United States Fiscal Policy for Social Workers

U.S. fiscal policy is of interest to social workers as it concerns issues including structural racism, economic justice, and income inequality. U.S. fiscal policy refers to the role of the government in taxing and spending, the budget appropriations process, and public budgets (including federal and state revenue and spending). Federal revenue includes payroll and income taxes (personal and corporate). Federal outlays include discretionary and mandatory entitlement spending. There are a number of ongoing contentious debates about U.S. fiscal policy, including those involving the size and function of government, deficit financing and borrowing, inequality, and the redistribution of wealth in tax policies.

Implications of a Mortgage Interest Credit for the United States

The US mortgage interest deduction (MID) allows homeowners to deduct the interest paid on their mortgages from their federal tax returns, provided that they itemize deductions. Since the benefit depends on a taxpayer’s marginal tax rate, which increases with income, the MID is an “upside-down subsidy” that becomes more valuable for higher-income homeowners. I analyze the implications of converting the US MID to a mortgage interest credit (MIC) and evaluate the effects on federal revenue and the distribution of income. I argue that a MIC could be better targeted at low- and middle-income taxpayers on the margin of homeownership while also being more progressive and less expensive than the current MID.

A Comparative Case Study Analysis of Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing the Affordable Care Act’s Balancing Incentive Program

The Affordable Care Act included the opportunity for states to increase spending on Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) for older adults and persons with disabilities through the Balancing Incentive Program (BIP). This study utilized comparative case studies to identify the factors that facilitated or impeded states’ implementation of BIP. Findings indicate factors that facilitated the implementation of BIP were communication with the federal government and its contractor, merging BIP with existing HCBS programs, and enhanced federal revenue. On the other hand, the short duration of BIP, state procurement and contracting processes, and the need to incorporate feedback from non-governmental stakeholders and determining how to spend the enhanced revenue proved challenging for some states. This research suggests ways federal and state officials can implement new initiatives to achieve greater rebalancing of Medicaid long-term services and supports for older adults.

Does Corruption Lead to Lower Subnational Credit Ratings? Fiscal Dependence, Market Reputation, and the Cost of Debt

While studies show a consistent negative relationship between the level of corruption and range indicators of national-level economic performance, including sovereign credit ratings, we know less about the relationship between corruption and subnational credit ratings. This study suggests that federal transfers allow states with higher levels of corruption to retain good credit ratings, despite the negative economic implications of corruption more broadly, which also allows them to continue to borrow at low costs. Using data on corruption conviction in US states and credit ratings between 2001 and 2015, we show that corruption does not directly reduce credit ratings on average. We find, however, heterogeneous effects, in that there is a negative effect of corruption on credit ratings only in states that have a comparatively low level of fiscal dependence on federal transfers. This suggest that while less dependent states are punished by international assessors when seen as more corrupt, corruption does not affect the ratings of states with higher levels of fiscal dependence on federal revenue.

Advantages and disadvantages of teleworking in Brazilian public administration: analysis of SERPRO and Federal Revenue experiences

Resumo Este estudo investigou as vantagens e desvantagens do teletrabalho na administração pública na percepção de 98 teletrabalhadores e 28 gestores do Serviço Federal de Processamento de Dados (Serpro) e da Receita Federal. Trata-se de pesquisa qualiquantitativa, composta por questionários aplicados aos teletrabalhadores e entrevistas com os gestores, que abordou aspectos estruturais, físicos, pessoais, profissionais e psicológicos. Os resultados evidenciaram como vantagens: melhoria da qualidade de vida; maior equilíbrio na relação trabalho x família; maior produtividade; flexibilidade; criação de métricas; redução de custo; estresse; tempo de deslocamento; exposição à violência; e conhecimento da demanda de trabalho. Já as desvantagens foram: não adaptação; falta de comunicação; perda de vínculo com a empresa; problemas psicológicos; infraestrutura; e controle do teletrabalhador. Conclui-se que o teletrabalho necessita de um modelo de gestão que o torne mais aderente à esfera pública.

The Strategic Planning of the Brazilian Federal Revenue: Comparative Analysis with Similar Organs from Other Countries

The strategic planning is a fundamental instrument for the management organization. The public administration is increased in that area and it had taken measures with the necessary adjustment. This research has the purpose of comparing the strategic planning of the Brazilian Federal Revenue - RFB (in Portuguese: Receita Federal do Brasil) with congener institutions from other countries. Even thought, the information available is limited, this research is able to provide a wide vision about the realities of these sectors and about the strategies that they had taken. This is an exploratory study, with a qualitative method, that aims to compare cases. The results show that the Brazilian tax administration gets a strategic planning based in international standard and that the tax administration analyzed were similar, having, in general, the same strategic orientation directed to the obtained of resources, aimed to the State and its publics policies, to safeguard the tax base, to stimulate the voluntary deadline compliance, for innovates technological solutions and the search for being recognized and respected. It was also observed that in the tax administration from developed nations the vision of future is related to the confidence that society has in these organizations, result of a consolidated tax system and in the valorization of people.

Tax evasion in Brazil: the case of specialists

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to use the instrumental game theory to understand the behavior of the front agents tax evasion and tax authority in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach In order to analyze the taxpayer’s behavior before the Brazilian tax system and tax actions aimed at reducing tax evasion, the authors developed a theoretical model based on the payoffs of Graetz et al. (1986) and increased with situations proposed by Siqueira (2004), Lipatov (2006) and Oliveira (2011). Findings Considering the cases with and without specialists, the main results show that in high dropout situation, penalize taxpayers with high fines or deprivations of liberty may not be as effective. Another result of the analysis is that the audit and inspection costs played an important role in driving the equilibrium system. Research limitations/implications One limitation of this study is to consider how the exogenous tax authorities earnings (Federal Revenue of Brazil and Federal Police) and not as a function of the goals and certain enforcement policies for each public body. Practical implications The authors suggest the following policy: investing in tax inspectors and unbureaucratic the authorities of the cost structure become a more effective tool to combat non-compliance with tax obligations that the intensity of the penalties imposed by the act of evading. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature insofar as it models for the first time, using game theory, the behavior of the evading agent and the tax authority in Brazil.

Cooperação entre Universidade e Receita Federal: Núcleo de Apoio Contábil e Fiscal (NAF)

O presente artigo trata da implantação e atuação do NAF Unoesc Joaçaba no segundo semestre de 2016, por meio de cooperação entre Receita Federal do Brasil e a Universidade do Oeste de Santa Catarina - Unoesc. O objetivo interinstitucional é o atendimento ao contribuinte de baixa renda de forma gratuita e promover educação fiscal à comunidade. O NAF Unoesc Joaçaba é um projeto de extensão da Universidade, com a atuação de professores e acadêmicos, com interação e experiências profissionais concretas com o atendimento da comunidade. A abordagem foi qualitativa com aplicação de questionário a integralidade dos contribuintes atendidos. O resultado mostrou que foram atendidos 53 contribuintes em um total de sete tipos de serviços fiscais, com total resolutividade dos casos apreciados. A conclusão do estudo é que a cooperação interinstitucional é relevante para a aproximação do Estado-cidadão, tornando a relação horizontal e propiciando informação e resolução eficaz para os problemas do cidadão como também contribuindo para a formação de profissionais qualificados e cidadãos conscientes. This article deals with the implementation and performance of the NAF Unoesc Joaçaba in the second half of 2016, through cooperation between the Federal Revenue Service of Brazil and the University of the West of Santa Catarina - Unoesc. The interinstitutional objective is to provide low-income taxpayer assistance free of charge and to promote community tax education. The NAF Unoesc Joaçaba is an extension project of the University, with the participation of professors and academics, with interaction and concrete professional experiences with the community service. The approach was qualitative with the application of a questionnaire to the totality of the taxpayers attended. The result showed that 53 taxpayers were served in a total of seven types of tax services, with full resolution of the cases considered. The conclusion of the study is that interinstitutional cooperation is relevant to the approximation of the citizen state, making the relationship horizontal and providing information and effective resolution to the problems of the citizen as well as contributing to the formation of qualified professionals and conscious citizens.