The traditional theoretical literature on fiscal federalism urges cities to finance themselves with taxes on immobile sources. Thus, the literature sees real property taxes as the best source of local revenue; real property, after all, cannot be easily moved. This same literature eschews local...

The Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) was the most significant piece of federal tax legislation passed in thirty years. Not surprisingly, the TCJA has spurred the states to rethink their tax systems. This rethinking of state taxes was necessary even before the TCJA. To date, the states have primarily...

This is the second of a series of essays wherein we analyze the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair. In this essay, we address issues related to sales tax formalism and income tax nexus

The Supreme Court is currently considering whether it will accept original jurisdiction over New Hampshire v. Massachusetts. At issue is the State of New Hampshire’s (and its amici’s) claim that Massachusetts’s insistence on applying its income tax to residents of New Hampshire, who once...

Governments at all levels – federal, state and local – are suffering through ever more severe budget crises. The interests of these different levels of government are often assumed to be in conflict. For instance, it seems reasonable to believe that if the federal government were to get its...

The state corporate income tax has been and remains a vital source of income for the states. The theoretical justifications for this tax, however, are weak and, as reasonably predicted based on its poor design, the state corporate income tax has been in decline as a source of state revenue for...

A centerpiece of the 2017 federal tax legislation's reforms to international corporate income tax rules is the new global intangible low-taxed income regime (or GILTI). In a prior essay, we argued that U.S. state governments should conform to GILTI. But might there be constitutional restrictions...

This essay analyzes ways that U.S. state governments can raise revenue by rethinking whether and how they conform to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This essay is the first in a two-part series, with this essay focusing on strategic nonconformity with the TCJA for state-level personal income taxes,...