State and Local Taxation

Welcome to LawShelf’s video-course on State and Local Taxation. This course provides an overview of common state and local tax policies, as well as how state and local tax laws work alongside the federal tax code. This is a beginner-level course and no prior knowledge of law or taxation is required.

The course begins with an overview of taxation authorities, including those of the federal and state governments, in our federalist system. We’ll look at the different types of taxes assessed by governments on all levels and the balancing that must be done between state and federal tax systems. We’ll also focus on the state and local tax effects of two major pieces of 2010’s legislation: The Affordable Care Act and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Module two looks at licenses, fees and excise taxes. We’ll cover what licensing means and how license fees are assessed. We’ll also look at the interplay between state and federal licensing schemes. We’ll briefly touch on licensing procedures and requirements, before ending the module with a discussion of excise taxes, which are often ways in which governments regulate behavior through tax policy.

In Module three, we’ll look at taxes on the local level. We’ll cover various types of sales taxes and how they may be imposed on both the state and local levels. We’ll also cover property taxes, which are important sources of revenues for counties and cities, along with some other types of local taxes. Finally, we’ll look at the effects of certain federal laws on state and local tax revenues.

In Module 4, we’ll cover employment taxes. We’ll discuss the federal “FICA” payroll taxes and then move on to wage garnishment and withholding for tax and other debts. We’ll also cover the application of state rules to tax withholdings for income and payroll tax, and end the module with a discussion of residency for employment tax purposes.

We’ll continue with that theme in Module five, where we’ll cover multistate taxation issues. We’ll primarily focus on what happens when people or businesses earn income in multiple states. There are federal constitutional and statutory limitations on multiple states taxing an entity’s income, and we’ll look carefully at these limitations.

When you complete this course, you should have a solid grasp of the types of taxes and fees that provide states and localities with revenue and how those interplay with federal taxes and federal and constitutional limitations.

Best of luck and we welcome your feedback.