New development: Evaluating state revenue portfolio stability—a case of commercial casino taxes

State governments in the USA are searching for new ways to diversify their tax structure’s stability without raising existing taxes. Taxing commercial casinos on non-American Indian reservations has received significant attention to increase state revenue capacities. This article explains the impact of commercial casino tax revenue on state revenue stability.     

论"二元互补"的地方主体收入结构

地方政府主体税种与财源的选择,一直是近年来我国财政、税收理论界与实务界关注的重要课题之一。本文在借鉴以美国为代表的市场经济国家及经济转型国家(前苏东国家)经验的基础上,结合我国城市化发展的前景,阐述了这样一个基本观点:在未来的10～15年内,蓬勃发展的城市经济将是我国地方财政收入增长的源泉,城市物业税和使用者收费将组成"二元互补"的地方主体收入结构。     

The effects of revenue diversification and cross border banking on risk and return of banks in Africa

The paper analyses the implications of revenue diversification and cross-border banking for risk and return. We sample 320 banks across 29 African countries and employ System GMM estimator as a methodological approach to shed further light on the diversification-stability nexus by examining the complex interaction between three key variables: cross-border banking, diversification and bank stability. The results suggest that exploration risk reduces diversification as the level of capital increases when banks cross border to diversify across revenue generating activities. Our analyses further show that, banks in Africa derive absolute benefits from diversification if they cross border and diversify their revenue base concurrently. These results are robust to a range of controls including alternative variable specifications, regulatory environment that bank operate and methodology.     

Overlapping tax revenue,soft budget,and rent seeking

This paper investigates how the soft-budget constraint with grants from the central government to local governments tends to internalize the vertical externality of local public investment by stimulating local expenditure when both the central and local governments impose taxes on the same economic activities financed by public investment. The model incorporates the local governments’ rent-seeking activities in a multi-government setting. The soft-budget constraint is welfare deteriorating because it stimulates rent-seeking activities, although a soft-budget game may attain the first-best level of public investment.     

Local fiscal distress and investment efficiency of local SOEs

In this paper, we use A-share listed firms between 2002 and 2010 to investigate the relationship between local fiscal distress and the investment efficiency of local SOEs, along with the effect of corporate tax payments on this relationship. We find a positive relationship between the extent of local SOEs' overinvestment and the fiscal distress of the corresponding local government where the enterprise and this relationship become stronger for firms that pay fewer taxes. The pattern of underinvestment among local SOEs was in contrast,and these relationships do not exist for non-SOEs or central SOEs. Moreover,we find that expanding a firm's investment scale leads to an increase in total taxes paid, including income and turnover taxes, which further result in more local fiscal revenue. Overall, we conclude that local governments have an incentive to increase fiscal revenue when faced with fiscal distress by raising the investment scale of local SOEs and that the incentives and effects of such interventions appear to be stronger among firms that contribute less to local fiscal revenue.ó 2013 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China Journal of Accounting Research. Founded by Sun Yat-sen University and City University of Hong Kong.     

Does revenue-expense matching play a differential role in analysts’ earnings and revenue forecasts?

This paper investigates whether matching has differential implications for the accuracy of analysts' earnings and revenue forecasts. We construct a novel measure of firm-level matching and document that matching improves analysts' earnings forecasts to a greater extent than their revenue forecasts. We also document matching's differential impact on analysts' earnings and sales forecasts by proposing a new count metric capturing a wedge in the accuracy of earnings and revenue forecasts. In additional tests, we report that the differential impact of matching is less (more) pronounced in a situation where the balance sheet (income statement) orientation likely dominates. We also report that matching's differential role is weaker (stronger) when firms have high intangible intensity (analysts have appropriate resources or expertise). In short window tests, matching's role in analysts' forecast revisions is more pronounced for earnings than sales forecasts. Overall, these results show how analysts benefit from better revenue-expense matching.     

The impact of revenue diversification on bank profitability and risk: evidence from MENA banking industry

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of revenue diversification on bank performance while shedding light on the impact of the shift towards non-interest income sources. To this end, we use a sample of 275 banks from fourteen MENA countries over 1990–2011. The model estimation using the GMM system reveals that diversification, when taken as a whole, improves bank profitability. We also split the non-interest income and we find that trading-generating business lines contribute the most to boosting profitability and stability. Engaging in non-interest-related activities worsens the benefit-cost trade-off of diversification, induced by the increased insolvency risk.     

中印地方税制度比较分析

我国和印度的地方税①制存在明显的差异。印度的地方税制具有较强的法制性、完整性和自主性。本文认为,我国的地方税制改革可以借鉴印度的一些先进经验,把重点放在加速税收基本法的建设、增强地方政府征税的合法性、扩大地方税的覆盖范围、完善地方税税种体系和税制结构以及提高地方税收入占整个地方政府税收收入的比重上。     

对分税制财政体制运行效应的评价及建议

分税制财政体制作为一种新的制度安排，它在规范政府间财政分配关系、促进财政收入稳定增长、规范财政收入分配秩序、提高地方政府的征税努力程度、强化各地区对中央财政的依赖性方面发挥了积极作用。同时，分税制财政体制在运行中也暴露出了一些问题。本文提出了进一步完善分税制财政体制的若干建议。     

Risk-adjusted profitability and stability of Islamic and conventional banks: Does revenue diversification matter?

Revenue diversification in banking offers opportunities and threats. Recent academic research shows that disadvantages may outweigh advantages, in terms of both volatility of profitability and bank riskiness. Literature on this topic in emerging countries and in the field of Islamic finance is limited: our aim is to empirically test if revenue diversity affects Islamic banks differently than conventional institutions. We analyze the impact of income diversification on profitability and firm-risk of banks in selected OIC countries, in the period 2007–2016, using a comprehensive dataset of 47 Islamic and 154 conventional banks, through diverse measures and econometric approaches. We find that diversification provides lower rewards for Islamic banks than conventional banks, with effects that are stronger for accounting-based measures rather than market-based metrics. Shares of non-interest income positively contribute to profitability regardless of the business model, whereas income diversification shows a not significant effect on the risk-adjusted profitability of Islamic banks. Moreover, we do not find any relationship between income diversification and stability for both conventional and Islamic banks.     

Internationalization and business tax revenue—evidence from Germany

The ongoing internationalization of business activity fuels concerns that governments may lose their ability to tax business income. By using data on sixteen German states from 1970 to 2005, we estimate the impact of internationalization, measured by trade volumes and stocks of foreign direct investment, on business tax revenues. We control for the impact of internationalization on business profits. Surprisingly, we find strong and robust evidence for a positive impact of internationalization on tax revenue. An increase in the internationalization indicator of ten percent increases tax revenue by over three percent. This counterintuitive result may be explained by higher tax avoidance activity of purely national firms or by legal provisions in the tax law which can be used as tax loopholes in the case of domestic transactions as opposed to cross-border transactions.     

地方政府财政压力与银行信贷资源配置效率——基于我国城市商业银行的研究证据

基于2005—2015年我国城市商业银行的样本,本文研究省级地方政府财政压力是否对商业银行信贷资金投向和信贷资源配置效率产生影响。研究发现,地方政府财政压力是影响城市商业银行信贷资源配置的重要因素。具体而言,省级地方政府的财政压力越大,省内城市商业银行投向地方国有经济部门的贷款比率越高。然而,信贷资源更多投向地方国有经济部门的银行有更高的不良贷款率和更差的会计业绩。进一步研究发现,在财政压力大的省份,城市商业银行投向地方国有经济部门的贷款比率越高,则贷款拨备率越低,这表明城市商业银行会通过盈余管理行为来应对监管压力。本文研究结论对商业银行监管以及防范化解金融风险有重要启示。     

Prepayments,late payments,and sales tax revenue volatility in Texas cities

Local governments with volatile revenues face a variety of managerial challenges. This study examines the impact of prepayments and late payments on sales tax revenue volatility (STRV). Prepayments and late payments have the potential of disrupting the predictability of sales tax revenue. Using a sample of 1,075 cities in Texas over a 15-year period (1998 to 2013), the study finds that late payments impact STRV while early payments do not.     

The effect of VATs on government balance sheets

The value-added tax, VAT, has become a popular means of raising funds for governments around the world. Countries seeking to reduce variation in tax revenues as well as raise revenue to solve deficits often consider a VAT, and the IMF in particular has become an advocate for the tax for countries seeking tax reform. For all its popularity, its ability to deliver on these promises remains understudied. Countries with a lower cost of raising funds may instead choose to spend more instead of paying down their debts. This paper uses matching techniques to estimate the impact of a VAT on government debts and deficits. The tax is associated with falls in central government debt and deficits as well as expenditures as a share of GDP. There is limited evidence of increases in tax revenue and increases in stability of government spending. The choice of VAT rate is positively correlated with deficit reduction, and the effects of the tax are heterogeneous with respect to the probability of adoption of the treatment and what taxes it is replacing.     

Local fiscal equalisation based on fiscal capacity: the case of Austria

This paper deals with local fiscal equalisation in Austria. The system of intergovernmental relations in Austria includes different regulations in order to equalise differences in the fiscal capacity of the municipalities. This leads to so‐called ‘compensation effects’, because additional revenues from a local government's own tax are (at least partly) compensated by losses from equalisation grants. This paper carries out a detailed analysis of these compensation effects. It is shown that they create strong fiscal disincentives for the local governments: on average, 55 per cent of additional revenues from the communal tax (which is the most important of a local government's own taxes) are compensated by losses of equalisation grants. In extreme cases, local governments can lose up to 144 per cent of the additional tax yields collected. These local governments would be better off if they made no effort to increase their tax base.     

Revenue Sharing versus Expenditure Sharing in a Federal System

Problems of intergovernmental policy coordination can take many forms and are becoming increasingly important with continuing economic integration. In this paper we focus on the fiscal competition problem where the non-cooperative choice of taxes and transfers among governments typically leads to a suboptimal outcome. We look at the effect of two widely used corrective policies: revenue sharing and expenditure sharing (or intergovernmental matching grants). Our main result is that these two corrective policies have opposite effects depending on the form of competition between governments, namely whether governments compete in taxes or expenditures. More precisely, for any form of competition, revenue sharing is desirable exactly when expenditure sharing is not and vice versa. The implication is that the choice of the optimal corrective policy requires a complete understanding of the underlying non-cooperative behavior among governments. Our second main result is that neither revenue sharing or expenditure sharing can be sustained as a Nash equilibrium among governments, although all governments would benefit from one of these two corrective policies. Central intervention is therefore inevitable unless governments can pre-commit to the optimal corrective policy before setting their fiscal policies.     

我国地方税系的重构——基于税收分布视角

地方税系重构需要在考虑地方税收均衡程度的基础上进行,所以,理清税收在各地的分布状况及其差异系数非常关键.分析表明,地方税收的差异系数决定于进入地方税系的税种类别及其在地方税收中的比重.进一步,在中央与地方税收格局不变的限定下,通过模拟计算出地方税系重构八种情景下的地方税收差异系数.同时,基于模拟结果与各种因素的权衡,认为我国地方税系重构不能仅简单依赖增值税分享比例向地方政府的倾斜来实现,而是需要将车辆购置税与部分消费税划归地方政府,之后再以增值税分享比例的调整来稳定地方税收规模.     

论规制我国地方政府间制度外税收竞争的法治筹划

制度外税收竞争导致税收法定主义弱化,降低了市场机制对经济资源的配置效率。其法治筹划,从税收立法角度来看,要完善规范税收竞争的相关法律,提升税法立法级次,赋予地方适当税收立法权,加快费改税立法进程;从调整税收政策取向来看,要对税收优惠、区域经济协调发展、税制改革、财政转移支付等方面进行深化改革;同时,要通过强化税收执法监督、健全税收司法保障,对制度外税收竞争进行规制保障。     

Australia's home bias and cross border taxation

The paper examines the impact of cross border taxation on Australia's free float home bias. The paper controls for various sources of home bias including familiarity, explicit cost, diversification motives and governance issues when examining the impact of cross border tax variables. In our sample of 44 foreign countries where Australia invests over the period 2001 to 2009, about 66% (82%) withhold taxes on realized capital gains (dividends) of foreign investors. A tax credit variable for foreign taxes paid on dividends is constructed and found to be statistically significant in reducing home bias.     

财产税改革的逻辑

财产税与地方财政有着紧密的联系,多数划归为地方税。从财产税的性质来看,也适宜做地方税。这表明财产税的功能设计只能是以筹集收入为主,调节为辅。由此,财产税改革就应注重从宽税基、简税制和易征管,以及结合我国地方财政体制改革的要求来设计。我国财产税改革:一是替代原来已经不合时宜的相关税种;二是替代基层政府不具有地方税属性的税种。这两个”替代”若能实现,便可以”一箭双雕”,既能完善税制,又能理顺政府间财政关系。