for the long-term, whether the tax system is efficient, how fair and equitable the tax system is, and whether the state…

Describes provisions of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 as they influence business and personal taxes. Also explains a recent ruling, the IRS Revenue Procedure 96-31, which will benefit businesses which did not claim all the depreciation expenses they were entitled to over the years. (KB)

The revisionist view that property taxes are progressive rather than regressive is contradicted by research that shows the property tax takes proportionately more from the low-income taxpayer than it does from the middle- or high-income taxpayer. (Author/MLF)

Argues that shifting the property tax burden from improvement values to unimproved land values would help to preserve open space around cities and stem the flight of businesses and homeowners from central cities to the suburbs. Available from: The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 50 East 69th Street, New York, New York 10021; $3.00…

The people say they favor reduction in the property tax -- an inequitable and disastrously inflexible source of funds for schools in a period of inflation. Voters have recently turned down proposals that would have reduced reliance on the property tax in five States. Tells why. (Editor)

As a means of understanding the Jarvis-Gann initiative, the author examines the political and economic climate of California in 1977-78, examines the Jarvis initiative and the legislative alternative, and discusses the campaign strategies and unanticipated events as they affected the voters. (Author/IRT)

This paper examines recent efforts in Arkansas to nullify property taxes. It describes how anti-tax citizens, whose push for a constitutional amendment in 1998 was thwarted by the state supreme court, have vowed to collect enough signatures to place the amendment on the 2000 ballot. The proposed amendment will abolish ad valorem taxes upon real…