Study on Local Tax Autonomy in the Decentralized Fiscal System

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23530396
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Public finance/Monetary economics
• Research Institution: Kwansei Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: MAEDA Takashi 関西学院大学, 経済学部, 教授 (70165645)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 地方分権 / 地方税 / 課税自主権 / 地方税減免 / 企業課税 / 応益課税 / 税収偏在 / 財政規律

Outline of Final Research Achievements

As a part of fiscal autonomy in local taxation, prefectural and municipal governments can individually reduce local tax burdens. Many local governments use their own tax reduction measures. However, those reduction measures causes some problems on equity in taxation. From viewpoints of local autonomy, equity in taxation, and fiscal health, there should quite naturally be a fixed standard of local governments’tax reduction measures.
In the United States, state and local business tax policy is one of the important elements of policies to attract new investment and to retain and expand employment. By the state-by-state comparison of the business tax liabilities, we conclude the decentralized state and local taxation may cause confrict with local taxation principles (benefit taxation and tax revenue universality).

Free Research Field

財政学