tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62620672011-09-28T14:33:36.955-07:00Professor TaxCritical thinking about taxes, higher education, business frauds and California politicsRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.comBlogger421100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1112923461229608862005-04-07T18:18:00.000-07:002005-04-07T18:24:21.230-07:00What a Wimp!Narcissus gives up on plan to privative state pensionsRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1108726729120359282005-02-18T03:14:00.000-08:002005-02-18T04:07:56.986-08:00The Bear Will Hang His Head In ShameDan Weintraub of the Sacramento Bee was the first to spot it:“The UCLA Faculty Assn. has filed a ballot measure with the AG's office that mirrors Schwarzenegger's pension reform proposal with one exception: it would leave in place the defined benefit pension plan for University of California employees. The UC plan is fully funded and in surplus. The faculty group is apparently hoping that when Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1108663079113400782005-02-17T09:54:00.000-08:002005-02-17T09:57:59.116-08:00Narcissus Wimps OutGovernor Schwarzenegger has abandoned his reorganization plan to eliminate 88 boards and commissions, conceeding that it "needs more work".Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1107467260967036392005-02-03T13:32:00.000-08:002005-02-03T22:42:14.450-08:00Schwarzenegger's Monkey Finger Ouija Board Budget PlanBack on January 10th, Governor Narcissinator announced his plan to terminate California’s budget problems. He called for a constitutional amendment so that budget shortfalls would trigger “fiscal emergencies”, during which the state would automatically reduce payments to vendors and employees “across-the-board”, so they would only get a fraction of any money the state owed them. In effect, it’s aRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com52tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1106945414322361462005-01-28T13:36:00.000-08:002005-01-28T14:05:21.393-08:00The Little Hoover That Squawked
If they gave prizes for the government agency with the most unusual name, the short list would certainly include “The Milton Marks ‘Little Hoover’ Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy”. The name inspires visions. First, imagine a swarm of tiny vacuum cleaners scouring the halls of the state Capitol for bits of bureaucratic debris. Then close your eyes and look to Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1106128814538604772005-01-19T01:47:00.000-08:002005-01-19T17:51:23.023-08:00California's New, Improved Budget Doomsday Machine“Hey, Professor Tax. What’s a ‘Doomsday Machine’?”
It’s an imaginary device that the national security eggheads dreamed up back in the 1950’s. They were trying to apply game theory to real world problems, like thermonuclear war, and looking at the bright side, they realized that no one in their right mind would ever start a war if it were certain to kill everyone on earth.
In its pure game Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1105688356761092192005-01-13T23:31:00.000-08:002005-01-14T01:04:58.213-08:00The Critics Have Spoken
There are two kinds of bad movies. Some, like Battlefield Earth or Plan 9 from Outer Space, are so exuberantly bad that it's almost worth suffering through them. Others are bad in a dull, miserable way, relieved only by the ease with which they are forgotten. Professor Tax had hoped that Governor Schwarzenegger’s new budget would be exuberantly bad, but those hopes have been disappointed. When Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1105351897172756142005-01-10T02:03:00.000-08:002005-01-10T02:26:50.800-08:00Sneak PreviewIt’s every movie star’s nightmare. That last picture was a fantastic comeback, a box office hit, but the picture you’re shooting now is shaping up to be an absolute stinkeroo, and as star, producer and director, you’re stuck with it. Oh, sure, you’ve had your ups and downs. There were those Raw Deals that had critics saying it would be the End of Days for you, but Man, you kept on Running. You Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1105180068113742582005-01-08T02:03:00.000-08:002005-01-08T02:57:51.596-08:00Narcissus Lays an EggSomething's wrong. Der Governor's political handlers are supposed to pick issues that will make him look good. But the agenda that emerged from Wednesday's speech is an odd conglomeration with no visible unifying principle. It consists of four proposed amendments to the state constitution that first go to the Legislature and then to the voters, and two goverment reorganization packages that will Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1105047196946306692005-01-06T13:10:00.000-08:002005-01-06T14:29:16.253-08:00Arnold Fights the Civil Service Pension MonsterIf any further evidence were needed to show that government by sound bite is a stupid idea, the four amendments to the California Constitution that Governor Gropinator proposed to the voters yesterday should convince even the most skeptical. Folk wisdom tells us that "the devils are in the details", and the details are still under wraps, but it's clear from the summaries given to the news media Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1104971427763238782005-01-05T16:17:00.000-08:002005-01-06T02:45:54.016-08:00Governor Narcissus Battles the Budget MonsterIt’s California Budget time again, which means that Professor Tax will have to defer for a while any more theorizing about tax cheating by rich folk. The Golden Shark will just have to wait while we deconstruct the latest broadcast appeal from Governor Narcissus to the People. Sigh! It’s not an entirely pleasant task, digging through the misconceptions and hypocrisies of California state finance,Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1103672431357288862004-12-21T15:38:00.000-08:002004-12-21T17:00:49.320-08:00When the Rich Cheat On Their Taxes, It's Not Their Fault
We saw in our last post that the pure economic model of tax compliance is a failure. Although game theory explains why cheating may at times be a rational strategy, it does not illuminate the actual world that surrounds us. Face-to-face tax audits are, at present, somewhat less likely than winning roulette bets, and infrequent penalties Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1102112071408079822004-12-03T14:04:00.000-08:002004-12-03T14:52:24.580-08:00The Rich Don't Cheat Like They Should
The last posting condensed our review of the literature on the tax compliance behavior of high income people into two paradoxical statements, to which we now add three more:
The Rich don't cheat as much as they should.
[According to the economists, that is.]When the Rich cheat, it's not their fault.
[Say the white-collar crime sociologists.]When the Rich Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1101539349316180992004-11-26T22:10:00.000-08:002004-11-29T04:17:25.586-08:00The Rich are Different....
The Millionaire
Tax Cheat
Next Door
Our last post ended with a cliffhanger question: Are rich folks just a bunch of tax cheats? Time for some academic research. What does the evidence say?The answer is probably not what you expect. First, tho, let's think about definitions, because in political economy the way a question is framed generally shapes the answer. When we Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1100169130714313642004-11-11T02:21:00.000-08:002004-11-12T12:23:45.690-08:00
The Shark IsNot A SharkPresident Bush Says He Will Seek Tax Simplification
It's a long way from Weimar Berlin to today's Washington DC, but some things never change. The Dreigroschenoper ("Three Penny Opera") portrays the struggle between MacHeath (a robber with the morals of a businessman) and Peachum (a businessman with the morals of a robber). From the opening bars of Mack the Knife (a Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1098608806622698722004-10-24T01:24:00.000-07:002004-10-24T02:22:02.653-07:00Requiem for a Lightweight
And so der Gövernor’s California Performance Review project staggers on towards well deserved oblivion. Last week his handpicked CPR Commission, which he set up in June to "facilitate public input" on the Review team proposals (i.e. to create the appearance of community participation) held its final meeting.Press reports suggest that the Commissioners were less than Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1097866719196673142004-10-15T11:38:00.000-07:002004-10-15T12:01:50.246-07:00So farewell, then...
Donna Arduin It's not even Halloween yet, but already the knives are out and flashing in the circle of advisers around Governor Narcissus. Today's encouraging word is that "Cabinet Secretary Marybel Batjer will likely step down before January".It's been a good week. On Wednesday we learned that conservative ideologue Donna Arduin, the Gropernator's spectacularly Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1096780153185414862004-10-02T22:06:00.000-07:002004-10-02T23:32:29.820-07:00The Great California Accountability HoaxThe California Performance Review is big on "accountability". The Report recommends rebuilding state government into eleven bureaucratic mega-pyramids because this will supposedly enhance "accountability". The word appears 57 times in the transcript of the Review Commission's final hearing on state reorganization held at UC Davis on September 27th. By now,Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1095914765523246972004-09-22T21:44:00.000-07:002004-09-22T23:04:08.120-07:00Pyramid Schemes: Reorganizing California's Government
So far we've counted three major flaws in California's State Performance Review:
The big claims that we'll save gigabucks misrepresent the supporting evidence.The idea that the output and program outcome of every state agency can be squeezed down to a bottom line number, like "corporate earnings per share", is false. Government isn't a Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1095367838487447292004-09-16T13:32:00.000-07:002004-09-16T15:00:09.976-07:00
The Producers:
Part One
State Performance Recommendation SO #71 for Performance-Based Contracting
At first, it just doesn’t seem to make sense. Every place you look in California’s State Performance Review the impressive claims are backed by falsified evidence. The recommendations would give der Gövernor lots more power, but they plainly won't produce the money that's needed to lift the state Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1094861334542242712004-09-10T16:57:00.000-07:002004-09-10T23:39:09.953-07:00Blowing Up the Boxes So that’s what Arnöld meant! He’s not going to explode the dull little organization chart boxes that house California’s state bureaucrats. He’s going to inflate them, to puff them up full of warm air. "OK now ... vun, two, zhree ... Inhale! und blooooooww. Inhale! und blooooooww."How else can we understand the reorganization plan that has emerged from der Gövernor’s Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1093822102862486252004-08-29T16:19:00.000-07:002004-08-29T16:35:17.446-07:00She's On Their Case!
"Plan Won't Fix Budget, Analyst Says" - LA Times
"Doubts raised over governor's ideas for huge savings" SF Chronicle
California's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst has now weighed in with an initial assessment of the California Performance Review. Professor Tax is reassured to see that the Legislative Analyst was not taken in by the Review's promise of $32 billion in savingsRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1093652338826973652004-08-27T17:08:00.000-07:002004-08-27T17:32:13.223-07:00Sacramento’s Urban LegendsRemember the story about the lady who tried to dry her poodle in the microwave? Or the claim that the Income Tax isn’t lawful because Ohio isn’t really a state? These are classic "Urban Legends", modern folklore that circulates by word of mouth and post of blog, apparently plausible tales that seem to emerge from some collective modern subconscious. Such false beliefs Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1093322028012052972004-08-23T21:31:00.000-07:002004-08-23T21:33:48.013-07:00Terminator 2: Special Effects Magic at the DMV
Amazing. It’s just amazing. After two weeks the media is still taking the State Performance Review seriously. Perhaps the sound-bite journalists are scared by the size of Volume 4, the 2,500 page body of the Review with its 279 government issues and over 1,200 recommendations. "If it’s that big", the reporters think, "it must be true. And if it’s Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1092803703035065462004-08-17T21:32:00.000-07:002004-08-18T19:27:55.616-07:00As Sam Goldwyn Once Said: "Include Me Out."
Performance Review Recommendation ETV #18:
"Repeal the Law of Supply and Demand"
Der Gövernor’s January budget proposed to cut $411 million out of general fund support for California’s public universities by reducing research and academic support, increasing student-faculty ratios, and making other “unallocated reductions” (a polite way of saying: “Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1092676443937597972004-08-16T10:04:00.000-07:002004-08-17T02:18:22.503-07:00
Episode Five: The Kindergarten Cop Strikes BackWhen we last left them, Gövernor Schwarz and his sidekick Lone Star Yoda had cooked up a claimed $8 billion dollar savings for California's State Performance Review. They came up with this figure for their Federal Grant recommendation by selectively reading only the odd numbered sentences in a recent State Audit Board report and then multiplying Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1092674990711860202004-08-16T09:49:00.000-07:002004-08-16T09:49:50.713-07:00Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1092097662362332202004-08-09T17:26:00.000-07:002004-08-09T23:17:22.276-07:00The California Performance Review - Episode IV: The Lies of the Jedi
The 2,500 page report from der Gövernor’s State Performance Review claims that its recommendations will save California $32 billion over the next five years, and help the state solve its pressing fiscal crisis without higher taxes. Wow! $32,000,000,000.00! Manna from Heaven! Win Free Money!
Unfortunately, this claim is Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1091665381197867412004-08-04T17:13:00.000-07:002004-08-04T19:27:21.406-07:00The Wrong Box Welcome Back! Professor Tax has been trapped in a timewarp for the last few months, spending all his time and then some on private tax consulting projects. It's good to have real world experience (and it pays the bills), but now it's time to return to commenting on the public scene.
Governor Schwarzenegger's new State Performance Review is like a Hollywood movie set. Not even a Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1077927212945828212004-02-27T16:13:00.000-08:002004-02-27T16:18:07.420-08:00A Billion Here, A Billion There -- Pretty Soon We're Talking Real Money
Some argue that you can't tax golden eggs because the geese will just run away. If California reinstates its top 11% tax rate on incomes over $400,000, then what's to stop the rich from moving out of Beverly Hills and Belvedere and Napa and settling down in Dry Duck Gulch, Nevada? After all, Nevada's state income tax rate isRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1077873814271265122004-02-27T01:23:00.000-08:002004-02-27T01:56:17.060-08:00California Driving
Governor Arnold's personal charisma seems to have made folks forget the mess he made of the car tax. Remember? The first thing Arnold did as governor was to cut the automobile Vehicle License Fee, a cut that has generated $824,000 of campaign contribution gratitude from California's car dealers.
Technically, what Arnold did was to block the scheduled ending of a temporary Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1077010905083074462004-02-17T01:41:00.000-08:002004-02-17T15:27:04.590-08:00“To tax and to please, no more than to love and to be wise, is not given to men.” – Edmund Burke, 1774
A slow week on the tax blogging front. Finished reading Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign To Rig Our Tax System To Benefit The Superrich And Cheat Everyone Else by New York Times reporter David Cay Johnston. It's generally well-written with good examples -- Johnston can dig, and he can Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1076274379251910622004-02-08T13:06:00.000-08:002004-02-08T13:15:01.246-08:00Loopholes Aren't Loopholes When They Benefit Rich Folks
The current Bush administration budget is a study in dishonesty. Today’s example is taken from Chapter 18, "Tax Expenditures", which discusses the huge, hidden subsidies produced by income tax rules that allow a “special exclusion, exemption, or deduction from gross income or which provide a special credit, a preferential rate of tax, or a Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1075790327232087452004-02-02T23:36:00.000-08:002004-02-02T23:41:09.390-08:00Disappearing Taxes: The $339 Billion Hole in the US Budget
It's right there, hidden in plain view. It's on Table 19-1, Chapter 19, page 329 of the detailed backup book for the new US Budget - the book with the less-than-seductive title of "Analytical Perspectives". Total US Government tax receipts in fiscal 2003 were $339 billion less than was estimated when that year's budget was being put Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1075674211024915282004-02-01T14:23:00.000-08:002004-02-01T14:36:16.373-08:00For He Is an Englishman
While Sunday blogsurfing thru the old china hands, acerbic expats and fellow Gweilos, Professor Tax observes a new star swing into view: ShangHai Eye. Read his description of coming home to England, and ask yourself -- "can this fellow write, or what?" It's fortunate, or even "fantastic" that no one in California is this literate, so as to spare us the temptation of Envy.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1075177455006732932004-01-26T20:24:00.000-08:002004-01-26T20:37:00.890-08:00“TO GET RICH IS GLORIOUS!” SAYS THE BUSY SACRAMENTO BEE
Something is amiss in the world of California journalism. Inquisitive energy should distinguish real reporters from the hacks who collect press releases and paste them together, but so many of our state’s news writers have apparently never learned how to ask questions.
Daniel Weintraub’s recent foray into tax policy is a case in point. HisRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1074805424081772032004-01-22T13:03:00.000-08:002004-01-22T13:05:46.996-08:00Do Androids Blog with Eclectic Script?
No updates last week. Professor Tax has been researching the recent history of California state budgets and issues in the design of benefit eligibility tests.
Web writing is easy. Any fool can blog. But writing something that is worth the time and attention of an intelligent reader is not easy at all. The Professor has great admiration and respect for Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1074137728811933832004-01-14T19:35:00.000-08:002004-01-14T19:40:48.840-08:00Another Budget Detail: Tax Cuts for Rich Heirs
Governor Schwarzenegger’s new budget contains a hidden $1 billion tax cut for the wealthiest Californians -- those who inherit money from multimillionaires. Here's how it works:
The Federal tax law changes enacted back in 2001 phased out the existing Federal credit for state-level taxes paid on estates and inheritances. California defined its Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1073893027699444262004-01-11T23:37:00.000-08:002004-01-11T23:46:09.576-08:00The Devils in the Details:
A Closer Look at the Governor’s Budget
Plan for the California State Universities
It looks bad enough on the surface. According to the press release from system headquarters: “Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed cutting $240 million or 9 percent from the California State University system for the 2004-05 fiscal year, potentially limiting student access by Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1073744253064040582004-01-10T06:17:00.000-08:002004-01-10T06:22:22.390-08:00The Kindergarten Governor Meets the New Math
“The governor's proposal does not contain any increase in sales or income taxes, but relies on fund shifts, borrowing and one-time accounting moves to cover more than half of the $14 billion shortfall between spending and projected revenue for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The plan anticipates $3 billion in proceeds from the $15 billion bond on Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1073103329608507432004-01-02T20:15:00.000-08:002004-01-02T20:15:48.066-08:00Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6262067.post-1073103293570136572004-01-02T20:06:00.000-08:002004-01-02T20:15:12.036-08:00WORKING TOWARD THE GRÖPER
As Arnold Schwarzenegger starts a new year as California's governor, some of the more alert media hacks sense that something is wrong. Journalists allude to "his sudden and inexplicable flip-flops on major policy questions", and predict "In the coming year, the governor will have to make tough decisions that will earn him plenty of enemies." The popularity of a website Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18214990236862154470noreply@blogger.com1