Effects of Selected Tax Policies on Management and Growth of A Catfish Enterprise
Abstract A multiperiod programming model was used to simulate the effects of lower marginal income tax rates, the soil and water conservation deduction, and the cash tax accounting option on firm growth for a “representative” farm operating in the Alabama Black Belt region. Results show the lowered marginal income tax rates associated with the Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA) of 1981 provide a positive growth stimulus to the modeled firm as measured by accumulated net worth over a 10-year planning horizon. The soil and water conservation deduction in general provides greater tax relief to the modeled firm than either the ERTA income tax rate changes or the cash tax accounting provision. Important complementary and substitute relationships were found to exist between marginal income tax rates and the various tax provisions studied, implying care must be exercised when attempting to evaluate the impact on farm firms of changes in tax policy.
Tax accounting methods of aquacultural producers
Aquacultural producers were surveyed to ascertain the tax accounting methods utilized for federal income tax reporting purposes. Approximately 99% of the producers surveyed use the cash method of reporting and also deduct currently the cost of fingerlings purchased for ultimate resale. Because cash-method farmers generally must capitalize the cost of purchased inventory until the period of sale, aquacultural producers may not be in compliance with current tax rules. Further, producers have classified aquacultural pond construction costs as (a) a soil and water conservation expense, (b) a single purpose agricultural structure, and (c) a land improvement although only the latter treatment appears safe from attack by the IRS. The theoretical propriety of these and other tax policies is examined.
Same-Sex Marriage in the United States
This Chapter gives a brief analysis of the status of same-sex marriage in the United States prior to the US Supreme Court decisions of 2013 and the status of litigation and political reforms triggered in part by these court decisions. It shows that marriage is a central institution in the country’s rationale of family law in ways that separate it from other western countries that have allowed same-sex marriage.