Contrary to the conventional view on consumption taxes, state and local sales taxes extend to the acquisition of capital assets and are especially burdensome on equipment. These taxes partially offset allocational distortions caused by tax provisions present prior to the Tax Reform Act of 1986...

The estate tax has received a great deal of attention from policy makers and the public in recent years. Yet we know little about its effect on the transfer of wealth. In this paper we explore the effect of the tax on inter vivos giving. In particular, we look at the degree to which wealthy...

In this article, we empirically gauge the government revenue-expenditure nexus for a state. Employing Granger-causality and vector autoregression techniques, our stylized results indicate that state revenues cause state expenditures. Furthermore, we find that federal grants are not a significant...

Charitable bequests are an important source of philanthropic support. Unlike bequests to children, which can be taxed at a maximum statutory rate of 0.55, such transfers are exempt from estate taxation. Thus, by lowering the price of charitable giving, the estate tax may influence the...

Examines the effects of the estate tax on charitable bequests using estate tax records for decedents in 1986 filed during the years 1986-1988. Focuses on the pattern of aggregate charitable bequests, bequests to six categories of charitable organizations, as well as the effect of the estate tax...

This paper provides insight into the attributes of wage-earning households that participate in tax-deferred retirement savings plans. Examining data from federal tax returns, we find that approximately 52 percent of individuals and 55 percent of households participated in a retirement savings...