Taxation & Estate Planning

Ault: The OECD and Sources of International Tax Law

Posted on June 18, 2013
Hugh J. Ault (Boston College), Some Reflections on the OECD and the Sources of International Tax, 70 Tax Notes Int'l 1195 (June 17, 2013): This article is the revised text of a lecture held on May 2, 2013, at the Max Planck Institute. All Tax Analysts content is available through...

GAO: Taxing Bitcoin

Posted on June 18, 2013
Following up on my previous post, The IRS Takes a Bite Out of Bitcoin (May 2, 2013): GAO, Virtual Economies and Currencies: Additional IRS Guidance Could Reduce Tax Compliance Risks (GAO-13-516): Recent years have seen the development of virtual economies, such as those within online role-playing games, through which individual...

Nussbaum & Wolf: The Misguided Push for a Two-Year J.D.

Posted on June 18, 2013
Bloomberg op-ed; Two-Year Law School? Don?t Rush the Paper Chase, by Martha C. Nussbaum (University of Chicago Law School) & Charles Wolf (Vedder Price, Chicago): Today, in addition to basic law subjects and a variety of practice-oriented courses, law students learn to see society through the lens of the social...

AAUP: Budget Woes Are No Excuse to Fire Tenured Faculty

Posted on June 18, 2013
Inside Higher Ed: Budget Woes Are No Excuse: Citing ?chilling? violations of shared governance principles under the guise of financial crises, the American Association of University Professors voted unanimously to censure two institutions [National Louis University, Southern University] during its annual meeting Saturday...

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The IRS Scandal, Day 40

Posted on June 18, 2013
American Spectator: Keep the IRS Scandal Alive American Thinker: IRS Fires Another... Bloomberg: IRS Couldn?t Process Groups? Cases Quickly Enough, Manager Says Bloomberg: Lew Sees No Evidence of Political Involvement in IRS Targeting CBS News: IRS Scandal: Is Partisanship Overshadowing Facts? Cincinnati Enquirer: IRS Scrutinized Pro-Kasich Group CNN Poll: Did...

NYU Provides Sweetheart Loans to Faculty, Administrators to Buy Vacation Homes

Posted on June 18, 2013
New York Times: NYU Gives Its Stars Loans for Summer Homes: NYU has already attracted attention for the multimillion-dollar loans it extends to some top executives and professors buying homes in New York City, a practice it has defended as necessary to attract talent to one of the most expensive...

Posner, Becker Debate Tax Reform

Posted on June 18, 2013
Richard Posner, Tax Reform: There is a good deal of dissatisfaction with the federal tax system (the state and local systems as well, but I?ll confine my attention to the federal). Most proposals for reform, however good in theory, are totally impractical from a political standpoint...

Billionaire Claims IRS Political Bias in $186 Million Tax Refund Suit

Posted on June 18, 2013
Forbes: Billionaire Seeks $186 Million Tax Refund, Claims IRS Biased By 'Politically Charged Atmosphere', by Janet Novack: Billionaire investor Peter R. Kellogg and IAT Reinsurance Co. Ltd., the Bermuda-based insurance company his family owns, are suing the Internal Revenue Service for refunds of $186 million in taxes and interest they...

CBPP: State Income Tax Revenues Surge 17.6%

Posted on June 18, 2013
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: States Should React Cautiously to Recent Income Tax Growth April Surge Provides Opportunity to Invest in Infrastructure, Boost Reserves: Recent tax collections are considerably higher than last year in most states and, in many cases, exceed states? projections when they adopted their current budgets...

G-8 Declares War on Corporate Tax Evasion

Posted on June 18, 2013
President Obama announced at the G-8 Summit today a National Action Plan on Preventing the Misuse of Companies and Legal Arrangements to assist law enforcement and tax authorities in their investigations of shell companies set up to illegally avoid paying taxes...

Yin: Joint Tax Committee Should Investigate the IRS

Posted on June 17, 2013
George K. Yin (Virginia), Former Chief of Staff Thinks JCT Should Investigate the IRS, 139 Tax Notes 1443 (June 107 2013): House Ways and Means Committee Chair Dave Camp, R-Mich., has reportedly rejected use of a joint committee to investigate the IRS because such a committee would not be authorized...

Fleischer: Using REITs to Avoid Corporate Tax

Posted on June 17, 2013
Following up on my previous posts: NY Times: REIT Conversions Skyrocket as Tax Avoidance Vehicle (Apr. 22, 2013) WSJ: IRS Puts Brakes on REIT Conversions (June 10, 2013) New York Times DealBook: Defining Real Estate Broadly to Avoid Corporate Taxes, by Victor Fleischer (Colorado; moving to San Diego): Shares of...

Hungerford: Corporate Tax Rates and Economic Growth Since 1947

Posted on June 17, 2013
Economic Policy Institute: Corporate Tax Rates and Economic Growth Since 1947, by Thomas L. Hungerford: This brief examines corporate income-tax rates, and the argument linking low corporate tax rates with higher economic growth. The principal findings are: Claims that the United States? corporate tax rate is uniquely burdensome to U...

The IRS Scandal, Day 39

Posted on June 17, 2013
Linda Beale (Wayne State): "Getting Rid of the IRS" -- Detroit's Nolan Finley's Wrong Solution to the Wrong Problem Cincinnati Enquirer: IRS Agents Used Keywords Differently, Official Says Forbes: Congress Has a Duty to Delay IRS Funding to Block ObamaCare's Implementation Forbes: The Biggest Turnaround Job of 2013: The IRS...

TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup

Posted on June 17, 2013
Saturday: Caron Presents Law Professor Blogs Network 2.0 Today at the CALI Conference at Chicago-Kent Washington University Law School Offers $145k Scholarships -- But Only If Applicants Accept Within 24 Hours The IRS Scandal, Day 37 State & Local Property Tax Collections Per Capita Sunday: InfiLaw Shelves Plans for Law...

Tyson: A Ringing Defense of the Value Proposition of Higher Education

Posted on June 17, 2013
New York Times op-ed: Getting More Bang for the Buck in Higher Education, by Laura Tyson (UC-Berkeley, Haas School of Business): The rising cost of college and the soaring student debt burden have led some to conclude that a college education is a bad investment for young Americans...

Morse: Startup Ltd.: Tax Planning and Initial Incorporation

Posted on June 17, 2013
Susan C. Morse (UC-Hastings, moving to Texas), Startup Ltd.: Tax Planning and Initial Incorporation, 14 Fla. Tax Rev. ___ (2014): This Article analyzes the incorporation decisions of relatively new, U.S.-based private business enterprises with global ambitions...

Baby Boomer Faculty Put Off Retirement

Posted on June 17, 2013
Inside Higher Ed: Data Suggest Baby Boomer Faculty Are Putting Off Retirement: At the height of the financial crisis, it was unclear how diminished 401(k)s and general economic uncertainty would impact retirement trends for baby boomer professors. But new data suggest that professors are either significantly -- or indefinitely --...

Public Citizen: Industry Lobbyists Dominate Tax Reform Debate

Posted on June 17, 2013
Public Citizen, Lax Taxes: Industry Has Resource Advantage in Battle over Bills that Would Raise Revenue and Bring Fairness to Tax Code: Legislation in Congress that would address tax loopholes, raise revenue, increase the fairness of the tax code and provide stability to the financial system are subject to lobbying...

Brooklyn President Steps Down, Leaving Dean in Sole Charge of Law School Amidst Tenured Prof's ABA Complaint

Posted on June 17, 2013
Following up on my previous posts (links below): New York Law Journal, Departure of President Leaves Dean in Charge at Brooklyn Law: Joan Wexler [2011 salary: $658,471] will step down at the end of this month as Brooklyn Law School president, a position she took in 2010 after serving 16...

InfiLaw Shelves Plans for Law School in Arlington, Virginia

Posted on June 16, 2013
InfiLaw, the owner of for-profit law schools Charlotte School of Law, Florida Coastal School of Law, and Phoenix School of Law, has shelved plans for a law school in Arlington, Virginia: In April, the Arlington County Board quietly approved a site plan amendment for the vacant National Gateway building at...

Father's Day

Posted on June 16, 2013
Jim Gaffigan, Dad Is Fat (2013): In Dad is Fat, stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan, who?s best known for his legendary riffs on Hot Pockets, bacon, manatees, and McDonald's, expresses all the joys and horrors of life with five young children?everything from cousins ("celebrities for little kids") to toddlers? communication skills...

Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on June 16, 2013
There is quite a bit of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with a new #1 paper and new papers debuting on the list at #3, #4, and #5: 1. [379 Downloads] Through a Latte, Darkly: Starbucks' Window into Stateless Income Tax Planning,...

The IRS Scandal, Day 38

Posted on June 16, 2013
American Spectator: The IRS Mess American Spectator: The IRS Ten: The New Keating Five Baltimore Sun: Why the IRS Scandal Is Worse Than the Others Chicago Tribune: Threats Made to Figures at Center of IRS Controversy Daily Beast: Elijah Cummings: House?s Tea Party-IRS Probe Far From ?The Full Story? Forbes:...

Caron Presents Law Professor Blogs Network 2.0 Today at the CALI Conference at Chicago-Kent

Posted on June 15, 2013
I am presenting Law Professor Blogs Network 2.0: Faculty, IT and Vendor Collaboration at 11:30 a.m. EST today (video here) at the 23rd Annual Conference for Law School Computing at Chicago-Kent College of Law: The Law Professor Blogs Network is the nation's only network of legal blogs edited primarily by...

Washington University Law School Offers $145k Scholarships -- But Only If Applicants Accept Within 24 Hours

Posted on June 15, 2013
Above the Law reprints an email from the Washington University School of Law (St. Louis): We are excited to announce that additional scholarship funds have become available. As an outstanding applicant, Washington University School of Law is able to offer you a full tuition scholarship of $48,345 for your first...

The IRS Scandal, Day 37

Posted on June 15, 2013
American Thinker: Blaming Cincinnati for IRS Scandal Is So Wrong The Blaze: First Head to Roll? New Report Claims Top IRS Official Fired, Has ?Dropped Off the Edge of the World? Christian Science Monitor: IRS Shakeup Needed After Scandal, Chairmen of Congress' Tax-Writing Panels Say CNN: GOP Tries to Keep...

State & Local Property Tax Collections Per Capita

Posted on June 15, 2013

Taxes and the NBA and NHL Finals

Posted on June 14, 2013
A reader sent me a note about the NBA Finals and NHL Stanley Cup Finals: NBA Finals: The Miami Heat (founded in 1988) and San Antonio Spurs (1976) are in two of the nine states without an income tax. I have previously mined this topic in: The Impact of Taxes...

California Bar Task Force Recommends Practical Skills Training, Pro Bono for New Lawyers

Posted on June 14, 2013
State Bar of California, Task Force Recommends Practical Skills Training, Pro Bono for New Lawyers: The State Bar Task Force on Admissions Regulation Reform today recommended new competency skills training requirements for newly admitted lawyers that are designed to improve their readiness to practice law...

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