Search Results
Journal Article
Survey of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Properties
In 1987, states began offering federally authorized tax credits to investors to encourage the development of low-income rental housing—with the stipulation that the rents remain "affordable" for at least 15 years. Now—as that 15-year mark looms—a Dallas Fed survey of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) properties located in Texas has found that 76 percent of the property owners plan to keep their housing affordable for low-income families, but many are in need of repair.
Working Paper
The cost of capital, the desired capital stock, and a variable investment tax credit as a stabilization tool
This study considers the potential of a variable investment tax credit to relieve the pressure of a contracyclical monetary policy on the housing and State and local government sectors.
Journal Article
Noteworthy: housing: tax credit boosting sales, building -- for now
In both Texas and the U.S., existing-home sales have been rising since March 2009--due in part to a tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers. The tax credit has also helped stimulate construction.
Working Paper
Investment, accounting, and the salience of the corporate income tax
This paper develops and tests the hypothesis that accounting rules mitigate the impact of tax policy on investment decisions by obscuring the timing of tax payments. I model a firm that maximizes a discounted weighted average of after-tax cash flows and accounting profits. The cost of capital and the impact of tax incentives for investment both depend on the weight placed on accounting profits. I estimate this weight by comparing the effectiveness of tax incentives that do and do not affect accounting profits. Investment tax credits, which do affect accounting profits, have more impact on ...
Working Paper
Evaluating the Success of President Johnson's War on Poverty: Revisiting the Historical Record Using a Full-Income Poverty Measure
We evaluate progress in President's Johnson's War on Poverty. We do so relative to the scientifically arbitrary but policy relevant 20 percent baseline poverty rate he established for 1963. No existing poverty measure fully captures poverty reductions based on the standard that President Johnson set. To fill this gap, we develop a Full-income Poverty Measure with thresholds set to match the 1963 Official Poverty Rate. We include cash income, taxes, and major in-kind transfers and update poverty thresholds for inflation annually. While the Official Poverty Rate fell from 19.5 percent in 1963 ...
Working Paper
The household spending response to the 2003 tax cut: evidence from survey data
The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief and Reconciliation Act of 2003 has been described as textbook fiscal stimulus. Using household survey data on the self-reported qualitative response to the tax cuts, we estimate that the boost to aggregate personal consumption expenditures from the child credit rebate and the reduction in withholdings raised the average level of real GDP in the second half of 2003 by 0.2 percent and by 0.3 percent in the first half of 2004. We also show that households in the survey were well aware of their tax cuts and tended to spend equally out of the child credit rebate and ...
Working Paper
Beggar thy neighbor? the in-state vs. out-of-state impact of state R&D tax credits
In this paper, I exploit the cross-sectional and time-series variation in R&D tax credits, and in turn the user cost of R&D, available from U.S. states between 1981-2002 to estimate the elasticity of private R&D with respect to both the within-state (internal) user cost and the out-of-state (external) user cost. To facilitate comparisons to previous studies of the R&D cost elasticity, I first estimate an R&D cost elasticity omitting external R&D costs; the estimated elasticity is negative, above unity (in absolute value), and statistically significant?a finding quite similar to that found by ...
Journal Article
The New Markets Tax Credit Program: will it live up to its potential?
Because many small businesses in isolated inner-city or rural locations are cut off from mainstream capital networks, a new conduit for channeling equity capital is needed?patient capital that can be used to grow a business and manage risks in less diversified economies. Many believe the New Markets Tax Credit Program, which aims to stimulate $15 billion in private equity investment in low-income communities, can provide such a conduit. While the program has many strengths, it is still too early to tell whether it will live up to its promise because the initial investments are just beginning ...
Journal Article
Noteworthy: housing: tax credit boosts sales to first-time homebuyers in Texas
The beleaguered Texas housing market has been getting some help from Washington's attempts to revive the economy. First-time homebuyers in the state are taking advantage of tax credits of as much as $8,000 provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Journal Article
Transferable tax credits in Missouri: an analytical review
In 2005, Missouri had 53 legally authorized tax credit programs. In this paper, the authors assemble basic information on all of these programs and further analyze the six largest (by tax credits issued) that include freely transferable credits. Their analysis focuses on the institutional features of these programs, the kinds of market failures or disparities they may address, and whether the design of each program is consistent with its economic rationale. The authors also consider whether the evaluation of each program by the state is consistent with its economic rationale. They conclude ...