The Property Tax in a New Environment: Lessons from International Tax Reform Efforts

Contemporary property tax reforms face the challenge of identifying the appropriate role for a tax on immobile physical assets in an economy ever more reliant on mobile and intangible factors. The property tax can offer a stable revenue source particularly well suited for local government and a valuable adjunct to land reform initiatives. At the same time, it requires administrative capability, legislative support and political acceptance that are often lacking in highly developed and long established systems as well as in transition economies. Technological advances offer potential efficiency gains in assessment, administration and collection, but they can also consume vast sums for glamorous but inappropriate projects that yield little additional revenue.Working Paper Number 04-49

Defining and Valuing the Base of the Property Tax

This article will consider the applicability of the summation-of-interests definition of property to the easement question generally, and will conclude that it is preferable to its alternatives in that context as well. The summation-of-interests definition in the easement context contradicts precedent established early in this century and accepted by a majority of jurisdictions. However, this precedent is based upon a number of logical errors: it equates property rights with property value, assumes that property must be defined as the rights retained by the owner of the fee, and sets the realizable sale price of the owner\u27s interest as an upper limit upon fair market value for tax purposes. Finally, a concluding section will consider briefly the actual steps in the valuation process by which a new approach to the assessment of restricted property might be initiated

Property Value Assessment Growth Limits, Tax Base Erosion, and Regional In-Migration

In 1994 a limit on the growth of property values for tax purposes was imposed in Michigan. One consequence of the newly imposed assessment growth cap was an emerging differential in tax prices between potential new property owners and long-time property owners. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of this growing tax price differential on migration patterns. Using county level data on migration activity over the 1994-2006 period, we present evidence that differential tax prices resulting from the assessment growth cap have reduced in-migration

State and Local Taxation: Cases and Materials (8th edition)

A casebook which takes account of the important recent developments and the potential future issues in state and local tax law, including taxation of electronic commerce and sales tax reforms.https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/books/1037/thumbnail.jp

Whither the Property Tax: New Perspectives on a Fiscal Mainstay

The future role of the property tax in government finance systems around the world is anything but clear. While assessment limits, rollbacks, and even elimination of the property tax are the focus of the U.S. policy discussion, property tax collections in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries rarely rise above 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), and the property tax is a very weak revenue source in developing and transition countries (for reviews, see Bahl and Martinez-Vazquez 2008). The chapters in this book address the reasons for this state of affairs and ask whether the property tax will play a reduced fiscal role in the future or if new reform paradigms might reverse this pattern

State and Local Taxation: Cases and Materials (9th edition)

A casebook which focuses on the constitutional underpinning of state and local tax systems and a detailed exploration of income taxes, sales taxes and property taxes. Excerpt reprinted with permission of Thomson Reuters.https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/books/1038/thumbnail.jp

State and Local Taxation, Cases and Materials (Eleventh Edition)

The Hellerstein casebook, now authored by four leading experts in the field, provides a comprehensive overview of the field of state and local taxation (SALT), reflecting the most recent developments in this rapidly changing field. The book weaves together two structural approaches to SALT — i.e., by constitutional doctrine (e.g., due process, interstate commerce, equal protection) and by type of tax (individual income, corporate income, sales/use, property). This analytical structure is designed to give students an in-depth understanding of both the fiscal architecture of SALT and the major constitutional limits on subnational taxing power.https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/books/1194/thumbnail.jp

State and Local Taxation, Cases and Materials (Eleventh Edition)

The Hellerstein casebook, now authored by four leading experts in the field, provides a comprehensive overview of the field of state and local taxation (SALT), reflecting the most recent developments in this rapidly changing field. The book weaves together two structural approaches to SALT — i.e., by constitutional doctrine (e.g., due process, interstate commerce, equal protection) and by type of tax (individual income, corporate income, sales/use, property). This analytical structure is designed to give students an in-depth understanding of both the fiscal architecture of SALT and the major constitutional limits on subnational taxing power.https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/books/1194/thumbnail.jp