Understanding Taxation

Around the world, there are concerns that many tax codes are biased against women, and that contemporary tax reforms tend to increase the incidence of taxation on the poorest women while failing to generate enough revenue to fund the programs needed to improve these women's lives. Because taxes are the key source of revenue governments themselves raise, understanding the nature and composition of taxation and current tax reform efforts is key to reducing poverty, providing sufficient revenue for public expenditure, and achieving social justice. This is the first book to systematically examine gender and taxation within and across countries at different levels of development. It presents original research on the gender dimensions of personal income taxes, and value-added, excise, and fuel taxes in Argentina, Ghana, India, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa, Uganda and the United Kingdom. This book will be of interest to postgraduates and researchers studying Public Finance, International Economics, Development Studies, Gender Studies, and International Relations, among other disciplines.

This clearly written treatise is designed to make very accessible the complex subject of corporate taxation by using non-technical, straightforward language, charts, checklists, diagrams, and numerous examples to aid readers' understanding. The book starts with an introductory chapter that discusses the choice of business form; the general principle that corporate profits are subject to double taxation (once at the corporate level and again at the shareholder level); and the basics of anti-abuse rules, such as the step-transaction doctrine. Those anti-abuse rules are explored in more detail in a later chapter, as are proposals to partially or fully eliminate double taxation. The next several chapters are organized using a cradle-to-grave approach that traces the life cycle of a corporation, beginning with formation and capitalization and ending with corporate "death," liquidation. Between those events, the book discusses operational issues, including the capital structure of a corporation, distributions of cash or property, stock redemptions, and stock dividends. After corporate liquidations, the book explores more advanced topics, such as taxable stock or asset acquisitions; non-taxable corporate reorganizations and divisions; the carryover of tax attributes (such as net operating losses) following certain non-recognition transactions; and the treatment of corporate tax shelters. In addition, a chapter addresses the taxation of S corporations, which generally provides a single-tax paradigm. Understanding Corporate Taxation also includes discussion of relevant cases. It is designed to supplement any corporate tax casebook or to be used on its own.

What are taxes and what are they used for? Through this book, students will gain a general understanding of the obligatory fees each person in a country is required to pay the government. The text explains the history of taxation as well as the different types of taxes and their effects. Additionally, students will learn how important taxation is to modern economies and how taxation levels can rise or fall depending on a nation's financial health. Through real-world examples, readers will see how twenty-first century tax policies affect individuals, corporations, and countries.

I'm writing this book because I want readers to be better informed about their own situations, and I want them to examine the national policy implications of our tax system.