School Finance System Unconstitutional on Equity, Adequacy, and State Property Tax Travis County District Judge John Dietz issued a verbal ruling from the bench this afternoon declaring the school finance system unconstitutional. Judge Dietz stated that the system is inequitable, inadequate, and constitutes a de facto state property tax. He declined to rule on claims…

February 1, 2013 Revenues, the Budget, and Tax Relief Comptroller Combs may have surprised lawmakers with a somewhat higher revenue estimate than many anticipated. The House and Senate had been working on slightly different budget packages, but both tallied well below the Comptroller’s estimate of available revenues—roughly $5.5 billion, or about 6 percent of discretionary…

LBB Recommends Tax Changes For the past several years, the staff of the Legislative Budget Board prepare a Texas Government Effectiveness and Efficiency Report (GEER). Typically contained within the report are a handful of tax and fee recommendations that often range from meddlesome to troubling, and the 2013 edition does not disappoint. These proposals will…

TTARA Conference Call on Draft Franchise Tax Rule 3.588 (Cost of Goods Sold) The Comptroller’s office has issued a redraft of Franchise Tax Rule 3.588 (Cost of Goods Sold). The draft rule attempts to clear up confusion over labor includable as “cost of goods sold.” TTARA will host a conference call to discuss the draft…

TTARA Update on Prop 2 Redo The TCEQ’s Tax Relief for Pollution Control Advisory Committee plans to take up the issue of possible revisions and/or alternatives to the Cost Analysis Procedure (CAP), the formula used by the agency to determine the percentage of property used for pollution control (entitled to exemption) if it also serves…