Category: Tax

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Sports Stadiums: Do Franchises Really Need Public Financing to Build Their New Stadiums

I. Introduction

Many people have spent a summer night or a Sunday afternoon at the ballpark or stadium watching their favorite teams.  These stadiums are an integral part of a professional sports franchises operations.  In recent years there has been a surge in new stadiums being built by teams as they take advantage of the willingness of cities to provide public financing.  Since 2000 there have been 17 new stadiums built for National Football League and Major League Baseball teams. [1].  In addition, several teams are in discussions for the building of new stadiums in the next few years. [2].

II. Analysis

Of those 17 new stadiums only one, SBC Park in San Francisco, was built entirely with private funding. [3]. Sports teams have on average have been able to get 70% of the costs of building a new stadium financed through public funding. [4]. This generally allows sports franchises

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Fun With The Tax Code: Changes Abound in 2006 Tax Year

I. Introduction

They
say that death and taxes are the two sure things in life. That may very
well be the case, but taxes and tax law are ever changing. Rates are
regularly moved up or down new taxes are added and certain taxes are
eliminated. For the 2006 tax year, Congress made several changes that
will have an impact on people as they get their financial records
together and start preparing their taxes for the April deadline. Some
of the changes that Congress made include; The Pension Protection Act,
The Energy Tax Incentives Act and The Tax Increase Prevention and
Reconciliation Act.[1]. The article focuses on whether changes to tax
law will actually be beneficial to individual taxpayers.

II. Analysis

The
Pension Protection Act was signed into law for the purpose of revising
tax rules related to pension plans and individual retirement accounts
(IRAs).[2]. ne provision of the act

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Tax Mogul H&R Block Tempts Fate by Branching into the World of Everyday Banking

I. Introduction

Tax preparation giant H&R Block
announced at the beginning of this month that in response to lawsuits
brought by angered taxpayers about the company's Refund Anticipation
Loan (RAL) program, it will be revamping the program in an effort to
reduce consumer cost as well as, presumably, it's own litigation
costs.[1]  But will the plan work? 

II. Operation

The H&R Block RAL program operates as follows.  First, the
taxpayer turns over his tax return information to H&R Block, who in
turn computes the anticipated refund.  Then, H&R Block presents the
taxpayer with a paperwork from one lending institution with whom it
contracts which offers to pay out the amount of the anticipated refund
(less fees that amount to annualized interest rates from 40% to more
than 500%) the same or next day as a loan.  In return for providing the
lending institution with the consumer, the lending institution and

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NAACP Ready to Fight IRS Claim of Improper Political Campaign Intervention

I. Introduction

"The NAACP
has always been nonpartisan, but that doesn't mean we're noncritical. 
For as long as we've existed, whether Democrats of Republicans have
occupied the White House, we've spoken truth to power."[1]  With these
words, Chairman Julian Bond, head of the National Organization for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), began the keynote address of the
organization's 95th annual convention in Philadelphia in July of 2004. 
He went on: "We must guarantee the irregularities, suppression,
nullification and outright theft of black votes that happened on
election day 2000 never, ever happen again . . . You cannot win this
race by ignoring race . . . We know that if whiles and nonwhites vote
in the same percentages as they did in 2000, Bush will be re-defeated
by 3 million votes."[2]

Soon after this speech was made, and its contents made publicly
available on the official website for

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State-Sponsored Investment Tax Incentives: Classic Competition, or Constitutionally Constrained?

I. Introduction

The
Supreme Court heard arguments on March 1st concerning the
constitutionality of an Ohio investment tax credit offered to the
DaimlerChrysler Corporation.  The credit, entitling DaimlerChrysler to
a "ten-year 100 percent property tax exemption, as well as an
investment tax credit of 13.5% against state corporate franchise tax
for certain qualifying investments," is meant to encourage a $1.2
billion Jeep plant project in Toledo.[1]  The investment tax credit is
being attacked on the grounds that, as a state action, it
unconstitutionally burdens interstate commerce in violation of the
Commerce Clause.[2]  This sort of tax incentive is hardly anomalous;
indeed, 49 states offer similar tax incentives for the purpose of
encouraging in-state economic activity, thereby benefiting the citizens
of the state.[3]  Given that attracting valuable in-state commercial
growth is a fixture of policy in most states, a ruling consistent with
the claim of unconstitutionality from the nation's highest Court

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The Windfall Profit Tax – A Legislator’s Hamster Wheel

I. Introduction

Surprise! 
In 2005, Big Oil[1] again turned one of the larger profits it has seen
in recent years, with companies like Exxon Mobil boasting fourth
quarter numbers 27% greater than last year's profits (which, by the
way, were nothing to sneeze at).[2][3]  And why shouldn't we be
surprised?  After more than a year of paying a sky-high premium at the
pump and in the home, it is plain to see that the oil industry is not
sharing the burden of the high price of fuel with the consumer.  Led by
Senate Democrats, a bill has been proposed to impose a one-time-only $5
billion windfall tax on big oil to help offset the country's more than
$300 billion deficit.[4]

II. Implications

There is no question that Big Oil can afford the hit.  Five billion
dollars is chump change spread among corporations who routinely keep
tens of billions of dollars

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