Gratuitous Transfers Research Articles

Оценка дефицита местного бюджета в условиях глобальных вызовов: содержание, причины и пути оптимизации

Introduction. The impact of global challenges in the modern world establishes its own technologies for achieving balance in planning and using budget finances in Russia. These problems acquire a special spectrum within the framework of a large number, diversity of legal types, natural and geographical features of the territory and financial independence of local budgets. Local budgets are the most significant source of financing for public utility infrastructure facilities that residents of municipalities use every day, which ultimately determines the comfort and quality of living in the local area. This article aims to consider the theoretical and methodological approaches to the content and causes of the local budget deficit and to substantiate the criteria for the effectiveness of its financing with an uncertain revenue base and increasing costs for organizing the provision of municipal services in all areas of expenditure obligations of local governments. To substantiate the working hypothesis of the study, we point out that local budgets of all legal types of municipalities have gratuitous transfers from higher-level budgets as the main source of revenue base, a small amount of tax initiative and budgetary powers to assess their expenditure obligations. As a rule, all these powers are regulated at the federal and regional levels.The methodological basis of the study was the provisions of the Keynesian and neo-Keynesian schools of budget regulation, taking into account the new model of municipal governance. The empirical basis of the study was the control indicators of draft budgets of a number of municipalities of the Sverdlovsk region, obtained by the author from official sources and the results of the webinar with representatives of financial departments as part of local governments of the Sverdlovsk region.Results and conclusions. The results of the study identified the criteria for the formation and implementation of an effective budget deficit policy, formulated practical recommendations for local governments to optimize the financing of the local budget deficit and servicing the debt obligations of the municipality in the context of prevention and adaptation to global challenges. As further directions of scientific research, it is necessary to indicate an assessment of the possibilities of applying these criteria by local governments to the reformed provisions of the budget legislation of Russia, expected for 2030-2036.

Main directions for forming budget income of different types of municipalities in the Russian Federation

This study is aimed at determining the main sources of income for local budgets of various types, their dependence on transfers. The analysis of the structure of the total and own revenues of the budgets of municipalities was carried out. For the period 2012–2021 revenues and their main components are determined in current and constant prices, which makes it possible to characterize the dynamics of the state of budgets for the specified period. The analysis of the structure of the main components of local budget revenues by types of municipalities identifies the dependence of urban districts, municipal districts, and settlements on income received as gratuitous transfers.

Стратегирование выхода региона из дотационного экономического состояния на примере Кабардино-Балкарской Республики

Many Russian regions depend on gratuitous transfers from the federal center. These regions lag behind the average Russian level of economic development and standard of living, which creates uneven prerequisites for economic growth. In addition, such regions attract no investments, and the effectiveness of the use of federal money is often impossible to assess. These conditions lead to inequal economic development, living standards, and welfare in different regions, which creates social tension and hinders the economic growth of the whole country. The research relied on the theory of strategy and methodology of strategizing developed by V.L. Kvint, Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Honored Worker of the Higher School of the Russian Federation, whose projects have been successfully implemented in a number of regional and sectoral strategies. According to the general methodology of strategizing, new opportunities are determined by analyzing global, sectoral, and regional trends. The present research featured the subsidized region of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. The proposed term of subsidized economic condition made it possible to take into account the peculiarities of such regions during strategizing. The author developed some tools for assessing the effectiveness of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic’s exit strategy from subsidized economy. The main strategic priority was to improve the quality of life in the region, as well as to increase the level of its financial independence. Conclusion. The analysis made it possible to identify and substantiate the theoretical features of strategizing the exit from subsidized economy, as well as to develop some tools for assessing the effectiveness of this strategy for the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic.

РОЛЬ ФЕДЕРАЛЬНЫХ ТРАНСФЕРТОВ В СУБНАЦИОНАЛЬНОЙ БЮДЖЕТНОЙ СИСТЕМЕ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ И ЕЕ АЗИАТСКОЙ ЧАСТИ

The main condition for the effective function of regional authorities is their financial independence and sustainability. This problem is especially relevant for the regions of the Asian part of the Russian Federation. The order of budget and tax regulation is currently highly centralized in Russia, the share of inter-budget transfers in the structure of regional revenues is quite high, especially this is typical for the regions of the Asian part of the country. The purpose of the study is to analyze and evaluate the results of transfer transfers to the budgets of the regions of the Russian Federation in general and the budgets of the subjects of the Federation of the Asian part of Russia in particular with the help of economic and statistical apparatus. For this purpose the structure of regional budgets revenues was assessed, the analysis of indicators of heterogeneity of revenues of the subjects of the Russian Federation before and after the allocation of federal transfers was carried out, the features of distribution of regions by the value of revenues before and after they received gratuitous transfers were revealed, a quantitative assessment of the level of differentiation in revenues of regional budgets was given by calculating the Gini index and the coefficient of funds. It is noted that measures are necessary to prevent direct correlation between actual and projected revenues of regional budgets and the amount of transfers received by them from the federal budget.

DEATH AND TAXES: A LIBERTARIAN REAPPRAISAL

AbstractImagine two friends. Anna inherits nothing and works for every penny she has, while Mary inherits millions. How should a world that respects individual autonomy and private property rights treat Anna’s earnings and Mary’s inheritance? Should it tax them the same, or tax one more heavily than the other? If the latter, which one? The conventional wisdom holds that although some “right” libertarian theories justify taxing income, none justify taxing inheritances. Such taxes are “expropriations” and “an especially cruel injury” that “run[] roughshod over [a] deceased’s interest in the ends his property will serve.” This essay explores the standard libertarian objections to taxing gifts and bequests and argues that libertarians overstate their case when distinguishing the taxation of gratuitous transfers from other types of taxation. At minimum, the benefit theory of taxation embraced by many minimal statists and classical liberals mandates that the receipt of gifts and bequests should be taxed to the recipient. Moreover, the goals of curbing inherited political power and preventing wealthy families from insulating their members from market competition provide two additional explanations for why taxing inheritances to recipients is compatible with classical liberal values.

Should Inheritance Be Taxed as Income?

Many have advocated the taxation of bequests and gifts as income in order to achieve substantial revenues from unearned wealth and address inequality. There are, though, many drawbacks to the idea of taxing inheritance as part of the beneficiary’s income. Even for those who claim the inclusion of inherited wealth in the beneficiary’s income tax base, the features of the current taxes on gratuitous transfers should be retained. High tax exemption thresholds, annual exemptions for small gifts, medical expenses and transfers to spouses, tax deferral for illiquid assets and so forth would continue to apply to inherited wealth, notwithstanding their inclusion in the income tax base. In the author’s opinion, the foregoing is a serious argument against including inheritances in the concept of taxable income. The special treatment to be accorded to inherited wealth, as compared to other taxable income, undermines the belief that legacies should be imposed as income, since it signals that they are inherently different. Inheritance is certainly suitable grounds for taxation, but it seems more appropriate to continue taxing it as part of an autonomous levy, without yielding to suggestions that it be included in the income tax base.

Transformation of Regional Budgetary Independence and Security: Spatial Analysis

The issue of increasing budgetary independence and security is relevant for the majority of territorial systems, both at the regional and municipal levels. It was hypothesised that changes in the structure of regional public debt have a negative impact on their budgetary security. According to this hypothesis, an increase in the proportion of bank borrowing and corresponding decrease in the issue of debt securities by the constituent entities of the Russian Federation leads to a greater overall debt burden on the regional budget. In order to study transformation processes affecting budgetary independence and regional security. We developed a methodology to permit a separate assessment of these concepts. According to this approach, we propose to evaluate the budgetary independence of regional systems in terms of: (1) the balance of the budget (ratio of internal tax and non-tax revenues to budget expenditures); (2) financial dependence on transfers and subsidies from budgets at other levels; (3) budget security, taking into account gratuitous and non-gratuitous transfers. Thus, budget ary security can be assessed in accordance with the public debt dynamics, as well as the level of budgetary debt covered by the region’s own tax and non-tax revenues. The novelty of the presented methodological approach consists in its systematic use of Moran’s I for various spatial weight matrices combined with regression analysis methods based on panel data. Testing this methodology demonstrated the spatial heterogeneity of regional fiscal capacity, highlighting the financial dependence of most regions on federal and other gratuitous transfers. Autocorrelation analysis carried out according to Moran’s I using various spatial weight matrices confirmed the increasing tendency of the budgetary debt of Russian regions towards spatial heterogeneity. Future studies will focus on simulating the influence of various factors on regional budgetary security in order to predict the dynamics of its change.

Tax Law, Inequality, and Redistribution: Recent and Possible Future Developments

The current age of inequality is also an age of extensive tax and related public economics scholarship about inequality. Three prominent aspects of recent research especially stand out. The first concerns empirical measurement of economic inequality, as it has changed over time. The second concerns different mechanisms for taxing the rich, such as through the taxation of income, wealth, consumption, or gratuitous transfers. The third concerns new uses of the tax system to address poverty. Each of these research areas can, should, and undoubtedly will continue to develop. I will suggest, however, that two further sets of issues raised by inequality demand greater attention than they have heretofore received. The first is normative inquiry regarding why, when, how, and to what extent inequality matters, moving beyond the economic literature’s often predominant focus on declining marginal utility. The second is better connecting the analysis of purely economic inequality to that of its other dimensions, such as racial and ethnic inequality. In both areas, given tax law’s institutional focus, a key aim should be to offer policymakers potentially usable guidance, by suggesting what practical implications a particular normative view (and/or particular empirical findings) might have.

The Dual System of OECD Model Tax Conventions from the Evolutionary Perspective

This article attempts to analyse, from the evolutionary perspective, the dual system of OECD Model Tax Conventions that arguably came into existence as a result of a tax policy choice that was introduced from the very beginning of works on bilateral model solutions concerning the elimination of international juridical double taxation. So far, this duality has attracted little attention in the literature despite its theoretical importance. This article attempts to fill in this research lacuna. The presented analysis is also important to consider a much needed shift in the tax policy of the OECD towards taxes on gratuitous wealth transfers mortis causa and inter vivos.

Cross-border planning for real estate: USA

This article deals with the cross-border tax issues resulting from (i) the purchase of real estate, (ii) the holding of this real estate and its renting out to lessees and (iii) a sale of the real estate at some point in time in the future, as well as (iv) gratuitous transfers through gifts or by way of death, and all of this under the tax law of the USA. The real estate may be purchased directly or indirectly through the acquisition of shares in a local company holding the real estate. The purchaser of the real estate may be a non-resident company or a non-resident individual.

Cross-border planning for real estate: UK1

This article deals with the cross-border tax issues resulting from (i) the purchase of real estate, (ii) the holding of this real estate and its renting out to lessees and (iii) a sale of the real estate at some point in time in the future, as well as (iv) gratuitous transfers through gifts or by way of death, and all of this under the tax law of the UK. The real estate may be purchased directly or indirectly through the acquisition of shares in a local company holding the real estate. The purchaser of the real estate may be a non-resident company or a non-resident individual.

Cross-border planning for real estate: France

This article deals with the cross-border tax issues resulting from (i) the purchase of real estate, (ii) the holding of this real estate and its renting out to lessees and (iii) a sale of the real estate at some point in time in the future, as well as (iv) gratuitous transfers through gifts or by way of death, and all of this under the tax law of France. The real estate may be purchased directly or indirectly through the acquisition of shares in a local company holding the real estate. The purchaser of the real estate may be a non-resident company or a non-resident individual.

The gratuitous transfer and Petrodel: reform or no reform?

The gratuitous transfer of property has been a settled area of equity for many years, with different rules applying to personal property and land. However, the highly anticipated Supreme Court judgment of Petrodel v Prest appears to be at odds with the settled law relating to gratuitous transfers of land. The question asked, therefore, is whether or not Petrodel should be considered to have reformed the law relating to gratuitous transfers of land.

The Taxation of Gratuitous Transfers between Immediate Family Members: An Analysis of the Spanish Perspective

The author examines the legitimacy of subjecting gratuitous generational transfers of wealth between immediate family members to inheritance and gift tax, noting, in particular, the inconsistencies between the national law and the regional regulations of the Autonomous Communities and between the regulations of the different Autonomous Communities themselves.

Legal Limitations of the Anthropological Notion of the Gift in Roman Law

The gift from an anthropological perspective differs from the rigid civil notion of donation, which presupposes an unilateral, gratuitous transfer from one person to another. The anthropological notion of the gift includes all gratuitous transfers, either material or non-material. Therefore, the relation between the anthropological notion of the gift and the legal notion of donation is one of inclusion. However, limitations imposed on donations in Roman law follow the same logic of the legal limitations on other gratuitous transfers such as the ones prohibited by leges sumptuaria. In this article I will analyze the reasons behind the legal interdictions in Roman law on some gratuitous spending, including donations between spouses, the ones prohibited by Lex cincia de donis et muneribus and by leges sumptuaria, interdictions that deal with the anthropological function of the gift in the greco-roman world.

The Redistributive Potential of Transfer Taxation

The United States imposes substantial federal taxes on estates, gifts, and generation-skipping transfers exceeding high exemption levels (currently US$5.25 million). These transfer taxes are very distortionary compared to other federal taxes, and raise little revenue; their appeal lies in their distributional properties. Gratuitous transfers benefit both those who make the transfers and those who receive them; transfer taxes therefore impose burdens on both donors and recipients, in addition to distorting economic behavior. This article considers a potential reform of replacing federal transfer taxes with greater income taxes on the highest-income earners. Such a reform holds the prospect of raising additional federal tax revenue with improved efficiency and greater measured tax progressivity.

The new US exit tax scheme: breaking off a long-term relationship with Uncle Sam

The new US exit tax scheme: breaking off a long-term relationship with Uncle Sam

Restricting Testamentary Freedom: Ex Ante Versus Ex Post Considerations

The organizing principle of American succession law — testamentary freedom — gives decedents a nearly unrestricted right to dispose of property. After surveying the justifications for testamentary freedom, I examine the circumstances in which it may be socially beneficial for courts to alter wills, trusts, and other gratuitous transfers at death: imperfect information, negative externalities, and intergenerational equity. These justifications correspond with many existing limitations on the freedom of testation. Yet, disregarding donor intent to maximize the donees’ ex post interests, an increasingly common justification for intervention, is socially undesirable. Doing so ignores important ex ante considerations, including a donor’s happiness, a donor’s incentive to work, save, and invest, and the structure and timing of a donor’s gifts. If donors believe courts may not facilitate their intent, donors may be less happy, accumulate less property, and alter gifts during life. Moreover, because the law often affects donor behavior, ignoring donative intent to benefit particular donees may harm not only the donors but also donees as a class. Thus, the living may themselves benefit if the law allows a certain degree of “dead hand” control.

The Game is Afoot!: The Significance of Gratuitous Transfers in the Sherlock Holmes Canon

This article presents a recently discovered and previously unpublished manuscript written by John H. Watson, M.D., and annotated by Professor Stephen Alton. Dr. Watson’s manuscript records an extended conversation that took place between the good doctor and his great friend, the renowned consulting detective Mr. Sherlock Holmes, regarding issues of gratuitous transfers of property – issues involving inheritances, wills, and trusts – that have arisen in some of the great cases solved by Mr. Holmes. This felicitous discovery confirms something that Professor Alton has long known: these gratuitous transfer issues permeate many of these adventures. Often, the action in the case occurs because of the desire of the wrong-doer to come into an inheritance, a bequest, or the present possession of an estate in land more quickly – perhaps by dispatching the intervening heir, beneficiary, or life tenant. Professor Alton has annotated this manuscript, providing extensive analysis of these issues and citations to relevant, contemporary authority in his footnotes.

Gratuitous Transfers of Assets from Parent to Child: Pecore v Pecore [2007], 279 D.L.R. (4th) 513 and Madsen Estate v Saylor [2007], 279 D.L.R. (4th) 547

The Supreme Court of Canada in Pecore v Pecore1 and its companion decision, Madsen Estate v Saylor2, established rules and limitations regarding the treatment of gratuitous transfers of assets from a parent to a child. In these cases, the Court examined two historically conflicting presumptions; namely, the presumption of resulting trust and the presumption of advancement. The presumption of resulting trust applies to most transfers of property without consideration and presumes that the transferor's intention is to transfer legal title only to the transferee. The presumption of advancement presumes the reverse, starting from the position that such transfers represent gifts and that full beneficial and legal title passes to the transferee. The presumption of resulting trust can be further explained by stating that when a transferor dies, the transferred assets become a part of the transferor's estate, and will be passed on to the beneficiaries in their...