State Spending Done Through the Tax Code Needs to Be Reviewed

The special breaks littered throughout state tax codes — or “tax expenditures,” as they are frequently called — are an enormous and often overlooked part of government’s operations. Although the primary purpose of a tax system is to raise the revenue needed to pay for public services, every state, as well as the federal government, also uses its tax system to accomplish a variety of other policy goals. Encouraging job creation, subsidizing ... Full Story »

Posted by Dwight Rousu
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Subjects: U.S., Business
Topics: Taxes
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# Tweets: 0 (as of 2010-01-04)
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Posted by: Posted by Dwight Rousu - Jan 4, 2010 - 11:52 PM PST
Content Type: Article
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Edited by: Dwight Rousu - Jan 4, 2010 - 11:54 PM PST
Dwight Rousu
4.3
by Dwight Rousu - Jan. 4, 2010

The size of "tax expenditures" is a bit of a surprise. Re-evaluation of these loopholes is timely during an economic downturn.

“Procedural biases,” such as the omission of tax expenditures from the authorization and appropriations processes, allow tax expenditures to slip by with a fraction of ... More »

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Warrior Wheatman
4.9
by Warrior Wheatman - Jan. 5, 2010

Totall of tax expenditures (over a trillion$) (for research, private company subsidies, etc.) is larger than discrecionary spending. States often need a supermajority consent to cap or eliminate them.

Democray requires transparency of government. Re-evaluation before a budget cycle is a must.

‘President Obama has promise to create a “reformed Performance Improvement and Analysis framework”.’ More »

See Full Review » (21 answers)

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