Writing assignment

POLS 2212 Written Assignment #2 – Tax Policies In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

--Benjamin Franklin, 1789 While the existence of taxes may be certain, the kinds of taxes that citizens of states will pay are not. Ever-changing economic conditions and citizen demands place continuous pressure on state leaders to develop effective tax systems, but not all states are up to the task. For this written assignment, you will compare the tax systems of two states and assess their overall effectiveness. To complete this paper assignment, you must do the following:

1. Select two states. (Georgia is not a valid choice) 2. Identify the main components of the tax system for these two states.

a. What kinds of major taxes (property, sales, corporate income, personal income) exist in the state?

b. What kinds of miscellaneous taxes and/or user fees exist in the state? 3. Discuss perceptions of the tax system within each state. Locate and draw upon at least two

suitable sources for each state to consider the following issues: a. Is the tax system considered to be reasonable or burdensome? b. Is the tax system considered equitable or unfair? c. Have major changes to the tax system been proposed or considered recently? d. Is the tax system considered effective for meeting the state’s revenue needs? e. What forces or factors seem to inhibit the development of more effective tax policies?

4. Drawing on concepts from Chapter 13, provide your own assessment of the tax systems in these states. Which of these states seems to have a ‘better’ tax system, and why?

Formatting and Submission Guidelines

• Your paper should be at least 1500 words in length and double spaced with appropriate sized fonts and margins.

• Citations must be formatted based on APA, MLA, or Chicago style guidelines. • Your paper must be submitted via the dropbox system in D2L. Your paper must be submitted in

one of the following file formats: .odt, .doc, .rtf, .pdf • Late papers will receive a 5% penalty per calendar date past due, and no papers will be accepted

more than seven days past due. • All papers will be screened through plagiarism detection software in D2L.

Suitable Sources News articles Articles from non-scholarly sources (e.g. newspapers) as well as semi-scholarly sources (e.g. The Economist) should be a good source of information. Ideally, articles will contain a sufficient amount of detailed factual content, with a minimal amount of editorial content. Data / reports from relevant interest groups / non-governmental organizations Many organizations research taxes in states. Such research may be very useful for you, but beware of potential biases in the organization, as non-profit does not necessarily mean non- partisan. State Treasury Websites State treasury departments will likely have lots of information on their state tax laws. This will help you identify the components of the tax laws, but may not contain information on how taxes are perceived in the state. State Party / Candidate Platforms Finding out what candidates are saying about taxes in the state will give you a good idea about citizen perceptions of taxes, as well as potential policy changes.

Unsuitable Sources Wikipedia / other encyclopedia These sources usually contain accurate information, but are not a suitable source. Make sure to get factual information elsewhere.

Q&A sites (e.g. Yahoo! Answers, Google Buzz) The content of these sites should not be assumed to be accurate. Political Blogs There is a great deal of variation in type and quality of blogs. Blogs that are either associated with a well-known media entity or that properly cite other suitable data sources are likely of better quality and may be considered suitable for use. Blogs from random weirdoes should be considered unsuitable.