The passage of the Jarvis-Gann amendment (Proposition 13) in California in June 1978 focused widespread attention on constitutional constraints on government's power to tax. In addition, Proposition 13, along with the political events that led up to the inception of this particular amendment and subsequent amendments in other states, reversed the traditional negative attitude concerning constraints upon government implicitly expounded by many scholars and public servants. This dissertation presents an overview of constitutional tax limits at the state level in the United States and examines the constitutional evolution of four selected states. The methodology employed is essentially historical and comparative. This study reveals that constitutional tax limits do indeed constrain government although they have been often used for purposes other than strictly limiting the power to tax. The evidence presented indicates that the potency of constitutional tax limits was recognized as early as the formation of the United States and that at the state level the evolutionary experience of constitutional tax limits is quite rich. A significant finding of this study is that the methods that are available to amend state constitutions play an important role in the evolutionary process of constitutional change. This is the feature that distinguishes the 1978 California experience from earlier attempts to limit government's taxing powers found in American history. The historical accounts suggest that representative democracy does not always yield socially desired outcomes and that the citizen initiative, a form of direct democracy, may provide a workable means of circumventing many problems associated with representative democracy. / Ph. D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1934. / "General bibliography": p. 168-171.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Political Science, March 2000. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Issued also as Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University. / Bibliography: p. 192-195.

I use an instrumental variable approach to estimate the effect of excise taxes on cigarette smuggling. The IV approach addresses the potential endogeneity of excise taxes while controlling for other determinants of smuggling. I use panel data on 47 states from 1990-2009. The main results confirm the validity of the instrument, the percent of Democrats in the upper house of state legislatures, but do not reject exogeneity of excise taxes. Robustness tests using an alternative measure of cigarette smuggling find the opposite result. All models find that per capita income and the number of federal police per 100,000 residents are significant determinants of smuggling.

No description available.

"Submitted as a doctoral dissertation at Harvard in 1914, and is now published, after a thorough revision"--Pref. / Includes index. Reproduction of original from Harvard Law School Library. Includes bibliographical references (p. 641-655).

M.Com. (South African & International Taxation) / The tax system in South Africa makes provision for everyday South African citizens to contribute to a greater or lesser extent towards health care funding in South Africa. However, as a result of the high unemployment rate, a large gap exists between tax contributors and non-tax contributors. This raises the question of whether it is fair that the burden to fund the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) initiative in South Africa is borne by the small percentage of current tax contributors. The purpose of this research was to provide a taxation perspective on the different funding models and financing options available to the South African government for consideration in developing the NHI implementation strategy. The study evaluated the four traditional health care models used worldwide and assessed existing health care systems in selected first and third world countries in order to contribute towards the development of the proposed NHI system in South Africa. The health care models used by France, The United States, The United Kingdom, Brazil and Spain were evaluated in order to achieve an understanding of the funding approaches followed by these countries. It was found that although it is inevitable that South African tax contributors will have to be more heavily taxed in order to fund the NHI, as there are only limited possibilities for distributing the tax burden evenly. The main stumbling block in finding an equitable funding solution is the fact that there is a large disparity in South African income tax contributors.

As the federal government seeks ways to stimulate our economy and reduce our national debt, understanding public attitudes on the role and size of government and the taxes that support it is important. This thesis evaluates how US public opinion towards government and taxes has changed from 1990 to the present, and analyzes several potential causes for changes that have occurred. It is intended to be an update of William G. Mayer’s 1992 book entitled The Changing American Mind, which analyzed changing public opinion from 1960-1988. In following his analysis, the causes I have analyzed are generational replacement, fiscal and economic indicator data, and important political events. Through and examination of public polling data from the last twenty years, I have concluded that attitudes fluctuated relatively mildly on these issues since 1990. My analysis reveals that generational replacement exerted little influence on opinions. However, analysis also reveals that major changes in fiscal and economic indicator data and various major policy initiatives induced the greatest swings in public opinion of the last two decades. I believe that these changes reflect that American aggregate opinion remains constructed on a post-Ronald Reagan ideological foundation, whose features include an inherent suspicion of government and resistance to taxes. Understanding this is crucial to understanding the nation’s political trajectory.

The Georgia Transportation Investment Act of 2010 divided Georgia into twelve special tax district regions granting each region the ability to vote for a region specific 1% sales tax for a ten year period. Drawing new boundaries, the legislation provided the state the ability to bypass the usual county and city politics and decision making which typically drives transportation investment in Georgia. In nine of the twelve regions, the sales tax referendum was defeated. Despite hopeful polling numbers, the Atlanta region overwhelmingly rejected the sales tax referendum with only 38% in favor. This thesis presents a case study of the Atlanta region, identified as the most diverse and complex region created by the legislation. Geographic voter results for the Atlanta region suggest a division between urban and suburban interests. The geographic results show a radial trend of increased no votes as the distance from the center of the city increased. Not one county of the 10-County region voted in favor of the referendum. Notably, the city of Atlanta passed the referendum 58 to 42 percent. Beginning over a year before until five months following the public referendum, 48 interviews were conducted. Participants included a mix of legislators with various levels of involvement in the drafting of the legislation, high level officials of multiple transportation agencies, local politicians involved in the project selection process, representatives from the business community, members of the campaign, and prominent members of the opposition. Those interviewed identified a number of contributing factors to the failure of the referendum. However, the consensus among those interviewed was that not one of the factors caused the failure of the referendum. Instead, the referendum was significantly influenced by overarching national issues such as the economy, the anti-tax movement, the looming presidential election, and distrust with all levels of government. These were the driving force in a "perfect storm" of factors which led to the ultimate failure of the referendum on July 31, 2012. This thesis provides lessons learned and strategies for the Atlanta region to implement during a future attempt. In addition, recommendations are provided for other regions in the nation looking to attempt similar referenda. Currently, the Atlanta region remains in a "transportation crisis." Given political barriers, the next attempt is likely a decade away. Until a new transportation funding source is acquired, the Atlanta region will continue toward a path of limited funding and increased congestion, losing businesses and talent to regions that are addressing their transportation issues.