Corporation or franchise taxes is a term applied to cover a great variety of taxes designed to reach more effectively than can be done otherwise, the tax-paying ability of the various classes of corporations. They are in general aimed at the value of the busi ness as a going concern and take on many different forms.
State finances, county finances, municipal finances and district finances, and hence the taxes used, are closely related and inter locking. The State very often subsidises and supervises the schools and the main highways. The counties in many cases levy taxes for schools which are handed over to and expended by the school districts. The municipalities enjoy, possibly, a larger degree of independence than any other political subdivisions of the State, but that is only in the realm of strictly municipal ac tivities. The total of taxes levied by any one class of taxing divi sions does not correspond to the total expenditures of that class. Thus the State may be said to spend on its own activities very much less than it raises in taxes, for it subsidises many local ex penditures. The counties subsidise the districts, but on the other hand receive subsidies from the State. The districts, school, road and other, and the municipalities are the final recipients of the subsidies from above, but levy some taxes of their own.
best sources of further information concerning taxation in the United States are: A. On statutory law. The codes or general statutes of the United States and of the several States. In many States the revenue laws are separately published. A digest of the revenue laws of the States is published at intervals of ten years by the United States Census Bureau, last edition, "1922" printed 1924. The Federal Government publishes the "regulations" for each of its taxes in a series revised as need be, and also the "rulings" and "decisions."
These and other federal publications mentioned below can be obtained from the Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. There are a considerable number of annual taxpayers' guides and continuous "tax services," relating especially to the Federal income tax, obtainable through the book trade.
B. Financial statistics. The original sources are: the reports of the State auditors or controllers and of the State tax commissioners. Secondary, but authoritative sources are: the United States Bureau of the Census series of publications entitled Wealth, Debt and Taxation, published in complete form once every decade the last edition was "1922" published, 1924. The Bureau also publishes annually a report on the finances of cities. Local taxes are frequently statistically sum marized in the above State reports. The city taxation departments and the city auditors of the larger cities, also, usually publish annual reports. The New York City office is known as the Commissioners of Taxes and Assessments.
C. Discussion, descriptions and studies. Most of the American college textbooks on public finance and the tariff and many legal treatises on taxation contain more or less extensive descriptions of United States taxes. The annual volumes of the Proceedings of the National Tax Association (vol. xx. 1927) contain carefully prepared papers and dis cussions on American taxation by the best qualified experts, and also, each year, a record of the more recent changes in tax law. The National Tax Association also publishes a monthly bulletin.
D. Decisions of the Courts contain very important matters concern ing taxation. (C. C. P.)