Principal Residence Research Articles

A Call to Revamp I.R.C. §121: The Rules, the Reality, and a Path to Tax Parity for Long-Term Homeowners

ABSTRACT The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 revolutionized how taxpayers reported and, when applicable, paid capital gains tax on the sale of their principal residences. We argue that I.R.C. §121 fails to provide tax parity for many U.S. taxpayers and does not adequately support myriad long-standing governmental initiatives that endorse homeownership. Specifically, it favors short-term homeownership and could substantially penalize homeowners who remain in their principal residence long term. We examine relevant taxation history and the realities that impede tax parity. We suggest modifications that can mitigate tax disparity associated with differences in holding periods and supplement these proposals by addressing tax-reducing provisions that are currently available to all principal residence owners. Our findings highlight a viable step toward mitigating the specific issue related to long-term homeowners as well as stressing that any resulting tax benefits deemed “excessive” for the nation’s wealthiest taxpayers should be dealt with outside of §121.

The Treasure of Coricancha

This essay ties the return of a pre-Columbian metal disk from the Smithsonian Institution to Peru in 2021 to the sacking of the Inca's principal residence of the sun in Cusco, known as Coricancha, in 1533. The disk's legendary (and un-substantiated) provenance from Cusco is analyzed in light of ongoing yearnings both to extract the hidden treasures of Coricancha and to recover the lost sun deities of Coricancha. The essay reviews the archeological and art historical literature concerning the disk and recommends that the artwork be (re)connected both to the site of Coricancha and to the region of Lake Titicaca.

Vitamin B12 supplementation and health behavior of Austrian vegans: a cross-sectional online survey

The number of vegans is increasing and was estimated at 2.0% of the Austrian population. Austrian vegans were found to have lower intakes and levels of vitamin B12 compared to vegetarians and omnivores. Vegans are advised to consume reliable sources of vitamin B12, e.g., in the form of dietary supplements or fortified foods. This study aimed to investigate health and supplementation behavior, with special emphasis on the supplementation of vitamin B12, and to demographically characterize the community of Austrian adult vegans. A nonrandom, voluntary sample of adult vegans with a principal residence in Austria was recruited with an online cross-sectional survey via social media and messenger platforms. Associations between respondent characteristics (gender, education, nutritional advice by a dietitian or nutritionist) and health/supplementation behaviors were examined by cross-tabulation. The questionnaire was completed by 1565 vegans (completion rate 88%), of whom 86% were female, the median age was 29 years, 6% were obese, and 49% had completed an academic education. Ninety-two percent consumed vitamin B12 through supplements and/or fortified foods, and 76% had their vitamin B12 status checked. The prevalence of vitamin B12 intake through supplements and/or fortified foods was slightly (not statistically significant) higher among women vs. men (93% vs. 89%), those who were academically educated vs. those who were not (93% vs. 91%), and those who had taken nutritional advice vs. those who had not (97% vs. 92%). Professional nutritional advice had been taken by only 9.5% of female and 8.4% of male respondents. Those who had taken advice reported a lower smoking prevalence (p = 0.05, φ = 0.05), higher prevalence of checking vitamin B12 status (p < 0.01, φ = 0.10), vit B12 intake through supplements and/or fortified foods (p = 0.03, φ = 0.05), and taking supplements of omega-3 (p < 0.01, φ = 0.14), selenium (p = 0.02, φ = 0.06), and iodine (p = 0.02, φ = 0.06). Austrian vegans can be characterized as predominantly young, female, urban, highly educated, and nonobese. The rate of vitamin B12 intake through supplements and/or fortified foods is fairly high (92%), but should be further improved e.g., by increasing the share of vegans who follow professional nutritional advice (requiring a diploma in dietetics, nutritional science, or medicine in Austria).

THE CHINA-AFRICA JOINT ARBITRATION CENTRE (CAJAC)

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) continues to consolidate itsposition as one of the most important trade players on the internationalmarket. The PRC has signed cooperation agreements with more than126 countries. It is also a substantial importer of raw materials,intermediate inputs, and other goods. The PRC has dealings with all 54countries on the African continent, and today the continent ranks asone of the PRC’s most important trading posts. The increasing numberof international trade and investment means naturally, that disputes ofan international nature will arise between the PRC and African parties.It is for this reason that the China-Africa Joint Arbitration Centre(CAJAC) was established. The formation of CAJAC at the instance of theForum on China – Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is to encourage is toadminister the resolution of international disputes arising betweenChinese and African entities having their principal residence, place ofbusiness or nationality located in PRC or a country in Africa. The aim ofthis article is to examine the salient features of CAJAC which isadminister by accredited institutions which include CAJAC Beijing;CAJAC Johannesburg, CAJAC Nairobi, CAJAC OHADA, CAJAC Shanghaiand CAJAC Shenzhen.

Spas (Sambir) – Carpathian residence od Dux Lev

The historical tradition connects the final period of life and the burial place of Galician-Volhynian Prince Lev Danylovych with a small Carpathian village of Spas (Lviv region) which is situated in the Upper Dnister area. Considering the fact, that we have almost no evidence about this period of the life of the Prince, only the connected archaeological and historical data along with some fragmentary evidence give us the opportunity to reconstruct the status and role of this area during the medieval period. The sources indicate that Spas had the complex of the principal residence of Lev Danylovych, first as the Prince of Peremyshl (1240–1260 CE) and then (around 1279-1301 CE) as the ruler of Rus and the Prince of Galicia and Volhynia. The building of the residence along with its functioning was connected with the rivalry of the Prince with city and aristocracy opposition, the Mongolian military actions, the intensification of the Polish-Hungarian foreign policy of the Prince, and finally – its advantageous geographical position on the cross of the trade roads and salt-making production centers. The Spas complex very well corresponded with the concept of the «big cities» of Rus and included a stronghold-fortress, the Prince court with a wooden palace, church (monastery), a dungeon tower, and guarding fortresses, suburban areas, villages, and monasteries. The whole complex was generally called Sambir. A bishop of Peremyshl had his residence at the court which additionally gave him the title of the bishop «of Sambir». The cathedral of Spas held its status as the residence of the local church authority if the following centuries. It is quite clear, that Prince Lev died in Spas (Sambir) and he was buried in the principal burial place – the Church of Spas (Transfiguration). Key words: Peremyshl land, Spas (Sambir), hill-fort, church, Prince Lev Danylovych, principal court-residence.

Policy Forum: Revisiting the Principal Residence Exemption and Public Support for Reducing the Home Ownership Tax Shelter

This article briefly reviews multiple problematic cultural and economic incentives generated by the principal residence exemption (PRE) from capital gains taxation. It identifies several challenges that arise in revising the PRE as a strategy to reduce the home ownership tax shelter that it creates, &lt;i&gt;if&lt;/i&gt; such changes are presented as a primary mechanism to address the inequality and unaffordability produced by decades of previous housing inflation. The author observes that such harms would now be better addressed by adding progressivity to annual property taxation. Regardless of what policy lever is preferred, policy change is required to reduce the home ownership tax shelter. The majority of the article examines Canadian opinion data from February 2022 for evidence of public support for this policy change. These data reveal more public support than is often implied in Canadian political discourse.

Резиденция Петра Первого в Коломенском: задачи комплексного историко-археологического исследования

Kolomenskoye was a tsars’ residence through the 16th–19th centuries, and in the second half of the 17th century, it was the principal residence of the Romanovs. It was built and developed by tsars Alexey Mikhailovich and Feodor Alexeevich. The сhildhood of Peter the First was connected with the palace of his father and brother. Peter included Kolomenskoye into the festivities organized on the occasions of the conquest of Azov and victory in Poltava battle, built two bogus earth forts and a funny palace, and accommodated his regiments there in 1712. Upon enunciation of Peter the Emperor, he ordered to restore the Kolomenskoye palace and invited architects F. Chekalovski, M. Zemtsov, and I. Ustinov for that purpose. Archeologists have explored the remnants of the 17th-century palace quite well but the results of their studies are not brought in the academic turnover yet. Archive, architectural and museum investigations of Kolomenskoye in the 17th and the 18th centuries have advanced. Accumulated archive, graphic, architectural, material objects sources, and archeological records require comprehensive analysis of Kolomenskoye as the residence of Peter I. It is a chance to concentrate on the problem of succession and continuity of traditions in the culture of the epoch, to investigate Peter’s role in preservation of this succession, for the merit of Kolomenskoye restoration belongs to him. The comprehensive investigation of the residence has revealed the uniqueness of the transitory period culture, thereby defining anew the place of the epoch in the cultural space of Moscow. The reported study was funded by RFBR according to the research project № 20–09–42021.

Reconstructing Kilmainham: the topography and architecture of the chief priory of the Knights Hospitaller in Ireland, c.1170–1349

ABSTRACT For almost 400 years the Knights of St John of Jerusalem – the Knights Hospitaller – maintained a priory in Kilmainham, Co. Dublin, as their principal residence in Ireland. Nothing survives of it above ground. The priory's early history and topography are mainly shrouded in mystery, but a fourteenth-century registrum illuminates the workings of its community and the character of its members, and provides valuable evidence relating to the appearance of its architecture and layout when it was at the peak of its prosperity. Yet the registrum has never been subjected to detailed scrutiny. Recent research on the Hospitallers in Ireland on the one hand, and on the organisation of domestic space in medieval contexts in Ireland on the other, has prompted this comprehensive appraisal of the evidence in Kilmainham's registrum.

John Stuart, Duke of Albany and his contribution to military science in Scotland and Italy, 1514–36

John Stuart, duke of Albany was born in France, but acted as Regent of Scotland from 1514 until 1524. He visited Scotland three times and, in the early years of his regency, is credited with bringing a degree of stability back to Scottish governance during an otherwise troubled political period. Albany was also noteworthy for his love of visual splendour and magnificence. In France, he was an astute patron of the visual arts, commissioning a number of important manuscripts and architectural projects, such as the Sainte-Chapelle at Vic-le-Comte in the Auvergne. Albany’s main architectural achievement in Scotland was the fortification and extension his principal residence, Dunbar Castle, in the form of a great artillery blockhouse: perhaps the first such structure to have been built in the British Isles. The plan of the blockhouse appears to follow the basic form of a contemporary Italian angle bastion. The fortification earned a formidable reputation during this period, contemporary commentators noting that it was impregnable.Further evidence supporting the idea that Albany was greatly interested in Italian developments in military science come in the survival of a working sketch, now held in the Uffizi, Florence, which bears a note in the writing of the famed military architect, Antonio Sangallo the Younger, that it was undertaken ‘following the opinion of the Duke of Albany.’ The sketch shows a square fort protected by a ravelin. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between these two pieces of evidence, to investigate what they tell us of Albany and of his interest in military science, and to demonstrate how such ideas were introduced into Scotland and then fed back into architectural and military discourse on the Continent.

Non-Residents and Capital Gains Tax in Australia

The evolution of capital gains taxation in Australia parallels that in Canada in many respects. Federal income taxes were adopted in both countries during the First World War, and in both jurisdictions the courts interpreted the term "income," the subject of taxation, using United Kingdom judicial concepts that excluded capital gains from the tax base. In the last quarter of the 20th century, both countries amended their income tax laws to capture capital gains, and in both countries concessional rates apply. Initially, the Australian capital gains tax regime had rules that paralleled those in Canada in respect of the application of capital gains tax measures to non-residents, and the list of assets that might generate a capital gains tax liability for non-residents was similar in both countries. Australia changed course just over a decade ago with a decision to limit the income tax liability of non-residents in respect of capital gains to gains on land and land-rich companies alone, albeit with an extended definition of land to capture directly related interests such as exploration and mining rights. Consequently, until this decade, reform of Australia's regime imposing capital gains tax on non-residents focused on the concept of source as a primary driver, with the categories of taxable assets being gradually reduced. However, after more than a decade of unprecedented increases in housing prices in Australia, reform has moved away from addressing source to integrity matters. In Australia, as in Canada, there has been considerable investment in property, particularly residential property, by non-residents in recent years, and the government has sought ways to enhance the enforcement and integrity of the capital gains tax rules applying to non-residents disposing of Australian real property. Since 2013, Australia has proposed three separate measures to ensure integrity within this regime: removal of a concessional rate, introduction of a withholding tax, and removal of the principal residence exemption for non-residents. This article considers the history and development of Australia's capital gains tax regime as it applies to non-residents and examines the recent shift in focus from what is captured in the capital gains source rules to integrity provisions adopted to achieve both compliance and geopolitical objectives.

Gendered viewing, childbirth and female authority in the residence of Alice Chaucer, duchess of Suffolk, at Ewelme, Oxfordshire

ABSTRACTThis article examines the visual culture of the late medieval great residence from the perspective of the female gaze. In 1466, the widowed Alice Chaucer, duchess of Suffolk (c.1404–75), moved several items from her London and East Anglian houses to her principal residence at Ewelme, Oxfordshire. A unique set of inventories reveals that the move anticipated the birth and baptism of one of Alice’s grandchildren at that manor house. Focusing on the tapestries displayed in the main rooms of Alice’s residence, this article argues that the rituals surrounding the birth of Alice’s grandchild – and their occurrence within a female-headed household – provided a gendered viewing context, which both informed, and was informed by, their iconography. It considers how the mutually constitutive relationship between space, iconography and ritual would have authorised an event centred on female bodies, whilst also articulating Alice’s authority as household and family matriarch.

Prioritising local housing needs through land-use planning in rural areas: Political theatre or amenity protection?

This paper examines housing investment pressures and the local planning response in St Ives, Cornwall, where a Neighbourhood Development Plan introduced a principal residence restriction affecting all new-build homes in the locality in 2016. Ostensibly, the objective of this policy is to reserve new-build housing for local residents, thereby delivering improved housing market access for those needing to live and work in the area, who are seen to have greater claim on local resources. However, our study of the anticipated impacts of ‘Policy H2‘, drawing on semi-structured interviews with key policy informants and resident representatives, highlights concerns amongst long-term residents and working households as to the economic impacts of the policy relative to its impacts on housing access. Greater support for the policy was found to exist among in-migrant and retired households, who view the policy as a means of slowing development, preserving local character, and defending property values. Evidence from prior experiments with residence restrictions in the Lake District and elsewhere suggest that an overall reduction in house building (triggered by a shrinking of the market of eligible homebuyers) and a shift in demand by investors from new homes to the second-hand market can elevate house-prices and reduce overall housing affordability. Local needs planning policies may be politically expedient, with local politicians responding to a call to action, but they also carry the risk of unintended consequences.

FUNCIÓN Y DECORO. EL MOBILIARIO DEL PALACIO REAL DE MADRID BAJO CARLOS III

The Royal Palace of Madrid inventory of furniture for the reign of Charles III had not come to light until now. An essential period in this important royal residence, because it corresponds to the moment when it is conceived and practically made all its interior decoration and in which it was inhabited for the first time. The inventory of the office of the Furriera, 1776, allows a reconstruction not only of important artistic aspects, but of those of the daily life in the principal residence of that enlightened sovereign, when the monarchy of Spain still counted among the first powers and it was one of the main Courts of Europe.

Thomas Chaundler’sLibellus de laudibus duarum civitatum: Playing with Ecclesiastical Court Procedure

This fifteenth-century Latin play is a mock trial in honour of Thomas Bekynton’s elevation as Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1443. Chaundler has borrowed extensively from two Italian humanists, Leonardo Bruni (c. 1369-1444) and Pier Candido Decembrio (1399-1477), in arguments between characters Andrew of Wells and Peter of Bath, each claiming the right to house the bishop’s principal residence for his city. Following the stages of an ecclesiastical trial before Bishop Bekynton and a delegated judge, the character Daniel, also first bishop of Somerset, Chaundler has skilfully interwoven humanism, academic debate, and the history of the diocese in a play that could have been staged in a location such as the Chapter House at Wells Cathedral, where ecclesiastical trials were held.

Will Population Ageing Cause a House Price Meltdown in Australia?

The life cycle hypothesis suggests that when the Baby Boomers retire, many are likely to sell their assets to finance their retirement, exerting downward pressure on house prices. This paper examines whether demographic transitions, particularly the increasing proportion of the population in the old age cohort due to the retirement of Baby Boomers, will precipitate a dramatic decline in real house prices in Australia. The study uses a structural vector autoregressive framework. This is an important improvement over the reduced-form regression strategies usually employed in the literature. Both the demographic and non-demographic variables used in the empirical analysis are treated as endogenous and reverse causality between the variables is taken into account. The population ageing dynamics are modelled using impulse response functions and, thus, an insight into the potential magnitude of demographic shocks, particularly retirement shocks, is obtained. A much longer time series from 1950 to 2014 is used in the empirical analysis. The findings reject the predictions that population ageing, or more specifically, changes in age structure particularly due to retiring Baby Boomers, will lead to pronounced downward pressure on real house price in Australia. The results suggest that macroeconomic shocks and house price specific shocks explain more of the variation in house prices than the shifts in the population age structure, suggesting that such factors could outweigh any effects of future demographic shifts on house prices. At present the principal residence is excluded in the means test calculation for the age pension. The rapidly increasing size of the retired population will impose an increasing fiscal burden due to age pension expenditure. The way in which housing is treated for age pension eligibility will affect choices on whether older households remain in current residence or face pressure on selling their houses to finance the retirement consumption. This will have an impact on releasing housing stock into the market, which is an important policy implication from this research.

SOME COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE NIGERIAN AND SOUTH AFRICAN FISCAL REGIMES REGARDING AN INDIVIDUAL’S TAX RESIDENCE

Internationally, one of the most widely adopted criteria for determining the jurisdictional basis of a state’s taxing power is that of the taxpayer’s “residence”, “principal residence” or “ordinary residence”. However, statutory definitions often complicate these concepts, as is the case in Nigeria, and it is common for relief to be granted where the application of these criteria would expose the taxpayer in question to tax on the same income in more than one tax jurisdiction. In Nigeria, the determination of the residence of taxable persons involves the application of statutory criteria and moreover, the legislation makes it necessary to locate residence within a particular state of Nigeria. In the interpretation of the statutory criteria, precedence is given to decisions of the Nigerian courts.

Assessment limits and timing of real estate transactions

Michigan homebuyers face large potential discontinuities in property tax obligations for purchases made around January 1 and May 1 under the state’s application of acquisition-value based assessment limits and principal residence (homestead) exemptions, respectively. Consistent with incentives, roughly 3.7 percent of sales concluded in the first 10 business days of January are thus attributable to timing responses among the subset of properties listed by the largest 25 percent of firms by sales volume. Underlying this effect is a willingness to stretch the number of days between contract and closing dates by an average of 2 to 4 business days per $1000 of tax savings among transactions otherwise likely to conclude immediately prior to the end of the year. A small proportion of taxpayers–assisted by more experienced real estate brokers–hence appear to respond in a sophisticated manner to the timing incentives inherent to Michigan’s assessment limit system when confronted with the possibility of near-immediate increases in taxable basis. Though specific to Michigan, these findings emphasize the importance of behavioral distortions around the types of tax discontinuities that are inherent to the implementation of most property tax and assessment system policies.

Health and Households’ Portfolio Choices in Europe

&lt;p&gt;Using the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), this study investigated how health is associated with households’ portfolio choices in 10 European countries. This study reports three important findings on the relationship between health and portfolio choices. First, households in poor health condition are less likely than households in good health to own various types of financial and non-financial assets. Second, households in poor health condition tend to allocate a lower share of their wealth to risky financial assets, savings for long-term investment, their principal residence, and other non-financial assets while they allocate a larger share to liquid assets such as bank deposits. Third, there exists a regional variation in the magnitude of the correlation between health and portfolio choices. This regional variation can be explained by differences in health care systems. Overall, these findings suggest that negative health shocks are significantly associated with a household’s portfolio choices.&lt;/p&gt;

Paternité au quotidien et résidence alternée

Day-to-day fatherhood and alternating residence Debates on alternating residence for children after marital separation have been going on for a long time, and were not closed by the inclusion of the concept in the law in 2002. Since then, several draft laws have been presented to the French National Assembly, up to that of April 2014 pertaining to parental authority and the interest of the child. This draft law removes the right of access and accommodation as well as the notion of principal residence, and instead indicates each of the parents’ homes as being the child’s residence, without necessarily implying alternating residence. Intended legislative developments and views in this respect again look at the question of how family relationships are arranged when a family is no longer living under the same roof, and in the final instance, at the question of what a family is. This article reiterates to what extent the sharing of everyday life has become a basic element in the practice of (co) parenting after marital separation. It then explores how fatherhood can be conducted on a daily basis without (exclusive) reference to the sharing of a residence with the child on a daily basis (or even half-time, as in the case of alternating residence).

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