Taxation Technology And The User Cost Of Capital

The definition and measurement of the cost of using real capital as an input in production has been much discussed and approached in several ways in earlier literature. This present study attempts to give a unified treatment of the cost of capital services, with emphasis on its relation to the corporate tax system on the one hand, and to the production technology of the firm on the other. It provides a thorough discussion of capital as a factor of production, relating the measurement of the price of capital services to the measurement of capital stock.A parallel treatment of capital and its service price with a neo-classical technology and with a putty-clay technology is presented. The book also discusses and unifies different concepts of neutrality of income taxation presented in the public finance literature. Illustrations based on data for the manufacturing sector of the Norwegian economy are given, relating partly to the actual tax system and partly to more or less hypothetical tax reforms. The study is intended to serve as a reference for researchers in econometric model building, corporate investment behaviour, tax analysis, and national accounting.

Introduction -- Taxation of income from capital -- The U.S. tax system -- Effective tax rates -- Summary and conclusion.

Feldstein shows how systems of taxation influence the rate and nature of capital formation--key to the development of any economy. His identification of important economic and policy questions, adroit use of modeling and new data, and careful attention to dynamics make this book a powerful addition to the literature.

This technical note is the first of three addressing information technology (IT) themes and issues relevant to tax administrations. This note focuses on the use of technology in tax administrations and how to develop an information technology strategic plan (ITSP). It is intended for tax administrations that are largely manual or have outdated legacy IT systems. The second note addresses how to select an IT system for core tax administrations functions. And the third note covers implementation of a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) system. These technical notes are primarily for use by tax administrations that have no technology to manage their core tax processes, or their technology is limited and outdated. These notes focus on core tax functions and do not address other business systems (e.g., payroll, finance, document, and asset management systems).