Federal and state income tax laws pertaining to forest landowners are examined. Income tax liabilities are calculated for hypothetical forest landowners in two income brackets across the 41 states in the U.S. which impose a comprehensive income tax. The income tax liability is calculated to illustrate the effects of differential state tax treatment on a representative forest landowner with two different income levels ($50,000 and $110,000) who harvests $200,000 worth of timber in a given tax year. After-tax land expectation values for a forest landowner are also calculated to illustrate the effects of tax planning on returns to timber investment over time. Twenty-eight states utilize the federal adjusted gross income (AGI) as their tax base. Thirty-three states provide a personal exemption in the form of a credit or deduction. A standard deduction is allowed in twenty-six states. The minimum tax rates range from zero percent in Delaware to six percent in Minnesota and North Carolina. Maximum rates range from 4.5 percent in Connecticut to 11 percent in Montana. Four states allow a capital gains exclusion while two others have maximum capital gains rates that are lower than the highest ordinary state tax rate. In the South, landowners have the lowest state tax liability in Louisiana and the highest liability in North Carolina for both income levels. In the Midwest and Northeast, landowners in the medium income ($50,000) level have the lowest tax liability in North Dakota and the highest in Minnesota. Landowners in the high income level ($110,000) have the lowest tax liability in Pennsylvania and the highest liability in Minnesota. In the West, medium-income level Idaho and Montana landowners have the lowest and highest state tax liabilities, respectively. High level income landowners have the lowest liability in Arizona and the highest liability in Montana. The effects of tax planning on a forest landowner's potential revenues are calculated using land expectation methodology. Six different scenarios are used to examine the effect of common omissions and mistakes made by a typical landowner. In each successive scenario, the landowners forego certain tax benefit(s) that, in turn, lower their LEV. Different representative state tax rates and discount rates are used as a sensitivity analysis to find a range of values that could potentially occur. The treatment of timber revenue as an ordinary gain provides the largest decline in land expectation value in most cases. / Master of Science

The present research aims at examining the interaction between transition from centrally planned economies to market based economies and its subsequent effects on populations’ happiness and life satisfaction in Algeria, Egypt and Morocco. It also aims at advising policy makers on how economic policies may affect population’s subjective well-being. It is widely accepted that economic reforms affect individuals’ lives. In contrast, the populations’ values, attitudes and perceptions may also play a major role in the success of these reforms. The first study examines the determinants of happiness and life satisfaction by gender in Algeria and their attitudes and perceptions towards economic policies’ reforms. The survey reports that the female population in Algeria is happier and more satisfied with life than its male counterpart. It has been found that healthier individuals and those in the medium level of income are most likely to be happier and satisfied with their lives. Also, happiness is inversely “U-shaped” in age for the female population contradicting previous studies. Although, both genders believe that rapid market reforms do not have a negative impact on national stability, and are confident with the major companies, privatisation is found to be most likely having a negative effect on the life satisfaction among the male population. The second study examines the changes in the levels of life satisfaction in Egypt and Morocco over the first decade of the present century. It has been found that Egyptian women’ satisfaction with life is “U-shaped” in age, whereas in income that applies only to those at the medium, upper-medium and high levels of income. By contrast, Egyptian men are satisfied at all income levels. In Morocco, unemployed men and women are found to be satisfied with their lives in the beginning of the decade contradicting previous findings. While in the late 2000s, among the employed populations, females and males at the medium and the upper medium levels of income are satisfied, along with the lower level for women and the higher level for men. The third study examines the effect of relative income on individuals’ self-reported life satisfaction, assuming that the individual’s subjective judgement of his or her life satisfaction depends on both absolute and relative incomes. Absolute refers to the individual’s income, relative is the income of others around him or her called a reference group. The findings are that Algerians and Moroccans feel ambitious when self-reporting their levels of life satisfaction and referring their income to others’ income, but Egyptians feel jealous.

I study the role of heterogeneity and idiosyncratic risk in Macroeconomics, and their implications on problems of income taxation. In the first chapter, I study the effects of redistributive taxation in an incomplete market economy with heterogeneous agents and idiosyncratic risk. I focus on the role of distortions in labor supply decisions and the interplay of heterogeneity and uninsurable idiosyncratic shocks, conducting the first general equilibrium analysis of a Negative Income Tax (NIT). I show that a NIT is a serious candidate to replace the current income tax in the United States. I find that the optimal NIT has a marginal tax rate of 28% and a transfer of 10% of per capita GDP, roughly $4600. The welfare gains of replacing the current US income tax with a NIT are equivalent to a 6.3% increase in annual consumption in every state of the world. Low-ability agents, in the bottom quintile of the productivity distribution, benefit the most, while high-ability agents are worse off. A consequence of the reform is that the composition of the labor force changes, with high-productivity agents working more, in relative terms, than low-productivity agents. Finally, I find that the riskier the economy, the higher the welfare gains of the NIT as a provider of public insurance. In the second chapter, I study labor income dynamics over the life cycle and introduce a novel methodology that can detect the presence of patterns in the idiosyncratic earnings shocks and recognize economic forces in action. Using a sample from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), I estimate a Bayesian Logistic Smoothed Transition Autoregressive model of order 1 (LSTAR(1)) with a rich level of heterogeneity in the innovations. I find that there is a life-cycle pattern in the earning shocks: before the age 29, young workers experience shocks with higher variance and a positive probability of lower persistence than older workers. A comparison with conventional models shows that an incorrect model specification introduces bias in the estimates. The proposed model can be easily approximated with a discrete Markov process. This means that this model can be used by macroeconomists to calibrate income processes.

Magistro darbe nagrinėjamos namų ūkio pajamų pasiskirstymo ir jų nelygybės problemos Lietuvoje. Šį darbą sudaro teorinė ir tiriamoji dalis. Teorinėje darbo dalyje apžvelgiama mokslinė literatūra, leidžianti apibūdinti namų ūkio pajamų pasiskirstymą, pateikiami naudoti statistiniai duomenys ir internetiniai šaltiniai. Darbe išanalizuoti namų ūkių pajamų pasiskirstymą ir jų nelygybę sąlygojantys veiksniai, išskirtos namų ūkių pajamų pasiskirstymą ir jų nelygybę sąlygojančios priežastys bei pateiktos namų ūkių pajamų nelygybės problemos. Tiriamojoje darbo dalyje buvo palygintos namų ūkių disponuojamosios pajamos 2004-2008 m., siekiant nustatyti veiksnius, lemiančius didelį pajamų pasiskirstymą bei jų nelygybę. Įvertinus šalies pajamų pasiskirstymą ir jų nelygybę, buvo ieškoma veiksnių, dariusių įtaką namų ūkių pajamų pasiskirstymo ir jų nelygybės dinamikos skirtumams. Buvo tiriamas namų ūkių pajamų pasiskirstymas ir jų nelygybė apskrityse, priklausomybė nuo bendros ekonominės situacijos pokyčių. Patvirtintos darbo autorės suformuluotos mokslinio tyrimo hipotezės: 1. Namų ūkių disponuojamųjų pajamų struktūra ir dinamika, lyginant atskiras grupes pagal namų ūkio galvos socialinę-ekonominę grupę, namų ūkio tipą, namų ūkio dydį, namų ūkio galvos amžių ir išsilavinimą, gyvenamą vietą, pasižymi dideliais skirtumais. 2. Ekonomikos augimas yra susijęs su namų ūkių pajamų nelygybe. Pateiktos namų ūkių pajamų pasiskirstymo ir jų nelygybės mažinimo priemonės, kurios gali padėti išspręsti... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Master's thesis deals with the household income distribution and inequality issues in Lithuania. This work consists of theoretical and research part. The theoretical part gives an overview of the scientific literature, allowing to describe the distribution of household income, the use of statistical data and online sources. The paper analyzed the distribution of household income inequality and the factors that underlie the isolated household income distribution and inequality and to give reasons for the household income inequalities. The exploratory part of this work has been compared to household disposable income in the period 2004-2008, in order to identify the factors that determine the high and the income distribution inequality. The assessment of the country's income distribution and inequality, and they were looking for factors that did impact on household income inequality in the distribution and dynamics of their differences. It has been studied in household income distribution and inequality in districts dependence on general economic situation changes. Approved by author of the research hypotheses were formulated: 1st Household disposable income structure and dynamics as compared separate groups according to head of household socio-economic group, household type, household size, household head age and education, residence, resulted in significant differences. 2nd Economic growth is linked to household income inequality. Given household income distribution and... [to full text]

Magistro darbe tiriama gyventojų pajamų nelygybė 2004 – 2009 metais Lietuvoje. Šį darbą sudaro trys dalys. Teorinėje darbo dalyje išanalizuota Lietuvos bei užsienio autorių mokslinė literatūra gyventojų pajamų nelygybės klausimais. Sudaryta gyventojų pajamų dinamikos bei struktūros, jų lygio – struktūros bei pasiskirstymo netolygumo rodiklių sistema. Tiriamojoje dalyje atlikta namų ūkių vidutinių disponuojamųjų pajamų dinamikos bei struktūros analizė pagal gyventojų socialines ekonomines grupes, išskirtos diferenciaciją lėmusios priežastys, taip pat atliktas pajamų lygio bei struktūros ir pasiskirstymo netolygumo įvertinimas. Patvirtinta hipotezė, kad gyventojų pajamų nelygybė tarp skirtingų socialinių sluoksnių pasižymi dideliais skirtumais. Atliekant tyrimą naudoti Lietuvos Statistikos Departamento namų ūkių biudžetų atlikti tyrimai, Lietuvos bei komercinių bankų apžvalgų duomenys. Trečiojoje dalyje pateikiamos gyventojų pajamų nelygybę mažinančios kryptys bei priemonės. Siūloma įvesti progresyvinius mokesčius. / In this master‘s study have bee analysed inequality of personal income in 2004-2009 years in Lithuania. Study consists from three parts. First theorical part of study dedicated to analyse scientific literature of Lithuanian and foreign authors, their positions about personal income inequality. There was created system of indicators about personal finance dinamic, structure and levels. Searching part of this study is dedicated to analyse structure of dinamic of average households income, following social economical groups of residents. There was separated reasons, witch determinted differentiation of income. Also, have been researched levels ant structure of income and there was evaluated dispenses of unevens. Study confirm hipothesis, that income inequality between different social groups is very great. In this study was used researches of households budgets from Lithuanian Statistics Department, data from Lithuanian and other commercial banks. Third part shows course and remedies, how to reduce inequality of income. In conclusion, there is suggestion to introduce progressive taxes.

From Introduction: This work considers the period from Union, 31 May 1910 until promulgation of the Income Tax Act No. 40 of 1925.(1) It will describe the means, both financial and otherwise, by which the fledgling Government of the Union of South Africa contrived to balance its budget, and will consider the various sources of revenue available up to 1914, when the Government of Gen. Louis Botha first decided that a tax on income was necessary in order to maintain the solvency of the new State. Similarly the political pressures which shaped the nature of the Income Tax Acts up to 1925 will be discussed, and the political principles (or expediencies, depending on the degree of cynicism of the reader) which led the parties in power from time to time to make the decisions they did regarding the provisions of the various Acts. The effect of external political situations such as the Great War of 1914 - 1918 will be examined, as will the consequences of the rebellion of 1914 and the strikes of 1913 and 1922. The legislation predictably spawned a considerable body of litigation as taxpayers hastened to find and exploit loopholes in it; the resultant Income Tax Cases, in the Income Tax Special Court, Supreme Court and Appeal Court, formed the embryo of a body of judicial precedent which today encompasses some two thousand case reports. A few of the cases decided in the period up to 1925 are still quoted today; for example, CIR v Lunnon 1924 AD 1 SATC 7. The relevant cases from the period will enjoy consideration, with descriptions of how their verdicts affected either subsequent income tax principles or later legislation. Also considered will be the inception during this period of the way in which income tax legislation largely develops: the legislature promulgates an Act, the taxpayers discover legitimate ways to reduce their tax burden and the Minister of Finance consequently causes the Act to be changed in order to protect the tax base. Thereupon the resolute taxpayers seek loopholes anew. The effect of economic conditions on income tax legislation will engage attention; several such conditions cast their shadows into the House of Assembly during that 15 year period, notably the post-war recession and the drought of 1919. The selection of this period is apposite for several reasons: it covers the period during which income tax legislation came into being; - it includes several notable political occurrences. thus making possible a consideration of their effect on income tax legislation; it includes a natural cataclysm. namely a major drought. which also had an effect on subsequent Income Tax Acts; - a sufficient number of income tax cases was heard during the period to afford a fair indication both of how the body of case law would develop and how it would perpetually interplay with the legislation; it clearly illustrates the differences between the two great political parties of the time, differences largely caused by the vested interests of each; the dominant South African Party, with its need to retain the support of the commercial and particularly the mining sectors, and the smaller but even then growing National Party with its face set firmly towards the rural constituencies and the embattled farmers; - the period culminates in the Income Tax Act of 1925, a significant change from its predecessors, and the second Income Tax Act of the Pact Government. The imposition of taxes by the respective provinces does not form part of this work, as the scope of the discussion is limited to the various Income Tax Acts, and their development has been overseen by the central government.

This dissertation analyzes rewards and motivations of self-employment. In light of recent research contributions of Barton Hamilton (2000), which find entrepreneurship not as financially rewarding as wage work, my dissertation attempts to both verify and explain this claim. The first essay proposes a theoretical model of evolution of erroneous earnings expectations on part of a nascent entrepreneur. Inability to observe, survey, and take into account all of the returns to entrepreneurship prior to business entry creates a biased set of beliefs on part of the potential entrants. Using Bayesian learning, a nascent entrepreneur starting out with correct perception of profit distribution arrives at erroneous beliefs by incorporating limited information collected from existing businesses. An observed distribution of surviving businesses would exhibit higher earnings because of previous, unobserved, business failure entrepreneur get an overly positive view of her profit potential. Hence, the chapter offers a unique method of modeling overconfidence. The second essay undertakes dynamic empirical comparison of earnings received by business owners and their wage counterparts. Using Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) I examine both short and long run returns to entrepreneurship comparing theses rewards to wage earners returns. I pay particular attention to transitions into and out of business ownership. I estimate entire earnings distribution. To characterize dynamic aspect of changes to individuals’ earnings I split the income distribution into five income quintiles and follow survey participants over the period of seven years. I find that period-to-period transitions to be Markovian. I find business tenure to be short, business ownership is costly in the short and rewarding in the long run. The third essay considered different reporting schemes applied to the self-employed. It is another empirical investigation of entrepreneurial earning uses Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). I find entrepreneurs while reporting lower than wage workers earnings enjoy significant consumption premiums. I observe evidence of income underreporting by entrepreneurs. This finding suggests a need for better earning comparison metrics and proposes to use consumption rather than income metrics for future comparisons.

This thesis is the result of analysis conducted on the income tax systems of thirty-one states and supported a recommendation for a Texas income tax act.

No contexto do sistema tributário nacional brasileiro, uma apuração correta da renda tributável demanda o respeito a princípios abrigados pela Constituição Federal expressa ou implicitamente e, dentre estes, vale citar o princípio da realização da renda que, numa descrição simplificada, auxilia na detecção da capacidade econômica apta a sofrer tributação, uma vez que delineia diretrizes mais concretas para a identificação do momento adequado para que tal tributação se implemente. Este estudo enfoca o momento temporal em que se consideram ocorridos os fatos econômicos individuais que se ajuntam para compor a apuração da renda tributável. Não se trata, portanto, de uma abordagem direta acerca do aspecto temporal próprio da regra-matriz de incidência do imposto de renda, aquele que se identifica normalmente com o término do período de um ano. O tema é abordado com enfoque na tributação da renda, apresentando parâmetros para a conceituação do referido princípio e buscando delinear suas funções, bem como descrever seu âmbito de aplicação no Direito Tributário brasileiro, especialmente no que concerne à apuração do imposto de renda (sobretudo o de pessoas jurídicas). O princípio da realização é examinado sob três diferentes perspectivas. Primeiro, faz-se uma análise dos conceitos de renda (e noções correlatas de realização) fornecidos pelas ciências financeiras e econômicas. Segundo, há uma análise sob a perspectiva histórica que apresenta a evolução deste princípio na Alemanha, nos E.U.A., no Reino Unido e também no Brasil. E, por fim, sob a perspectiva estritamente jurídica, enfocando-se o sistema normativo atualmente vigente no Brasil, discutem-se a posição sistêmica do princípio da realização e as limitações impostas pela Constituição Federal de 1988 e pelo Código Tributário Nacional. Ainda nesta última perspectiva, avaliam-se as funções desempenhadas pelo princípio da realização como integrante dos princípios de contabilidade geralmente aceitos e as relações entre Direito Contábil e Direito Tributário. O princípio da realização é examinado em seus diferentes elementos (cumprimento da obrigação, mudança da posição patrimonial, troca no mercado, mensurabilidade, liquidez e certeza). Por fim, propõe-se uma estrutura para classificação dos diferentes critérios que informam o princípio da realização à luz da legislação brasileira. / In the context of the Brazilian tax system, a correct calculation of taxable income demands respect for the principles sheltered, expressly or implicitly, by the Federal Constitution and, among these, it is worth mentioning the realization principle. In a simplified description, said principle helps in the detection of the economic capacity that is able to suffer taxation, since it outlines more specific guidelines for identifying the right time where taxation may be implemented. This study focuses on the timing of the economic facts that are gathered up to comprise the basis for calculation of the taxable income. It is not, therefore, a direct approach on the temporal aspect of the basic rule of incidence of income tax (aspect which is usually identified with the end of the taxable period of one year). The issue is discussed with focus on taxation of income, showing parameters for the conceptualization of realization principle and seeking to outline its functions, as well as to describe its scope within the Brazilian Tax Law, especially on what concerns the calculation of the income tax (especially the corporate income tax). The realization principle is examined from three different perspectives. First, the study presents an analysis of the concepts of income (and related notions of realization) provided by the financial and economic sciences. Second, there is an analysis on the historical perspective that presents the evolution of this principle in Germany, the USA, the UK and also in Brazil. Finally, under a strictly legal perspective, focusing on the regulatory system currently in force in Brazil, it discusses the systemic position of the realization principle and the limitations imposed by the Federal Constitution of 1988 and the National Tax Code. With respect to the latter perspective, the study examines the functions performed by the realization principle as part of the generally accepted accounting principles and the relations between Accounting and Tax Law. The realization principle is examined in its different elements (achievement of the obligation, change in the property position, market exchange, measurability, liquidity and certainty). Finally, it proposes a structure for the classification of the different criteria that inform the realization principle in accordance with the Brazilian legislation in force.

No contexto do sistema tributário nacional brasileiro, uma apuração correta da renda tributável demanda o respeito a princípios abrigados pela Constituição Federal expressa ou implicitamente e, dentre estes, vale citar o princípio da realização da renda que, numa descrição simplificada, auxilia na detecção da capacidade econômica apta a sofrer tributação, uma vez que delineia diretrizes mais concretas para a identificação do momento adequado para que tal tributação se implemente. Este estudo enfoca o momento temporal em que se consideram ocorridos os fatos econômicos individuais que se ajuntam para compor a apuração da renda tributável. Não se trata, portanto, de uma abordagem direta acerca do aspecto temporal próprio da regra-matriz de incidência do imposto de renda, aquele que se identifica normalmente com o término do período de um ano. O tema é abordado com enfoque na tributação da renda, apresentando parâmetros para a conceituação do referido princípio e buscando delinear suas funções, bem como descrever seu âmbito de aplicação no Direito Tributário brasileiro, especialmente no que concerne à apuração do imposto de renda (sobretudo o de pessoas jurídicas). O princípio da realização é examinado sob três diferentes perspectivas. Primeiro, faz-se uma análise dos conceitos de renda (e noções correlatas de realização) fornecidos pelas ciências financeiras e econômicas. Segundo, há uma análise sob a perspectiva histórica que apresenta a evolução deste princípio na Alemanha, nos E.U.A., no Reino Unido e também no Brasil. E, por fim, sob a perspectiva estritamente jurídica, enfocando-se o sistema normativo atualmente vigente no Brasil, discutem-se a posição sistêmica do princípio da realização e as limitações impostas pela Constituição Federal de 1988 e pelo Código Tributário Nacional. Ainda nesta última perspectiva, avaliam-se as funções desempenhadas pelo princípio da realização como integrante dos princípios de contabilidade geralmente aceitos e as relações entre Direito Contábil e Direito Tributário. O princípio da realização é examinado em seus diferentes elementos (cumprimento da obrigação, mudança da posição patrimonial, troca no mercado, mensurabilidade, liquidez e certeza). Por fim, propõe-se uma estrutura para classificação dos diferentes critérios que informam o princípio da realização à luz da legislação brasileira. / In the context of the Brazilian tax system, a correct calculation of taxable income demands respect for the principles sheltered, expressly or implicitly, by the Federal Constitution and, among these, it is worth mentioning the realization principle. In a simplified description, said principle helps in the detection of the economic capacity that is able to suffer taxation, since it outlines more specific guidelines for identifying the right time where taxation may be implemented. This study focuses on the timing of the economic facts that are gathered up to comprise the basis for calculation of the taxable income. It is not, therefore, a direct approach on the temporal aspect of the basic rule of incidence of income tax (aspect which is usually identified with the end of the taxable period of one year). The issue is discussed with focus on taxation of income, showing parameters for the conceptualization of realization principle and seeking to outline its functions, as well as to describe its scope within the Brazilian Tax Law, especially on what concerns the calculation of the income tax (especially the corporate income tax). The realization principle is examined from three different perspectives. First, the study presents an analysis of the concepts of income (and related notions of realization) provided by the financial and economic sciences. Second, there is an analysis on the historical perspective that presents the evolution of this principle in Germany, the USA, the UK and also in Brazil. Finally, under a strictly legal perspective, focusing on the regulatory system currently in force in Brazil, it discusses the systemic position of the realization principle and the limitations imposed by the Federal Constitution of 1988 and the National Tax Code. With respect to the latter perspective, the study examines the functions performed by the realization principle as part of the generally accepted accounting principles and the relations between Accounting and Tax Law. The realization principle is examined in its different elements (achievement of the obligation, change in the property position, market exchange, measurability, liquidity and certainty). Finally, it proposes a structure for the classification of the different criteria that inform the realization principle in accordance with the Brazilian legislation in force.