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What is a tax? - CORRECT ANSWER-can be defined as a payment to support
the cost of government. A tax differs from a fine or penalty imposed by a
government because a tax is not intended to deter or punish unacceptable
behavior.
A tax can be defined as a payment to support the cost of government. A tax
differs from a fine or penalty imposed by a government because a tax is not
intended to deter or punish unacceptable behavior. On the other hand, taxes are
compulsory rather than voluntary on the part of the payer. A tax differs from a
user's fee because the payment of a tax doesn't entitle the payer to a specific
good or service in return. In the abstract, citizens receive any number of
government benefits for their tax dollars. Nevertheless, the value of government
benefits received by any particular person is not correlated to the tax that person
must pay.
What is a convenient tax? - CORRECT ANSWER-Our second standard for
evaluating a tax is convenience. Form the government's viewpoint, a good tax
should be convenient to administer. Specifically, the government should have a
method for collecting the tax that most taxpayers understand and with which
their routinely cooperate. The collection method should not overly intrude on
individual privacy but should offer minimal opportunity for noncompliance. States
,that levy retail sales taxes use a collection method under which sellers are
responsible for collecting the tax from the buyers and offers them no opportunity
to evade the tax.
What is an efficient tax? - CORRECT ANSWER-Our third standard for a good tax
is economic efficiency. Tax policymakers use the term efficiency in two different
ways. Sometimes the term describes a tax that doesn't interfere with or influence
taxpayers economic behavior. At other times, policymakers describe a tax as
efficient when individuals or organizations react to the tax by deliberately
changing their economic behavior.
What is a fair tax? - CORRECT ANSWER-The fourth standard by which to
evaluate a tax is whether the tax is fair to the people who must pay it. While no
economist, social scientist, or politician would ever argue against fairness as a
norm, there is precious little agreement as to the exact nature of tax equity. Many
people believe that their tax burden is too heavy, while everyone else's tax
burden is too light.
What is a taxpayer? - CORRECT ANSWER-A taxpayer is any person or
organization required by law to pay a tax to a governmental authority. In the US,
the term person refers to both natural person's and corporations. Corporations
are entities organized under the laws of one of the 50 states or the District of
Columbia. These corporate entities generally enjoy the same legal rights,
,privileges and protections as individuals. The taxing jurisdictions in this country
uniformly regard corporations as entities separate and distinct from their
shareholder. Consequently, corporations are taxpayers in their own right.
What is meant by incidence? - CORRECT ANSWER-The incidence of a tax refers
to the ultimate economic burden represented by the tax. Most people jump to
the conclusion that the person or organization that makes a direct tax payment to
the government bears the incidence of such tax. But in some cases, the payer can
shift the incidence to a third party.
What is meant by jurisdiction?- - CORRECT ANSWER-The right of a government
to levy tax on a specific person or organization is referred to as jurisdiction.
Jurisdiction exists because of some rational linkage between the government and
the taxpayer. For instance, our federal government has jurisdiction to tax any
individual who is a US citizen or who permanently resides in this country. The
government also claims jurisdiction to tax individuals who are neither US citizens
nor residents (nonresident aliens) but who earn income from a source within the
US.
What is the tax formula? - CORRECT ANSWER-Taxes are usually characterized
by reference to their base. A tax base is an item, occurrence, transaction, or
activity with respect to which a tax is levied. Tax bases are usually expressed in
monetary terms. For instance, real property taxes are levied on the ownership of
, land and buildings, and the dollar value of the property is the tax base. When
designing a tax, governments try to identify tax bases that taxpayers can't easily
avoid or conceal. In this respect, real property is an excellent tax base b/c it can't
be moved or hidden, and its ownership is a matter of public record. The dollar
amount of a tax is calculated by multiplying the base by a tax rate, which is usually
expressed as a percentage. This relationship is reflected in the following formula:
o Tax(T) = Rate (r) * Base (B)
Identify and describe the various types of taxes levied by local, state, and the
Federal government. - CORRECT ANSWER-A) Local Taxes: Local governments
depend heavily on real property taxes and personal property taxes, which are
frequently referred to as ad valorem taxes. According to the most recent census
data, these two taxes account for more than 70% of local government tax
revenues.
A1) Real Property Taxes - levied annually and are based on the market value of
the property as determined by the local government. Elected or appointed
officials called Tax Assessors are responsible for deriving the value of realty and
informing the owners of the assessed value. Property owners who disagree with
the assessed value may challenge the assessment in an administrative or judicial
proceeding. A unique feature of real property taxes is that the tax rate is
determined annually, based on the jurisdictions need for revenue for that
particular budget year.