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Federal Judicial Clerkship Applications Up 66%
Posted on November 21, 2009The Blog of the Legal Times, Online Federal Clerkship Applications at All-Time High: The federal judiciary saw a huge spike in online applications for clerkships from last year, according to a release from the judiciary. The Web site used by about two-thirds of all federal judges to find clerks saw...
Closing the Tax Gap: Encouraging Voluntary Compliance Through Mass-Media Publication of High-Profile Tax Issues
Posted on November 21, 2009Elizabeth Branham (J.D. 2009, UC-Hastings) has published Note, Closing the Tax Gap: Encouraging Voluntary Compliance Through Mass-Media Publication of High-Profile Tax Issues, 60 Hastings L.J. 1507 (2009). Here is the Conclusion: The issue of voluntary compliance is essential to any discussion of methods of closing the tax gap...
Erasmus Posts Tax Papers on SSRN
Posted on November 21, 2009Daniel N. Erasmus II (Thomas Jefferson) has posted several tax papers on SSRN: How Robust is Your Structured Finance Transaction? Let?s Hope the New OECD Guidelines on Money Laundering Will Not Create More Unnecessary Tax Auditing Proactive Tax Risk Management Submission on IASB Income Tax Statement Draft EB/2009/02 Summary of...
More 'Fiscal Blood on the Tax Tracks'
Posted on November 20, 2009Following up on my previous post, NY Times: LILOs & SILOSs Cause "Fiscal Blood on the Tracks": Business Week, Wall Street Plays Hardball: Across the nation, local governments and related public entities, already reeling from the recession, face another fiscal crisis: billions of dollars in fees owed to UBS, Goldman...
Gender Diversity in the Law Stories Series
Posted on November 20, 2009Following up on Wednesday's post, Foundation Press Publishes 30th Law Stories Book, in which I expressed my pride in serving as series editor and helping to recruit 50 incredibly talented faculty to edit books in the series: Tax Prof Bridget J. Crawford (Pace) highlights another point of pride in this...
11th Circuit Hears Oral Argument Today in Wesley Snipes' Tax Appeal
Posted on November 20, 2009The 11th Circuit hears oral argument at 9:00 a,m, in actor Wesley Snipes' appeal of his conviction on three misdemeanor tax fraud counts. The panel is Judge Stanley Marcus (a "movie buff') and Senior Circuit Judges R. Lanier Anderson (a former tax lawyer) and Peter Fay.
Senate Finance Committee Meets Today on Brainard and Mundaca Nominations
Posted on November 20, 2009Following up on Wednesday's post, Senate to Move Forward on Lael Brainard's Nomination Despite Tax Problems: the Senate Finance Committee meets today to vote on her nomination to be Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs. Following up on Tuesday's post, Mundaca Responds to Senate Finance Committee Questions: the Senate...
Fishman: Stealth Preemption -- The IRS's Nonprofit Corporate Governance Initiative
Posted on November 20, 2009James J. Fishman (Pace) has posted Stealth Preemption: The IRS's Nonprofit Corporate Governance Initiative, 29 Va. Tax Rev. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The IRS, the primary federal regulator of charities, has initiated a corporate governance initiative...
TIGTA: 372,000 Taxpayers Erroneously Claimed Education Tax Credits
Posted on November 20, 2009The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration yesterday reported that 372,000 taxpayers erroneously claimed education tax credits in 2006 and 2007, totaling $532 million (an average of over $1,400 improper credit per taxpayer). Improvements Are Needed in the Administration of Education Credits and Reporting Requirements for Educational Institutions (2009-30-141).
Stanford Hosts Northern California Tax Roundtable Today
Posted on November 20, 2009Stanford hosts the Fall 2009 Northern California Tax Roundtable today with these papers and commentary: David M. Hasen (Penn State), Financial Options in the Real World: An Economic and Tax Analysis Commentator: David S. Gamage (UC-Berkeley) David S. Gamage (UC-Davis) & Darien Shanske (UC-Hastings), Shedding Some Light on Hidden Taxes:...
Lawsky Presents Declining Marginal Utility and Tax Policy Today at Virginia
Posted on November 20, 2009Sarah B. Lawsky (George Washington; visiting at Virginia) presents On the Edge: Declining Marginal Utility and Tax Policy at Virginia today as part of its Faculty Workshop Series. Here is the abstract: Tax policy and scholarship generally assume that income has declining marginal utility (that is, that the next dollar...
Conference on Empirical Legal Studies at USC
Posted on November 20, 2009The two-day Fourth Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies kicks off today at USC. The tax panel is chaired by Scott Altman (USC): Dhammika Dharmapala (University of Illinois College of Law), C. Fritz Foley (Harvard Business School) & Kristin J. Forbes (MIT, Sloan School of Management), Watch What I Do,...
The 70% Discount on Goldman's $500m Gift
Posted on November 20, 2009Smart Money, The 70% Discount on Goldman's $500M Gift, by Diana Ransom: It?s been dubbed the apology with a half-billion-dollar gift attached. In an attention-grabbing move this week, Goldman Sachs said it would launch a $500 million initiative to help small?businesses with Warren Buffett as a key adviser, an announcement...
Tough Week for 'Girls Gone Wild' Founder Joe Francis: $34m Tax Lien, Mocked by Stanford Band
Posted on November 20, 2009Following up on my prior post: the IRS has filed a $34 million tax lien against Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis', two weeks after U.S. District Judge S. James Otero sentenced Francis to 301 days time served following his guilty plea to two misdemeanor counts of filing false tax...
Caron: Section 2036 Ruling May Force Bengals Out of Cincinnati
Posted on November 19, 2009With the Cincinnati Bengals now alone in first place in the AFC North Division, I thought it would be an opportune time to follow up last week's post (Tax Court Fumbles Substance-Over-Form Ball in Estate of Brown) and upload my article, Section 2036 Ruling May Force Bengals Out of Cincinnati,...
Court Lacks Jurisdiction to Order IRS to Apologize to Taxpayer
Posted on November 19, 2009The Tax Court yesterday ruled that it lacks jurisdiction to order the IRS to apologize to a taxpayer. Caldwell v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2009-169 (Nov. 18, 2009): The part of Caldwell's motion which we characterize as a "Request for Apology" asks that we require the IRS to enter into...
A Distributional Analysis of the 50 State Tax Systems
Posted on November 19, 2009The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy yesterday released Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States: Ten states?Washington, Florida, Tennessee, South Dakota, Texas, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Alabama?are particularly regressive...
Galle: Hidden Taxes
Posted on November 19, 2009Brian D. Galle (Florida State) has published Hidden Taxes, 87 Wash. U. L. Rev. 59 (2009). Here is the abstract: The idea of hidden taxes is as old as John Stuart Mill, but convincing evidence of their existence is new. In this Article, I survey and critique recent studies that...
How the Tax Code Encourages Debt
Posted on November 19, 2009The New Yorker (Nov. 23, 2009), The Debt Economy -- How the Tax Code Encourages Debt, by James Surowiecki: John Kenneth Galbraith wrote that all financial crises are the result of ?debt that, in one fashion or another, has become dangerously out of scale...
Galle Receives Honorable Mention in AALS Scholarly Paper Competition
Posted on November 19, 2009Brian D. Galle (Florida State) received honorable mention in the 2010 AALS Scholarly Paper Competition for his paper, Foundation or Empire? The Role of Charity in a Federal System, 88 Tex. L. Rev. ___ (2010). Brian will present the paper at the AALS Annual Meeting on Friday, January 8, at...
Desai Presents Investor Taxation in Open Economies Today at Columbia
Posted on November 19, 2009Mihir A. Desai (Harvard Business School) presents Investor Taxation in Open Economies (with Dhammika Dharmapala (Illinois)) at Columbia today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. Here is the abstract: Despite the rise of foreign portfolio investment (FPI) as a dominant international capital flow, existing international tax policy norms...
17 Tax Increases in Senate Health Care Bill = $370.2 Billion
Posted on November 19, 2009The Joint Committee on Taxation has published a list of the 17 tax increases in the Senate health care bill, which are estimated to raise $370.2 billion in revenues over ten years: 40% excise tax on health coverage in excess of $8,500/$23,000 ($149.1 billion) Employer W-2 reporting of value of...
Madoff Presents Immortality and the Law: The Rising Power of the American Dead Today at BC
Posted on November 19, 2009Ray D. Madoff (Boston College) presents her forthcoming book, Immortality and the Law: The Rising Power of the American Dead (Yale University Press, 2010), at Boston College today as part of its Legal History Roundtable. Here is the publisher's description: This book takes a riveting look at how the law...
More 'Super Lawyer' Per Capita Law School Rankings
Posted on November 19, 2009Following up on my prior post, Law School Rankings by 'Super Lawyers', which blogged the Top 50 law schools by the number of "Super Lawyers" that are graduates of each school, as well as Super Lawyer ranking of the 50 largest law schools and the 50 smallest law schools...
Philadelphia Tax Conference
Posted on November 19, 2009The two-day 20th Annual Philadelphia Tax Conference kicks off today. For a list of speakers and their topics, see here.
Foundation Press Publishes 30th Law Stories Book
Posted on November 18, 2009Foundation Press's Law Stories Series has passed an impressive milestone: there are now thirty books in the series: Administrative Law Stories (2006), edited by Peter L. Strauss (Columbia) Antitrust Stories (2007), edited by Eleanor M. Fox (NYU) & Daniel A...
Johnson: It's Time to End the Tax Subsidy for Timber
Posted on November 18, 2009Calvin H. Johnson (Texas) has posted Timber!, 125 Tax Notes 801 (Nov. 16, 2009), on his website. Here is the abstract: With budget deficits of $1.4 trillion, or 9.9% of GDP, we are facing a revenue crisis of epic proportions. Our tax accounting for timber produces an antitax subsidy when...
Lavoie: Instilling a Taxpaying Ethos
Posted on November 18, 2009Richard Lavoie (Akron) has posted Flying Above the Law and Under the Radar: Instilling a Taxpaying Ethos in Those Playing by Their Own Rules, 29 Pace L. Rev. ___ (2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: These days it really does seem like "only the little people pay taxes...
100% More Americans Admit Offshore Tax Cheating Than IRS Expected
Posted on November 18, 2009From the Department of Justice: The Justice Department and IRS announced that over 14,700 taxpayers have come forward to report previously-undisclosed foreign bank accounts under the voluntary disclosure program the IRS implemented following the settlement...
ABA Tax Section Publishes Fall 2009 Issue of News Quarterly
Posted on November 18, 2009The ABA Tax Section has published 29 News Quarterly No. 1 (Fall 2009): Opinion Point: Management Based Definition for Domestic Corporations, by Jonathan Schwartz (Barrister, Temple Tax Chambers, London) (pp. 1, 16) Opinion Point: Saving Private Ryan's Tax Refund, by Francine J...
Senate to Move Forward on Lael Brainard's Nomination Despite Tax Problems
Posted on November 18, 2009I previously blogged the tax problems of Lael Brainard, President Obama's nominee to be Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs. The tax problems are (1) twelve late payments of real estate and personal property taxes, and late payment of unemployment taxes; (2) failure to timely file employment eligibility verification...
America's First $60k/Year Law School?
Posted on November 18, 2009Last month, I asked Is UC-Hastings America's Most Expensive Law School? Its $50,310 nonresident tuition for 2010-11 was higher than that at the top law schools (which ranged from $43,900 to $50,140). Proposed tuition increases at California's four public law schools would blow the top off and create America's first...
House & Senate Seek to Avoid 2010 Estate Tax Repeal
Posted on November 18, 2009Democratic leaders on the House Ways & Means Committee today announced that they would seek to pass by December 31 a one-year extension of the current estate tax ($3.5 million exemption and 45% top rate) for 2010, to avoid the scheduled repeal of estate tax in 2010...
Allison Christians Named Teacher of the Year at Wisconsin
Posted on November 18, 2009Tax Prof Allison Christians has been named Teacher of the Year at Wisconsin. From the press release: Allison Christians was chosen Teacher of the Year from among all eligible tenure-track professors at the Law School by a poll of the three most recent classes (excluding the graduating class)...
What Constitutes 'Unforeseen Circumstances' Under § 121?
Posted on November 18, 2009David W. Randolph (Xavier University, Williams College of Business), "Unforeseen Circumstances" Exclusion From Gain on Sale of Home: Regulations and Private Letter Rulings Offer Examples of Situations the IRS Has Approved as Qualifying for Partial Exclusion of Gain (Journal of Accountancy): Single taxpayers or those married filing separately generally can...
Gamage: Preventing State Budget Crises: Redefining 'Tax Cuts' and 'Tax Hikes'
Posted on November 18, 2009David Gamage (UC-Berkeley) has posted Preventing State Budget Crises: Redefining 'Tax Cuts' and 'Tax Hikes', 98 Cal. L. Rev. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Forty-nine of the U.S. states have balanced budget requirements, and every state acts as though bound by such constraints...
Record Number of LSAT Test-Takers
Posted on November 17, 2009Following up on last week's posts, Law School Is a Bad Investment and "Going to Law School Is Like Starting to Smoke": a new blog notes Big Law, We Have a Problem: The numbers are out, and they are huge. On September 26th, more students took the LSAT than have...
Mundaca Responds to Senate Finance Committee Questions
Posted on November 17, 2009Following up on my prior post, Senate Holds Hearing Today on Michael Mundaca's Nomination to be Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy: Michael Mundaca has submitted this 41-page document responding to questions from the Senate Finance Committee.
Google Scholar Adds Case Law to its Search Engine
Posted on November 17, 2009Google Scholar has now added "legal opinions and journals" to its search engine: What is Google Scholar? Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers,...
Former Call Girl Belle de Jour/Brooke Magnanti Paid Taxes on Her "Sex Work Earnings"
Posted on November 17, 2009Times Online, Belle de Jour Owns Up to Her Mother: Belle de Jour can rest easy: her mum doesn?t mind that she worked as a call girl whose online diary became a literary phenomenon. Dr. ooke Magnanti, a research scientist working in Bristol, unmasked herself yesterday as the anonymous author...
Law School Rankings by 'Super Lawyers'
Posted on November 17, 2009Following up on my prior post, Which Law Schools Produce the Most "Super Lawyers"? : the magazine has aggregated its rankings of law schools producing the most "Super Lawyers" in each state into an overall law school ranking which measures the total number of "Super Lawyers" that are graduates of...
Karen Brown Is Dean Finalist at Seattle
Posted on November 17, 2009Tax Prof Karen Brown (George Washington) is one of four dean finalists at Seattle: The Dean Search Committee at Seattle University School of Law is delighted to announce four finalists for the deanship. The committee was impressed by their outstanding records of academic achievement, administrative experience, and their enthusiastic embrace...
Lyons Presents Congress, Treasury, and the Responses to the Home Mortgage Crisis Today at Miami
Posted on November 17, 2009William H. Lyons (Nebraska; visiting at Miami) presents Why Didn?t They Ask the Tax Experts? Congress, Treasury, and the Responses to the Home Mortgage Crisis at Miami today as part of itsFaculty Speaker Series: Lyons will discuss the various real estate recovery programs the Treasury Department has implemented under the...
Bill Belichick, Moneyball Savant?
Posted on November 17, 2009Bill Belichick, coach of my beloved New England Patriots, has been pilloried in the media for going for a first down Sunday night on 4th and 2 from his own 29-yard line with a little over 2 minutes remaining while leading the Indianapolis Coats 34-28...
New Issue of Journal of Taxation of Investments
Posted on November 17, 2009The Journal of Taxation of Investments has published its Fall 2009 issue (Vol. 27, No. 1), with these articles: Matthew F. Kluchenek & Nicole M. Kuchera, A Credit Default Swaps Primer: Uses, Mechanics, Benefits, Risks, Regulation, and Developments, 27 J...
USC Seeks to Hire Academic Director for Graduate Tax Program
Posted on November 16, 2009The recently-launched Graduate Tax Program at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law is looking to hire an Academic Director: USC Gould School of Law seeks an academic director for new Tax LL.M. program. Ideal candidate will have demonstrated administrative skills transferable to this position, is a recognized...
The Pulitzer Prize for Literature and Tax Notes
Posted on November 16, 2009Washington Post, The Known World of Edward P. Jones, by Neely Tucker: Edward Paul Jones is sitting at a table in Guapo's restaurant in Tenleytown early on a midsummer evening, looking down into a glass of red wine. Nobody in the place recognizes him, although he's arguably the greatest fiction...
Fogg: In Whom We Trust
Posted on November 16, 2009T. Keith Fogg (Villanova) has posted In Whom We Trust, 43 Creighton L. Rev. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The federal government collects the majority of taxes through business entities that are required to withhold taxes from wages or collect excise taxes at the time of providing...
Zsa Zsa Gabor Blames Bernie Madoff for $118,321 Tax Bill
Posted on November 16, 2009Associated Press, Zsa Zsa Gabor Has $118,321 Tax Bill, Blames Madoff: Zsa Zsa Gabor's lawyer blames convicted swindler Bernard Madoff for a hefty tax bill owed by his client. According to documents obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, the IRS filed a lien of more than $118,000 for the...
TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup
Posted on November 16, 2009Saturday: Afield Presents Reducing the Tax Gap Through Church-Government Partnerships Today at Stetson CTJ: Judging Tax Expenditures Centrist Senators Consider 10-Year Estate Tax Phase-Down to $5m Exemption & 35% Rate NTA Annual Tax Conference Sunday: Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads America's Best College Teacher CTJ: State-by-State Impact of House Health...
Duff Presents Carbon Taxation in Theory and Practice Today at Loyola-L.A.
Posted on November 16, 2009David G. Duff (University of british Columbia) presents Carbon Taxation in Theory and Practice at Loyola-L.A. today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. The commentators are Charles D. Kolstad and Corbett A. Grainger (both of the University of California-Santa Barbara, Department of Economics) (authors of Who Pays a...
NY Considers Disclosing Top 200 Tax Deadbeats to Shame Them Into Compliance
Posted on November 16, 2009New York Daily News, Expose Tax Cheats' Web of Deceit - Pols: The state Tax Department is considering creating a Most Wanted list to shame tax cheats into paying, the Daily News has learned. Tax officials are looking into posting the top 200 business and top 200 personal tax delinquents...
Ayres & Nalebuff: Let's Pay Taxpayers to be Audited
Posted on November 16, 2009Ian Ayres (Yale Law School) & Barry Nalebuff (Yale School of Management), Winning the Audit Lottery: Compensation Could Turn Audit Participation Into an Act of Patriotism (Forbes): The chance your tax return will be audited is 2 in 1,000--and we think that's far too low...
10th Circuit Hears Oral Argument Today in Sala Son-of-BOSS Tax Shelter Case
Posted on November 16, 2009The Tenth Circuit today hears oral argument in the Government's appeal of Sala v. United States, No. 08-1333, a Son-of-BOSS tax shelter case.
TIGTA: Obama Tax Credit to Leave 15.4m Workers With Additional Tax Bill
Posted on November 16, 2009The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has released Millions of Taxpayers May Be Negatively Affected by the Reduced Withholding Associated With the Making Work Pay Credit (2010-41-002): The Making Work Pay Credit, a provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will apply to most taxpayers with...
Alstott: Why the EITC Doesn't Make Work Pay
Posted on November 16, 2009Anne Alstott (Harvard) has posted Why the EITC Doesn't Make Work Pay, 73 Law & Contemp. Probs. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Since 1975, the earned income tax credit (EITC) has transformed from a small, obscure provision of the federal tax code into one of the largest...
Can States Tax Satellite TV But Not Cable TV?
Posted on November 16, 2009National Law Journal, Satellite TV Takes Aim at Subscriber Taxes: Suing Over State Schemes that Favor Cable Rivals, Satellite Providers Win Some Big-Name Scholarly Support, by Teresa Baldas: Fists are flying again in the battle between satellite and cable TV providers...
America's Best College Teacher
Posted on November 15, 2009Wall Street Journal, America's Top College Professor: Elliott West doesn't seem like the coolest guy on campus. With his tweed coat and thinning hair, he appears to be the stereotype of a studious professor, only truly at home among library stacks or in a dusty archive...
CTJ: State-by-State Impact of House Health Care Bill's Millionaires? Surcharge
Posted on November 15, 2009Citizens for Tax Justice, Health Care Reform Financing Options: Millionaires? Surcharge in the House-Passed Health Care Reform Bill (State-by-State Figures in Appendix): H.R. 3962, the health care reform bill approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on November 7, includes a 5...
The Power of Indian Tribes to Tax Athletes and Entertainers
Posted on November 15, 2009Drew K. Barber (J.D. 2010, Connecticut) has published Note, The Power of Indian Tribes to Tax the Income of Professional Athletes and Entertainers Who Perform in Indian Country, 41 Conn. L. Rev. 1785 (2009). Here is the abstract: Athletes and entertainers represent some of the highest paid individuals in the...
Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads
Posted on November 15, 2009There is a bit of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with a new paper debuting on the list at #5. The #1 paper is now the #31 tax paper in all-time downloads out of 6154 tax papers: 1. [1135 Downloads] To Roth...
Afield Presents Reducing the Tax Gap Through Church-Government Partnerships Today at Stetson
Posted on November 14, 2009W. Edward Afield (Ave Maria) presents Dining With Tax Collectors: Reducing the Tax Gap Through Church-Government Partnerships at Stetson as part of its Florida Legal Scholarship Forum. Here is the abstract: This article explores an untapped resource in improving tax compliance: partnerships between the government and Judeo-Christian religious organizations...
CTJ: Judging Tax Expenditures
Posted on November 14, 2009Citizens for Tax Justice, Judging Tax Expenditures: Spending Programs Buried within the Nation?s Tax Code Need to be Reviewed: Special tax breaks, known as tax expenditures, are generally enacted with goals unrelated to ensuring that the tax system collects revenue efficiently and fairly...
Centrist Senators Consider 10-Year Estate Tax Phase-Down to $5m Exemption & 35% Rate
Posted on November 14, 2009Wall Street Journal, US Senate Centrists Ponder Gradual Estate Tax Reduction, by Martin Vaughan: A bipartisan group of senators who favor lowering estate?taxes are studying a proposal to gradually reduce the tax until it reaches 35% in 2019. The senators, led by Sens...
NTA Annual Tax Conference
Posted on November 14, 2009The three-day National Tax Association's 102nd Annual Conference on Taxation concludes today in Denver. Tax Profs with speaking roles include: Government Sponsored Savings Plans: Lily Batchelder (NYU), Leonard Burman (Syracuse) Tax Responses in Middle Income Countries: Dhammika Dharmapala (Illinois)
NTA Annual Tax Conference
Posted on November 13, 2009The three-day National Tax Association's 102nd Annual Conference on Taxation continues today in Denver. Tax Profs with speaking roles include: Public Attitudes Towards Taxation: Research and Policy Implications: Edward McCaffery (USC) Individual Behavior and Decisions: Joshua Blank (Rutgers), Louis Kaplow (Harvard), Thomas J...
Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril
Posted on November 13, 2009The Pew Center on the States has published Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril: California?s problems are in a league of their own. But the same pressures that drove it toward fiscal disaster are wreaking havoc in a number of states, with potentially damaging consequences for the entire country...
SSRN: There's an App for That
Posted on November 13, 2009From SSRN: SSRN HAS RELEASED ITS FREE iPHONE APPLICATION: iSSRN iSSRN provides instant access to the latest Social Science and Humanities papers from scholars around the world through the iPhone and iPod Touch. iSSRN is available as a free download from Apple's iTunes store...
Tax Court Applies Cohan Rule to Allow Deduction for Portion of Unsubstantiated Charitable Contributions
Posted on November 13, 2009The Tax Court on Wednesday applied the Cohan rule and allowed a portion of a taxpayer's unsubstantiated charitable contributions. Ragassa v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2009-166 (Nov. 10, 2009): Petitioner deducted $3,175 in charitable contributions on Schedule A, Itemized Deductions, for 2005...
Written Submissions Are Due Today in ABA Law Student Tax Challenge
Posted on November 13, 2009Today is the due date for written submissions in the 9th Annual Law Student Tax Challenge sponsored by the ABA Section of Taxation Young Lawyers Forum: An alternative to traditional moot court competitions, the Law Student Tax Challenge asks two-person teams of students to solve a cutting-edge and complex business...
More on 100+% Implicit Marginal Tax Rates
Posted on November 13, 2009Following up on Wednesday's post, 100+% Implicit Marginal Tax Rates Will Create Permanent Democratic Majority: Greg Mankiw (Harvard) blogs The Poverty Trap: Chapter 20 of my favorite textbook has a section on antipoverty programs and work incentives. One basic point is that when multiple income-based programs are piled on top...
55th Annual William & Mary Tax Conference
Posted on November 13, 2009The three-day 55th annual William & Mary Tax Conference concludes today. Tax Prof with speaking roles include John W. Lee III (William & Mary) and Ira B. Shepard (Houston).
Ventry: A History and Critique of the Mortgage Interest Deduction
Posted on November 13, 2009Dennis J. Ventry, Jr. (UC-Davis) has posted The Accidental Deduction: A History and Critique of the Tax Subsidy for Mortgage Interest, 72 Law & Contemp. Probs. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article traces the mortgage interest deduction from accident to birthright, from one of many deductible...
BYU Sweeps 2009 Deloitte Tax Case Study Competition
Posted on November 13, 2009From the press release: Accounting students from BYU swept the 2009 Deloitte Tax Case Study Competition, taking first place in both the graduate and undergraduate divisions. The two teams each received a $10,000 school award and $2,000 scholarships for each team member...
Gordon Brown's Global Tax Trap
Posted on November 13, 2009Wall Street Journal editorial, Gordon Brown's Global Tax Trap: Tim Geithner Stands Up for Global Competition: In the department of bad ideas that won't go away, Exhibit A is a global tax on financial transactions. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown mooted the tax last weekend before the G-20 finance ministers...
"Going to Law School Is Like Starting to Smoke"
Posted on November 13, 2009Following up on Tuesday's post, Death of 'Big Law School'?, in which Erik Gerding (New Mexico) argues that law schools will face "massive economic pressure" with the demise of the BigLaw business model: Above the Law: "At this point, going to law school is like starting to smoke...
Death of Walter Giles
Posted on November 12, 2009I previously blogged about my wonderful undergraduate years at Georgetown, where one man sparked my interest in law and teaching that became my lifelong calling: Dr. Walter I. Giles. I took five of Dr. Giles' legendary courses and seminars on constitutional law, and was honored to spend my senior year...
Caron: Tax Court Fumbles Substance-Over-Form Ball in Estate of Brown
Posted on November 12, 2009With the Cincinnati Bengals in first place in the AFC North Division, I thought it would be an opportune time to post my article, Tax Court Fumbles Substance-Over-Form Ball in Estate of Brown, 75 Tax Notes 1249 (1997), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Tax lawyers are abuzz over Tax...
How to Fix Charitable Giving
Posted on November 12, 2009Wall Street Journal op-ed, What's Wrong With Charitable Giving?and How to Fix It, by Pablo Eisenberg (Senior Fellow, Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership, Georgetown Public Policy Institute): It's hard to overstate the crisis facing charitable giving today...
Wolff: Congressional Unilateral Tax Treaty Overrides
Posted on November 12, 2009Mark J. Wolff (St. Thomas University) has published Congressional Unilateral Tax Treaty Overrides: The "Latter in Time Doctrine" Is Out of Time!, 9 Fla. Tax Rev. 699 (2009). Here is part of the Introduction: This article examines the questionable jurisprudence allowing the United States to override treaties unilaterally, freely negotiated...
California Bar Association Tax Section Annual Meeting
Posted on November 12, 2009The three-day 2009 Annual Meeting of the California Tax Bar & The California Tax Policy Conference kicks off today in California. Keynote addresses will be given by Tax Profs Edward Kleinbard (USC) and Richard D. Pomp (UConn).
NTA Annual Tax Conference
Posted on November 12, 2009The three-day National Tax Association's 102nd Annual Conference on Taxation kicks off today in Denver. Tax Profs with speaking roles include: Value-Added Tax: Fiscal and Practical Potential: Leonard Burman (Syracuse), Charles McLure (Stanford) International Tax Policy: Douglas A...
Kysar Presents Lasting Legislation Today at Columbia
Posted on November 12, 2009Rebecca M. Kysar (Brooklyn) presents Lasting Legislation at Columbia today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. Here is the abstract: This Article argues that, due to certain failings and pathologies of the legislative process, legislation enacted with sunset provisions lacks benefits hailed in recent scholarship, while also harming...
The Coming 69% Capital Gains Tax Increase May Be Even Higher
Posted on November 12, 2009Wall Street Journal editorial, A 69% Capital Gains Tax Hike . . . Pelosi's 5.4% Income Surtax Would Hit Capital Gains and Dividends: House Democrats are funding their new entitlement with a 5.4% surtax on incomes above $500,000 for individuals and above $1 million for joint filers...
Conway Presents Debt and Equity and Continuity of Interest Today at BC
Posted on November 12, 2009Meredith Conway (Suffolk) presents With or Without You: Debt and Equity and Continuity of Interest at Boston College today as part of its Tax Policy Workshop Series. Here is the abstract: Continuity of interest is a judicially created doctrine designed to ensure that when holders of corporate interests in tax-free...
A Homebuyer Tax Credit Primer
Posted on November 12, 2009Wall Street Journal, The Lowdown on Home-Buyer Tax Credits, by Laura Sanders: Last week, President Barack Obama signed a law that extends through next spring a temporary tax credit of up to $8,000 for some first-time home buyers, which was due to expire Nov...
Henderson: Outcome Measures and Regulatory Failure in Legal Education
Posted on November 12, 2009William D. Henderson (Indiana-Bloomington), Outcome Measures and Regulatory Failure in Legal Education (Legal Profession Blog): Over the last few years, the topic of outcome (or output) measures has been a recurring theme at various association meetings and conferences surrounding legal education...
More on The Tax Treatment of the Sale of Human Body Parts
Posted on November 12, 2009Following up on last week's post, The Tax Treatment of Transfers of Human Body Parts: the Wall Street Journal covers the story in Tax Code Lags Growing Body-Parts Market, by Arden Dale: Organs and blood products, eggs, sperm, breast milk and other goods from the human body are bought and...
5th Circuit Disallows "Midco" Tax Shelter
Posted on November 11, 2009The Fifth Circuit yesterday affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to the IRS, becoming the first appellate court to disallow a "midco" tax shelter. Enbridge Energy Co. v. United States, No. 08-20261 (5th Cir. Nov. 10, 2009): The uncontroverted evidence supports the district court?s conclusion that this was...
Foundation Press Publishes Federal Courts Stories
Posted on November 11, 2009Foundation Press has published Federal Courts Stories, by Vicki C. Jackson (Georgetown) & Judith Resnik (Yale): Touching on history, economics, politics, and law, these stories steal behind the texts of the legal opinions into the larger-than-life personalities and struggles of their antagonists and protagonists...
Weisbach: Instrument Choice is Instrument Design
Posted on November 11, 2009David A. Weisbach (Chicago) has posted Instrument Choice is Instrument Design on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This paper analyzes the choice between taxes and cap and trade systems (also referred to here as a permit system or a quantity restriction) as methods of controlling greenhouse gas emissions...
The Tenure Interview
Posted on November 11, 2009Inside Higher Ed, 30-Minute Chat to Tenure: Lloyd A. Jacobs announced last week that in his role as president of the University of Toledo, he plans to interview every faculty member who comes up for tenure before making a recommendation to the board on whether to approve the bid...
Tax Anti-Avoidance v. Abuse of Law
Posted on November 11, 2009Zoë Prebble (LL.M. 2010, Michigan) & John Prebble (Victoria University of Wellington, Faculty of Law) have posted Comparing the General Anti-Avoidance Rule of Income Tax Law with the Civil Law Doctrine of Abuse of Law on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article compares the general anti-avoidance rule of income...
Tax Angle in David Letterman Extortion Case
Posted on November 11, 2009The lawyer for Robert Halderman, charged with trying to extort $2 million from David Letterman, filed this 34-page memorandum yesterday seeking dismissal of the indictment. In support of his argument that Halderman was merely trying to sell Letterman a screenplay, Halderman's lawyer notes this tax angle (citation omitted): [A]t the...
Jacobson: 100+% Implicit Marginal Tax Rates Will Create Permanent Democratic Majority
Posted on November 11, 2009William A. Jacobson (Cornell), 100% Plus Taxation Key To Permanent Dem Majority: Is it possible to pay more than 100% of your last dollar of income in taxes? And if it were, would you bother to earn that last dollar? Herein lies the key to how Democrats will obtain a...
Mason Presents Tax Expenditures and Federalism at Toronto
Posted on November 11, 2009Ruth Mason (UConn) presented Tax Expenditures and Federalism at the University of Toronto yesterday as part of the James Hausman Tax Law and Policy Workshop Series. Here is the abstract: This Essay provides the first extended comparison of tax expenditures with federal grants to the states as devices for achieving...
IRS Awards $8 Million in Grants to 147 Organizations for Tax Prep Assistance -- $0 to ACORN
Posted on November 11, 2009The IRS yesterday released (IR-2009-104) a list of the 147 organizations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that received $8 million in matching grants to support its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program in 2009. 360 organizations submitted applications requesting more than $30 million in matching funds...
Schlunk: Law School Is a Bad Investment
Posted on November 11, 2009Tax Prof Herwig J. Schlunk (Vanderbilt) has posted Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be...Lawyers on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This essay treats a legal education as an investment, and asks the question of whether, based on known costs and expected benefits, such investment should be undertaken...
Simmons: Built-In Gain and Built-In Loss Property on Formation of a Partnership
Posted on November 11, 2009Daniel L. Simmons (UC-Davis) has published Built-In Gain and Built-In Loss Property on Formation of a Partnership: An Exploration of the Grand Elegance of Partnership Capital Accounts, 9 Fla. Tax Rev. 599 (2009). Here is the abstract: This article is a primer on the issues faced by partners in dealing...
Seven Reasons Why Congress Should Repeal, Not Fix, the Estate Tax
Posted on November 10, 2009The Heritage Foundation has published Seven Reasons Why Congress Should Repeal, Not Fix, the Death Tax, by William W. Beach: The House and Senate may soon begin debate on what to do with the federal estate tax. If Congress fails to act before January 1, 2010, current law calls for...
Pittsburgh Mayor Proposes 1% Tuition Tax
Posted on November 10, 2009Pittsburgh's Mayor Says He'll Pursue 1% Higher-Ed Tax (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, ): Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl plans to propose a 1% college-education privilege tax to council today, in a move that's likely to set off a fight with the city's schools of higher learning...
Tax Provisions of H.R. 3962, The Affordable Health Care for America Act
Posted on November 10, 2009Joint Committee on Taxation, Technical Explanation of Manager's Amendment (JCX-52-09) Joint Committee on Taxation, Technical Explanation (JCX-47-09) Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimated Revenue Effects of Manager's Amendment (JCX-53-09) Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimated Revenue Effects (JCX-48-09) House Ways & Means Committee, Summary House Ways & Means Committee, Paying for Reform...
ABA Tax Section Webcast Today on Impact of the § 509(a)(3) Proposed Regs on the Charitable Sector
Posted on November 10, 2009The ABA Tax Section offers a teleconference and webcast today on Proposed Regulations on Section 509(a)(3) Supporting Organizations: Implications for the Charitable Sector from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. EST: The program will explore recently-released proposed regulations under Section 509(a)(3) that implement changes to the supporting organization provisions enacted by the...
Borden: Section 1031 Qualified Intermediaries in the New Economy
Posted on November 10, 2009Bradley T. Borden (Washburn) has published Section 1031 Qualified Intermediaries in the New Economy, 27 J. Tax'n Inv. 86 (2009). Here is the abstract: Industry estimates indicate that, over the past several years, § 1031 qualified intermediaries have lost as much as $700 million of exchange proceeds...
Senate Holds Hearing Today on Tax Treaties
Posted on November 10, 2009The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations holds a hearing today to consider tax treaties with France, Malta, and New Zealand,
The Coming Failure of Obama's Tax Reform Commission
Posted on November 10, 2009TaxVox Blog, Obama?s Non- Tax Reform Commission, by Howard Gleckman (Tax Policy Center): In a month, if White House officials are to be believed, the Obama Administration will unveil the tax reform report of the President?s Economic Recovery Advisory Board...
Death of 'Big Law School'?
Posted on November 10, 2009Erik F. Gerding (New Mexico) has an interesting post on Conglomerate, Death of "Big Law School"?: [The decline of Big Law firms] would likely mean the end of the law school boom -- with its expanding law faculties and the bumper crop of new law schools...
Brunson: Tax-Motivated Income-Shifting and the Kiddie Tax
Posted on November 10, 2009Samuel D. Brunson (Loyola-Chicago) has posted Tax-Motivated Income-Shifting and the Kiddie Tax on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In 1986, concerned that wealthy parents were sheltering some of their income from taxes by giving some portion of their securities portfolios to their children, Congress enacted the ?kiddie tax,? which taxes...
IFA International Tax Student Writing Competition
Posted on November 10, 2009The International Fiscal Association is sponsoring an DInternational Tax Student Writing Competition: Subject: Any topic relating to U.S. taxation of income from international activities, including taxation under U.S. tax treaties. Open to: All students during the 2008-09 academic year pursuing a graduate degree with a tax specialty...
Studies in the History of Tax Law
Posted on November 10, 2009John Tiley (Queen's College, Cambridge) has published Volume 3 of Studies in the History of Tax Law (Hart Publishing, 2009): This work on the history of tax law presents the papers delivered at the third Tax Law History Conference in 2006 organised by the Centre for Tax Law in the...
Herzig: The Taxation of Carried Interests
Posted on November 10, 2009David Herzig (Valparaiso) has published Carried Interests: Can They Effectively Be Taxed, 4 Entrepren. Bus. L.J. 21 (2009). Here is the abstract: During the April 2008 Democratic Debate, former Senator Obama with former Senator Clinton almost referred to the subject matter of this article verbatim at page three of the...
IRS Office of Chief Counsel Seeks 2010-11 Professor in Residence
Posted on November 09, 2009IRS Chief Counsel William J. WIlkins seeks applications from full, associate, or assistant law professors at ABA-accredited law schools to serve as the 2010-11 Professor in Residence (September 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011): The Professor in Residence Program...
More Fellowships for Aspiring Law Professors
Posted on November 09, 2009Following up on my August post, Fellowships for Aspiring Law Professors (2009-10 Edition): Jonathan Gingerich (J.D. 2010, Harvard) of the Harvard Legal Theory Forum has compiled this very helpful spreadsheet with detailed information (including application deadlines, qualifications, salaries, and duration) on 69 teaching and research fellowships.
ABA Tax Section CLE on the Road: Tax Aspects of Debt Workouts and Drafting Partnership Agreements
Posted on November 09, 2009The ABA Tax Section today hosts ABA Tax CLE on the Road: Tax Aspects of Debt Workouts and Drafting Partnership Agreements in Omaha, Nebraska with these speakers: Walter D. Schwidetzky (University of Baltimore School of Law) Terence F. Cuff (Loeb & Loeb, Los Angeles) Bahar A...
Homeruns and Taxes
Posted on November 09, 2009Neil M. Mazer (J.D. 2009, Michigan State) has published Homeruns and Taxes: The IRS and Its Treasure Trove Regulation, 16 Sports Law. J. 139 (2009). Here is part of the Introduction: The recent events in baseball surrounding several coveted homerun records have given rise to another question of federal regulation...
TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup
Posted on November 09, 2009Saturday: President Obama Signs Worker, Homeownership, and Business Act WSJ: 27 Million Reasons to Leave New York The Good and the Bad in Sports Pauly: Limiting the Tax Exclusion for Employment Based Health Insurance Ayers: The Undertraining of Lawyers and its Effect on the Advancement of Women and Minorities Sunday:...
Cohen Fires Third Shot on Justice Sotomayor's Tax Opinions
Posted on November 09, 2009Stephen B. Cohen (Georgetown) has posted Whom Do You Trust? A Reply to Prof. Kahn Concerning the Knight Case, Also Known as Rudkin Trust, 125 Tax Notes ___ (Nov. 9, 2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In his 2008 opinion in Knight v. Commissioner, Chief Justice John Roberts harshly...
Ventry Presents A History of the Mortgage Interest Deduction Today at Loyola-L.A.
Posted on November 09, 2009Dennis J. Ventry, Jr. (UC-Davis) presents The Accidental Deduction: A History of the Tax Subsidy for Mortgage Interest at Loyola-L.A. today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. The commentator is Roberta Mann (Oregon). Here is the abstract: This Article traces the mortgage interest deduction (MID) from accident to...
Off to the Big Dance®
Posted on November 09, 2009For those of you who asked (or might be interested) following my Saturday post on my freshman son's college soccer team: for the first time in school history, the team qualified for the NCAA Division III National Tournament following a second thrilling conference tournament victory in a penalty kick shootout...
Hanak: State Infrastructure Spending and the Federal Stimulus Package
Posted on November 09, 2009Ellen Hanak (Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco) has published State Infrastructure Spending and the Federal Stimulus Package, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 573 (2009). Here is the abstract: Nearly one-quarter of the $787 billion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is devoted to spending and tax...
Benshalom: The Dual Subsidy Theory of Charitable Deductions
Posted on November 09, 2009Ilan Benshalom (Hebrew University, Faculty of Law) has published The Dual Subsidy Theory of Charitable Deductions, 84 Ind. L.J. 1047 (2009). Here is the abstract: Americans contribute billions of dollars to charities on an annual basis. Charitable contributions do not only represent American generosity, however; they also represent a form...
Texas Bar Exam Results
Posted on November 08, 2009Here are the results of the July 2009 Texas Bar Exam for first-time test-takers by law school, along with each school's U.S. News ranking: Texas Tech: 94.52% (Tier 3) Baylor: 94.12% (#65) Texas-Wesleyan: 93.29% (Tier 4) Texas: 92.36% (#15) Houston: 91...
Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads
Posted on November 08, 2009This week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads is the same as last week's list. The #1 paper is now the #34 tax paper in all-time downloads out of 6140 tax papers: 1. [1040 Downloads] To Roth or Not to Roth: Analyzing the Conversion Opportunity for 2010...
Death of Katarina Savino
Posted on November 08, 2009Katarina O. Savino, a 35 year-old Washington, D.C. tax lawyer, died of brain cancer on October 10. From yesterday's Washington Post obituary: Mrs. Savino worked at Miller and Chevalier from 2002 to 2007. She then worked for McKee Nelson, which became Bingham...
'Girls Gone Wild' Founder Joe Francis Gets Time Served in Tax Case
Posted on November 08, 2009Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis' guilty plea to two misdemeanor counts of filing false tax returns (and one count of bribing Nevada jail workers in exchange for food) was accepted on Friday by U.S. District Judge S. James Otero in Los Angeles. The judge sentenced Francis to time served...
U.S. News: GAO Wrong to Blame Us For Rising Law School Tuition
Posted on November 08, 2009Robert Morse, Director of Data Research at U.S. News & World Report, follows up on my prior post, GAO: U.S. News Rankings, Not Accreditation, Key Driver of Law School Tuition, in Who's at Fault for the High Cost of Law School?: There are weaknesses in the report's methodology...
Carroll & Swagel: The Intersection of Tax and Health Care Policy
Posted on November 08, 2009Robert Carroll (Tax Foundation) & Phillip Swagel (Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business) have published The Intersection of Tax and Health Care Policy, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 563 (2009). Here is the abstract: This paper discusses integrated proposals for health care reform that combine changes to the tax treatment of...
WSJ: 27 Million Reasons to Leave New York
Posted on November 07, 2009Following up on Wednesday's post, ALJ Says Billionaire Spent Only 183 Days in NYC, So Not Subject to NYC Tax: Weekend Wall Street Journal editorial, 27 Million Reasons to Leave New York; Julian Robertson Wins One For Taxpayers: For every Sunbelt refugee who has tried to leave high tax bills...
The Good and the Bad in Sports
Posted on November 07, 2009I am at my college-freshman son's conference soccer tournament this weekend, with an NCAA Division III Tournament bid on the line for the winning team. It was been a long journey, from select and high school soccer through his first college game and this remarkable season...
Pauly: Limiting the Tax Exclusion for Employment Based Health Insurance
Posted on November 07, 2009Mark V. Pauly (University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School) has published Limiting the Tax Exclusion for Employment Based Health Insurance: Are Improved Equity and Efficiency Enough?, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 555 (2009). Here is the abstract: Removal or limitation of the current exclusion of employment-related health benefit payments from taxable income...
Ayers: The Undertraining of Lawyers and its Effect on the Advancement of Women and Minorities
Posted on November 07, 2009Irene Segal Ayers (NYU) has published The Undertraining of Lawyers and its Effect on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in the Legal Profession, 1 Duke F. for L. & Soc. Change 71 (2009). Here is the abstract: The undertraining of law students documented in a century?s worth of critiques...
President Obama Signs Worker, Homeownership, and Business Act
Posted on November 07, 2009President Obama yesterday signed into law H.R. 3548, the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Act of 2009, with seven major tax provision: Extension and Modification of First-Time Homebuyer Credit (§ 36) Five-Year Carryback of NOLs (§ 172) Exclusion from Income of Qualified Military Base Realignment and Closure (§ 132) Delay in...
New Issue of Houston Business & Tax Law Journal
Posted on November 06, 2009The Houston Business & Tax Law Journal has published Vol. 9, Part 3 (2009): Stephen J. Olsen, Chuck vs. Goliath: Basis of Stock Received in Demutualization of Mutual Insurance Companies, 9 Hous. Bus. & Tax L.J. 360 (2009) Donald Crump, Criminals Don't Pay: Using Tax Fraud to Prohibit Organized Crime,...
Donaldson: 2009 Federal Tax Update
Posted on November 06, 2009Samuel A. Donaldson (U. Washington) has posted 2009 Federal Tax Update on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This paper examines significant developments in the federal income, gift, and estate taxation of individuals and small businesses from August, 2008, through August, 2009...
More Celebrity Tax Woes
Posted on November 06, 2009Cathy Lee Crosby (acress: That's Incredible): IRS $47,649 tax lien, California $12,449 tax lien Ron Dellums (Oakland Mayor): IRS $238,998 tax lien Alex English (former Denver Nuggets basketball player): IRS $88,071 tax lien, South Carolina $40,200 tax lien Rachel Harris (actres: The Daily Show, Cougar Town): IRS $19,800 tax lien...
Dinan: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions with a Tax or a Cap
Posted on November 06, 2009Terry M. Dinan (Congressional Budget Office) has published Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions with a Tax or a Cap: Implications for Efficiency and Cost Effectiveness, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 535 (2009). Here is the abstract: This paper compares a tax on greenhouse gas emissions with a cap-and-trade program for reducing those...
Florida Tax Review Publishes 4th Annual International Tax Symposium
Posted on November 06, 2009The Florida Tax Review has published the papers from its Fourth Annual International Tax Symposium: Jane G. Gravelle (Congressional Research Service), International Corporate Income Tax Reform: Issues and Proposals, 9 Fla. Tax Rev. 469 (2009). Here is the Conclusion: Our current stance on international taxation involves both misallocation of investment...
Post Office Returns 107,831 Tax Refund Checks to IRS Due to Faulty Addresses
Posted on November 06, 2009The IRS announced yesterday (IR-2009-101) that it has received 107,831 refund checks totaling $123.5 million (an average of $1,048) from the U.S. Postal Service due to mailing address errors. The number of undeliverable refund checks is up 16% this year...
Duke Hosts Conference Today on Turning Points in the History of the Federal Income Tax
Posted on November 06, 2009The Duke Law & Contemporary Problems journal hosts a conference today on Turning Points in the History of the Federal Income Tax: Anne Alstott (Harvard), Why the EITC Doesn?t Make Work Pay Steven Bank (UCLA), The Rise and Fall of Post-World War II Corporate Tax Reform Charlotte Crane (Northwestern), Pollock,...
How to Audit-Proof Your Tax Return: Don't e-File
Posted on November 06, 2009Forbes, Ten Ways To Audit Proof Your Tax Return, by Robert W. Wood (Wood & Porter, San Francisco): While what-triggers-an-audit theories abound, there are some basic things you can do to reduce your chances of being picked for an audit or at least to make any interactions with the IRS...
WSJ: House Health Care Bill Would Partially Repeal Tax Indexing
Posted on November 06, 2009Op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal, The Return of the Inflation: Tax The Pelosi Tax Surcharge Applies to Capital Gains and Dividends: All of those twentysomethings who voted for Barack Obama last year are about to experience the change they haven't been waiting for: the return of income tax bracket...
Borden: Profits-Only Partnership Interests
Posted on November 06, 2009Bradley T. Borden (Washburn) has published Profits-Only Partnership Interests, 74 Brooklyn L. Rev. 1283 (2009). Here is the abstract: Profits-only partnership interests grant service-providing partners an interest in the profits of a partnership but not its capital...
Dagan & Fisher: A Market for Public Entitlements
Posted on November 06, 2009Tsilly Dagan (Bar-Ilan University, Israel) & Talia Fisher (Tel Aviv University, Buchmann Faculty of Law, Israel) have posted A Market for Public Entitlements on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Individuals enjoy a host of rights in relation to the government, including voting rights, the right to trial, the right against...
Chandra Presents Outcomes Assessment and Health Care Reform Today at Columbia
Posted on November 05, 2009Amitabh Chandra (Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government) presents Outcomes Assessment and Health Care Reform (with Elliott Fisher (Dartmouth Medical School) & Jonathan Skinner (Dartmouth College, Department of Economics)) at Columbia today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series...
Lederman Presents Basketing and Corporate Tax Shelters Today at Brooklyn
Posted on November 05, 2009Leandra Lederman (Indiana-Bloomington) presents A Tisket, A Tasket: Basketing and Corporate Tax Shelters at Brooklyn today as part of its Faculty Workshop Series. Here is the abstract: In an income tax system comporting with the Haig-Simons norm, deductible expenses would be deductible from all income regardless of source...
Metcalf: Tax Policies for Low-Carbon Technologies
Posted on November 05, 2009Gilbert E. Metcalf (Tufts University, Department of Economics) has published Tax Policies for Low-Carbon Technologies, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 519 (2009). Here is the abstract: This paper discusses the difficulties of achieving climate change policy goals with low-carbon subsidies as opposed to using taxes to raise the price of carbon-intensive...
Miami Law Prof Drops $22m Lawsuit Against Above the Law Blog
Posted on November 05, 2009Following up on Tuesday's post, Miami Law Prof Sues Above the Law Blog for $22m: Professor Jones has dropped the lawsuit: Notice of Voluntary Dismissal Above the Law National Law Journal Volokh Conspiracy Wall Street Journal Law Blog
JOTWELL -- Tax
Posted on November 04, 2009Michael Froomkin (Miami) has launched JOTWELL -- The Journal of Things We Like (Lots): The Journal of Things We Like (Lots)?JOTWELL?invites you to join us in filling a telling gap in legal scholarship by creating a space where legal academics will go to identify, celebrate, and discuss the best new...
ALJ Says Billionaire Spent 179 (Not 183) Days in NYC, So Not Subject to NYC Tax
Posted on November 04, 2009A New York state administrative law judge has ruled that billionaire former hedge fund manager Julian H. Robertson Jr. spent only 179 days in New York City in 2000, not the 183 days alleged by New York tax authorities. As a result, the ALJ ruled that Robertson was not a...
Senate Holds Hearing Today on Michael Mundaca's Nomination to be Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy
Posted on November 04, 2009The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing today on Michael F. Mundaca's nomination to be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy. For prior TaxProf Blog coverage, see here.
Herzig: The Tax Treatment of Exchange Funds
Posted on November 04, 2009David Herzig (Valparaiso) has posted Am I the Only Person Paying Taxes? The Largest Tax Loophole for the Rich -- Exchange Funds, 2009 Mich. St. L. Rev. ____, on SSRN. Here is the abstract: President Obama is faced with a national debt at over $11 trillion and needs to fund...
The Portability of Property Tax Exemptions
Posted on November 04, 2009Ron Cheung (Florida State University, Department of Economics) & Chris Cunningham (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta) have posted Voters Hold the Key: Lock-In, Mobility, and the Portability of Property Tax Exemptions on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Since California voters approved Proposition 13 in 1978, fifteen states have enacted caps...
McIntyre: How to End the Charade of Information Exchange
Posted on November 04, 2009Michael J. McIntyre (Wayne State) has published How to End the Charade of Information Exchange, 56 Tax Notes Int'l 255 (Oct. 26, 2009). Here is part of the Introduction: In Section I of this article, I analyze the new protocol between the United States and Switzerland...
Which Law Schools Produce the Most "Super Lawyers"?
Posted on November 04, 2009Super Lawyers magazine has published rankings of the Top 10 law schools for producing Super Lawyers in thirty states. Here are some examples: California -- Northern California: UC-Hastings -- 462 Super Lawyers (17% of the total) UC-Berkeley -- 406 (15%) University of San Francisco -- 214 (8%) Santa Clara --...
Warren Buffett: Tax Hypocrite?
Posted on November 04, 2009Future of Capitalism, Warren Buffett's Tax Hypocrisy: When Warren Buffett criticized President Bush's tax cuts while plumping for the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, he garnered prominent, adulatory headlines ... Consider that as the context for two pieces of information: First, the observation, amid a column in...
Alternative Uses of Revenues from a Cap-and-Trade Auction
Posted on November 04, 2009Dallas Burtraw, Richard Sweeney & Margaret Walls (all of Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C.) have published The Incidence of U.S. Climate Policy: Alternative Uses of Revenues from a Cap-and-Trade Auction, 62 Nat'l TaxJ. 497 (2009). Here is the abstract: This paper evaluates the costs to households of a carbon...
Cords: Regulating Tax Return Preparers
Posted on November 04, 2009Danshera Cords (Capital) has published Paid Tax Preparers, Used Car Dealers, Refund Anticipation Loans, and the Earned Income Tax Credit: The Need to Regulate Tax Return Preparers and Provide More Free Alternatives, 59 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 351 (2009)...
Foundation Press Publishes Tax Stories, 2d ed.
Posted on November 03, 2009Foundation Press has published the second edition of our Tax Stories book: This book explores the historical contexts of seminal federal income tax cases and the role they continue to play in our current tax law. Each of the chapters sets forth the social, factual, and legal background of the...
Miami Law Prof Sues Above the Law Blog for $22m
Posted on November 03, 2009National Law Journal, Law Professor Sues Above the Law Blog, Alleging "Viciously Racist Series of Rants," by Karen Sloan: It's the kind of story that tends to get big play on the legal blog Above the Law: A prominent University of Miami School of Law professor and civil rights advocate...
IRS as Meat Loaf: Two Out Of Three (e-Filed Returns) Ain't Bad
Posted on November 03, 2009The IRS yesterday released Two Out of Three Individuals Now Using IRS e-File (IR-2009-99): Individuals e-filed a record 95 million federal income tax returns during 2009, up almost 6% from last year's total of nearly 90 million. About two out of three taxpayers e-filed this year; out of the 141...
CBPP Criticizes Berkley Estate Tax Bill (H.R. 3905)
Posted on November 03, 2009The Center on Budget & Policy Priorities has published Berkley Estate Tax Bill Would Add Billions to Deficit While Benefiting Only Wealthiest 1 in 500 Estates: A new estate tax bill introduced by Representative Shelley Berkley (D-NV) and others would cost $119 billion more over the first decade (2012-2021) than...
Pratt: Deductibility of Fertility Treatment
Posted on November 03, 2009Katherine Pratt (Loyola-L.A.) has posted Deducting the Costs of Fertility Treatment: Implications of Magdalin v. Commissioner for Opposite-Sex Couples, Gay and Lesbian Same-Sex Couples, and Single Women and Men, 2009 Wis. L. Rev. ___, on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article considers whether federal tax law permits taxpayers to...
Death of BYU's Michael Goldsmith
Posted on November 03, 2009Following up on my March 2009 post, Another Law Prof Dying of ALS: the New York Times reports that BYU Law Prof Michael Goldsmith (BYU) died on Sunday at age 58. Video Courtesy of KSL.com
Logue Presents Narrowing the Tax Gap Through Presumptive Taxation at Columbia
Posted on November 03, 2009Kyle Logue (Michigan) presented Narrowing the Tax Gap Through Presumptive Taxation at Columbia as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. Here is the abstract: This Article highlights the primary tax enforcement problem in the United States, that of noncompliant small and medium-sized businesses (?SMBs?), and it explores the possibility...
Testimony at Yesterday's Tax Reform Task Force Hearing
Posted on November 03, 2009Following up on yesterday's post on the meeting of the President's Task Force on Tax Reform: here are the witnesses who testified at yesterday's hearing (with links to their testimony): Edward D. Kleinbard (former Joint Committee on Taxation Chief of Staff and current USC Tax Prof) John Phillips (Phillips &...
Race & Class in Elite Colleges
Posted on November 03, 2009Inside Higher Ed, The Power of Race, by Scott Jaschik: Is the glass half empty or half full? Thomas J. Espendshade, a professor of sociology at Princeton University, used that question to answer a question about his new book, No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal: Race and Class in Elite...
TIGTA: 43% of Taxpayers Risk Identity Theft When IRS Makes Copies of Their Tax Returns
Posted on November 03, 2009The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today released Taxpayer Information Is at Risk When Copies of Tax Returns and Transcripts Are Ordered (2009-40-140): TIGTA today publicly released its audit report of the IRS's processing of taxpayer requests for copies of tax returns and transcripts...
10 iPhone Apps for Lawyers
Posted on November 03, 2009Business Insider, 10 iPhone Apps Every Lawyer Should Have: [W]hether attorneys use the iPhone as their personal cell or their work device, they can make use of a variety of apps specifically directed to their lawyerly needs. My CLE Billing Timer Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Black's Law Dictionary Delaware...
Clark & Sabelhaus: How Will the Stock Market Crash Affect the Choice of Pension Plans?
Posted on November 03, 2009Robert L. Clark (North Carolina State University, Department of Economics) & John Sabelhaus (University of Maryland, Department of Economics) have published How Will the Stock Market Crash Affect the Choice of Pension Plans?, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 477 (2009)...
Brady: What Does the Market Crash Mean for the Ability of 401(k) Plans to Provide Retirement Income?
Posted on November 02, 2009Peter J. Brady (Investment Company Institute) has published What Does the Market Crash Mean for the Ability of 401(k) Plans to Provide Retirement Income?, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 455 (2009). Here is the abstract: Deteriorating financial market conditions in 2008 intensified the debate over the ability of 401(k) plans to...
Milot: The Tax Treatment of Transfers of Human Body Parts
Posted on November 02, 2009Lisa Milot (Georgia) has posted What Are We -- Laborers, Factories, or Spare Parts? The Tax Treatment of Transfers of Human Body Materials on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Transfers of human body materials are ubiquitous. From surrogacy arrangements, to sales of eggs, sperm and plasma to clinics, to black...
U.S. Is #1 Tax Haven Country
Posted on November 02, 2009The U.K.-based Tax Justice Network has issued its first-ever Financial Secrecy Index, a ranking of tax haven jurisdictions. The #1 tax haven is the United States. Here are the Top 10: United States (Delaware) Luxembourg Switzerland Cayman Islands United Kingdom (London) Ireland Bermuda Singapore Belgium Hong Kong Press and blogosphere...
Subscribing to TaxProf Blog
Posted on November 02, 2009We offer two ways for you to have TaxProf Blog content automatically delivered to your computer, cell phone, or mobile device, as explained in the left column of the blog under the banner, "Subscribe to TaxProf Blog Via RSS Feed or Email": RSS Feeds: You can subscribe to one of...
A 95.2% Income Tax Rate?
Posted on November 02, 2009The Tax Foundation computes the income tax rates necessary to close the deficit:
Report: 12% VAT Fraud Rate in Europe
Posted on November 02, 2009The European Commission on Friday reported a 12% fraud rate ($150 billion annually) in the value-added tax among European Union member states. Study to Quantify and Analyse the VAT Gap in the EU-25 Member States. See also Combatting Tax Fraud.
Zelenak: Complex Tax Legislation in the Turbotax Era
Posted on November 02, 2009Lawrence A. Zelenak (Duke) has posted Complex Tax Legislation in the Turbotax Era, 1 Colum. J. Tax L. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: When tax returns were prepared with pencil and paper-in an era now gone forever-Congress did not impose income tax provisions of great computational complexity...
GAO: IRS Needs to Better Manage Tax Debt Collection Process
Posted on November 02, 2009The Government Accountability Office on Friday released Tax Debt Collection: IRS Needs to Better Manage the Collection Notices Sent to Individuals (GAO-09-976): According to the IRS, $23 billion in unpaid individual income tax debt existed in 2001, its most recent estimate...
TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup
Posted on November 02, 2009Saturday: Deductibility of Halloween Costumes State Death Taxes Pose Trap for Upper Middle Class as Federal Estate Tax Recedes Devereux & Fuest: Is the Corporation Tax an Effective Automatic Stabilizer? Recasting Carried Interest: An Examination of Tax Reform Proposals The Constitutionality of Post-Davis Conduit Bonds Sunday: Chicago Property Taxes Increase...
Hillary Clinton: Low Marginal Tax Rates Lead to Terrorism
Posted on November 02, 2009Reason, Hillary Clinton: Low Marginal Tax Rates Lead to Terrorism, by Tim Cavanaugh: Did Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admit that Americans are overtaxed during her business leader roundtable in Lahore, Pakistan? The juxtaposition of quotes in this Pakistan Daily Times article -- the first part about the government's failure...
Ed Rollins Owes $1.3m in Taxes
Posted on November 02, 2009Ed Rollins, former National Campaign Director for the Ronald Reagan (1984) and Mike Huckabee (2008) presidential campaigns and current CNN Senior Political Contributor, owes more than $1.3 million in federal and state taxes: IRS tax liens: $1,126,166 New York tax warrant: $169,459 Oklahoma tax warrant: $35,114
Kleinbard Testifies Today Before President Obama's Tax Reform Panel
Posted on November 02, 2009Former Joint Committee on Taxation Chief of Staff and current USC Tax Prof Edward D. Kleinbard is testifying today before the President's Task Force on Tax Reform, a part of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB). President Obama meets today with PERAB: Anna Burger, Chair, Change to Win John...
Sanchirico Presents Two Tax Papers Today at Texas
Posted on November 02, 2009Chris William Sanchirico (Pennsylvania) presents two papers at the University of Texas today as part of its Center for Law, Business, & Economics Workshop Series: A Critical Look at the Economic Argument for Taxing Only Labor Income, 63 Tax L. Rev. ___ (2010): "According to accepted wisdom, "the tax substitution...
NY Times: LILOs & SILOSs Cause "Fiscal Blood on the Tracks"
Posted on November 02, 2009New York Times op-ed,Fiscal Blood on the Tracks, by Mitchell L. Moss (NYU): Like a tsunami that follows an undersea earthquake, collateral damage from the collapse of credit markets is about to strike the millions of daily transit riders in America?s biggest cities...
Supreme Court Grants Cert. in Commerce Energy
Posted on November 02, 2009The U.S. Supreme Court today granted certirorari in Levin v. Commerce Energy Inc., No. 09-223. Here are the questions presented: Did Hibbs v. Winn, which addressed the scope of the Tax Injunction Act's bar against federal cases seeking to enjoin the assessment and collection of state taxes, eliminate or narrow...
Chicago Property Taxes Increase 9.6%; Obama's Property Tax Increases 1.0%
Posted on November 01, 2009The Chicago Sun-Times reports that property taxes in Chicago have increased an average of 9.6% this year. The property taxes on President Obama's home at 5046 South Greenwood Avenue increased 1.0%. Other Chicago politicians with below average property tax increases include: Alexi Giannoulias (Illinois Treasurer): 1...
California Grabs 10% More From Taxpayers' Paychecks
Posted on November 01, 2009L.A. Times: California to Withhold a Bigger Chunk of Paychecks: Starting Sunday, cash-strapped California will dig deeper into the pocketbooks of wage earners -- holding back 10% more than it already does in state income taxes just as the biggest shopping season of the year kicks into gear...
Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads
Posted on November 01, 2009There is quite a bit of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with new papers debuting on the list at #4 and #5: 1. [805 Downloads] To Roth or Not to Roth: Analyzing the Conversion Opportunity for 2010 and Beyond, by Richard L...
Even & Macpherson: Managing Risk Caused by Pension Investments in Company Stock
Posted on November 01, 2009William E. Even (Miami University, Richard T. Farmer School of Business Administration) & David A. Macpherson (Trinity University, Department of Economics) have published Managing Risk Caused by Pension Investments in Company Stock, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 439 (2009)...
Alstott: Family Law as Social Insurance
Posted on November 01, 2009Anne Alstott (Harvard) has posted Private Tragedies? Family Law as Social Insurance, 4 Harv. L. & Pol'y Rev. ___ (2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Family law is full of private tragedy. Case after case pits one family member against another in a zero-sum struggle for resources...
Elliott: Fifth Circuit Survey -- Taxation
Posted on November 01, 2009William D. Elliott has published Fifth Circuit Survey -- Taxation, 41 Tex. Tech. L. Rev. 1141 (2009). Here is the Introduction: This Article focuses on Fifth Circuit decisions involving questions of taxation. While the Fifth Circuit decided more tax cases than are mentioned here, the cases selected are those that...
Deductibility of Halloween Costumes
Posted on October 31, 2009Jim Maule, Unmasking the Deductibility of Halloween Costumes: A few weeks ago, an email came my way that opened with this question: ?Can you deduct the cost of your Halloween costume as a business expense?? It then answered the question: No, if you bought it to go trick-or-treating with your...
State Death Taxes Pose Trap for Upper Middle Class as Federal Estate Tax Recedes
Posted on October 31, 2009Wall Street Journal, State Death Taxes Are the Latest Worry: With the federal estate tax disappearing for most people, state death taxes have emerged as a surprise new worry. This year, the federal exemption rose to $3.5 million per individual, or as much as $7 million per married couple...
Devereux & Fuest: Is the Corporation Tax an Effective Automatic Stabilizer?
Posted on October 31, 2009Michael P. Devereux (University of Oxford, Saïd Business School) & Clemens Fuest (University of Oxford, Saïd Business School) have published Is the Corporation Tax an Effective Automatic Stabilizer?, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 429 (2009). Here is the abstract: We investigate the extent to which the corporation tax can act as...
Recasting Carried Interest: An Examination of Tax Reform Proposals
Posted on October 31, 2009Marguerite Racher Snyder (J.D. 2009, Indiana) has published Note, Recasting Carried Interest: An Examination of Recent Tax Reform Proposals, 84 Ind. L.J. 1449 (2009). Here is part of the Introduction: This Note assesses whether carried interest, a fund manager's profits interest, should be taxed at ordinary income rates or maintain...
The Constitutionality of Post-Davis Conduit Bonds
Posted on October 31, 2009Sean Carey (J.D. 2010, Fordham) has published Note, Post-Davis Conduit Bonds: At The Intersection of the Dormant Commerce Clause and Municipal Debt, 78 Fordham L. Rev. 121 (2009). Here is the abstract: This Note addresses the constitutionality of the selective taxation of conduit bonds, a subset of municipal bonds that...
Sanchirico: Tax Eclecticism
Posted on October 30, 2009Chris William Sanchirico (Penn) has posted Tax Eclecticism on SSRN. Here is an excerpt from the Introduction: Under the current tax and transfer system, the taxes that each individual must pay to the government, and the transfers that she is entitled to receive, are based on a long and varied...
Graham & Kim: Impact of the NOL Carryback Period on Marginal Corporate Tax Rates
Posted on October 30, 2009John R. Graham (Duke University, Fuqua School of Business) & Hyunseob Kim (Duke University, Fuqua School of Busines) have published The Effects of the Length of the Tax-Loss Carryback Period on Tax Receipts and Corporate Marginal Tax Rates, 62 Nat'l Tax J...
Blair: Churches, Political Speech and the Loss of § 501(c)(3) Tax Exempt Status
Posted on October 30, 2009Keith Blair (Baltimore) has published Praying for a Tax Break: Churches, Political Speech and the Loss of Section 501(c)(3) Tax Exempt Status, 86 Denv. U. L. Rev. 405 (2009). Here is the abstract: Churches in the United States, like individuals, are free to speak on any issue that they choose...
Gershon: Teaching Tax Using Socioeconomics
Posted on October 30, 2009I. Richard Gershon (Charleston) has posted Teaching Federal Income Taxation Using Socioeconomics, 41 San Diego L. Rev. 401 (2004), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Taxpayers do not always act in ways that can be predicted solely by their economic interests...
Ohio Bar Exam Results
Posted on October 30, 2009Congratulations to the University of Cincinnati College of Law's Class of 2009, who earned a 91.0% pass rate on the July 2009 Ohio Bar Exam, compared to an 87.8% state-wide average for first-time test-takers. Here are the results by school for first-time test-takers, along with each school's U...
Tax Analysts Hosts Conference Today on The State Fiscal Crisis
Posted on October 30, 2009Tax Analysts hosts a conference today on The State Fiscal Crisis: Where It Came From, How to Solve It at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.: Please join us for a roundtable discussion about what factors caused the fiscal crisis that states continue to face, and about the steps...
TIGTA: IRS Is Not Properly Monitoring $34b of Contracts
Posted on October 30, 2009The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration yesterday released Controls Over the Contracting Officer?s Technical Representatives Workforce Were Ineffective, Resulting in Significant Risks to the Government (2009-10-139): The IRS must increase the effectiveness of its contract oversight, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) concluded in a report publicly...
Listokin: Stabilizing the Economy Through the Tax Code
Posted on October 30, 2009Yair Jason Listokin (Yale) has posted Stabilizing the Economy Through the Income Tax Code,123 Tax Notes 1575 (June 29, 2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This note examines how the income tax code can be altered to stabilize the economy in the face of fluctuations...
IRS's Top 10 Management Challenges for 2010
Posted on October 30, 2009The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration yesterday released the Top 10 management challenges facing the IRS for 2009-10: Modernization Security Tax Compliance Initiatives Implementing Tax Law Changes Providing Quality Taxpayer Service Operations Human Capital Erroneous and Improper Payments and Credits Globalization Taxpayer Protection and Rights Leveraging Data to Improve...
New Estate Tax Blog
Posted on October 30, 2009Hani Sarji, a Tax LL.M candidate at New York Law School, has launched Future of the Federal Estate Tax, a blog designed to keep readers up-to-date onestate tax reform. (Hat Tip: Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog.)
WSJ: 4-Year Old, 53 IRS Workers Scam $8k First-Time Home-Buyer Tax Credit
Posted on October 29, 2009Wall Street Journal, First-Time Fraudsters: A Tax Credit So Silly Even a Four-Year-Old Can Exploit It: It's hard not to laugh when viewing the results of the federal first-time home-buyer tax credit. The credit, worth up to $8,000 for the purchase of a home, has only been available since April...
New Issue of Journal of Taxation of Investments
Posted on October 29, 2009The Journal of Taxation of Investments has published its Spring 2009 issue (Vol. 26, No. 3), with these articles: Russell E. Nance & Daniel R. Read, Tax Consequences of Distressed Debt Investing, 26 J. Tax'n Inv. 3 (Spring 2009) Graham R. Green, Prepay It Forward: Horizontal Equity and the Taxation...
Lokken: Tax Return Preparers' Uses and Disclosures of Tax Return Information
Posted on October 29, 2009Lawrence Lokken (Florida) has posted Tax Return Preparers' Uses and Disclosures of Tax Return Information on SSRN. Here is the abstract: It is a criminal offense for a tax return preparer to make an unauthorized use or disclosure of tax return information, and such a use or disclosure is also...
IRS Advisory Committee Issues Tax Administration Report
Posted on October 29, 2009The IRS?s Information Reporting Program Advisory Committee has released a 145-page report with recommendations on a variety of tax administration issues
Givati: Strategic Statutory Interpretation by Administrative Agencies
Posted on October 29, 2009Yehonatan Givati (John M. Olin Fellow in Law & Economics, Harvard Law School) has posted Strategic Statutory Interpretation by Administrative Agencies, 11 Am. Law & Econ. Rev. ___ (2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Many statutes are administered by administrative agencies...
DOJ Charges Seven With Seeking
Posted on October 28, 2009The Justice Department has filed lawsuits against seven people accused of seeking $562 million in bogus tax refunds (including one refund claim of $210 million for a single customer). From the Department of Justice Press Release: Under the tax fraud scheme, known as the ?redemption? or ?OID redemption? scheme, participants...
Tax Court: Payment to Withdrawing Holland & Knight Tax Partner Constituted Ordinary Income, Not Capital Gain
Posted on October 28, 2009The Tax Court yesterday held that an $80,000 payment a tax partner (Donald W. Wallis) received on separating from Holland & Knight was taxable as ordinary income, not as capital gain, and upheld an accuracy-related penalty, but found that the IRS failed to prove that an additional $32,721 payment he...
SSRN Tax Professor Rankings
Posted on October 28, 2009SSRN has updated its monthly rankings of 616 American and international law school faculties and 1,500 law professors by (among other things) the number of paper downloads from the SSRN data base. Here is the new list (through October 18, 2009) of the Top 25 U...
Tulane Tax Institute Kicks Off Today
Posted on October 28, 2009The three-day 58th Tulane Tax Institute kicks off today. Tax Prof speakers include: Stanley M. Johanson (Texas), Recent Developments in Estate and Gift Taxation Ira Shepard (Houston), Recent Developments in the Taxation of Individuals Daniel L. Simmons (UC-Davis), Recent Developments in the Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders William Streng (Houston),...
Seto: The Taxation of Virtual Worlds
Posted on October 28, 2009Theodore P. Seto (Loyola-L.A.) has published When is a Game Only a Game?: The Taxation of Virtual Worlds, 77 U. Cin. L. Rev. 1027 (2009). Here is the abstract: When is a game only a game? To date, articles on the taxation of activities in virtual worlds have not attempted...
ABA Tax Section Webcast Today on Discharging Taxes in Bankruptcy
Posted on October 28, 2009The ABA Tax Section offers a teleconference and webcast today on Let's Make a Deal With the IRS - OR- Is Discharge the Answer? from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. EST: This presentation will provide a review of the dischargeability rules for taxes in bankruptcy, and a review of the opportunities...
Burke Presents Revisiting the ALI's Carried Interest Proposals Today at SMU
Posted on October 28, 2009Karen C. Burke (San Diego) presents Back to the Future: Revisiting the ALI's Carried Interest Proposals, 125 Tax Notes 242 (Oct. 12, 2009), at SMU today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. Here is the abstract: Congress is currently considering carried-interest legislation (§ 710) that would limit the...
Slemroad: Lessons for Tax Policy in the Great Recession
Posted on October 28, 2009Joel Slemrod (University of Michigan, Ross School of Business) has published Lessons for Tax Policy in the Great Recession, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 387 (2009). Here is the abstract: While policymakers struggle with identifying and enacting the appropriate short-term policy response to the financial crisis and economic downturn of 2008,...
McMahon: States' Use of Community Property for Federal Tax Reduction, 1939-1947
Posted on October 28, 2009My colleague Stephanie McMahon has published To Save State Residents: States' Use of Community Property for Federal Tax Reduction, 1939-1947, 27 Law & Hist. Rev. 585 (2009). Here is the abstract: This essay analyzes the forces that led five common law states to adopt community property regimes between 1939 and...
Law Faculty as Smoking Police
Posted on October 28, 2009National Law Journal, Law Faculties Recruited to Anti-Smoking Squads: Faculty members at Widener University School of Law will have a new role to play next academic year: smoking police. They won't have matching uniforms or extensive training. They will be armed with small cards that detail the school's impending ban...
A Comparative View of Debt v. Equity
Posted on October 28, 2009Wolfgang Schoen, Tobias Beuchert, Astrid Erker, Andreas Gerten, Maximilian Haag, Sabine Heidenbauer, Carsten Hohmann, Daniel Kornack, Nadia Lagdali, Christine Osterloh-Konrad, Carlo Pohlhausen, Philipp Redeker, Erik Roeder (all of the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition & Tax Law) & Lukas Müller (University of Zurich, School of Law) have posted...
WSJ: IRS Brings New Focus to Auditing the Rich
Posted on October 27, 2009Wall Street Journal, IRS Brings New Focus to Auditing the Rich, by Martin Vaughan: A new IRS enforcement unit targeting the very wealthy will help the tax agency decode partnerships, offshore trusts and other complex techniques used to hide income, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said Monday...
Cincinnati: Becoming America's Premier Small, Urban, Public Law School
Posted on October 27, 2009I have noted before what an exciting time this is at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, as we all work together to implement an ambitious strategic plan adopted by the faculty in 2006 to become the nation's premier small, urban, public law school: A premier law school that...
McLaughlin Posts Tax Papers on SSRN
Posted on October 27, 2009Nancy A. McLaughlin has posted a number of her tax papers on SSRN: Amending and Terminating Perpetual Conservation Easements, 23 Prob. & Prop. 52 (2009) Protecting the Public Interest and Investment in Conservation: A Response to Professor Korngold's Critique of Conservation Easements, 2008 Utah L...
GAO: U.S. News Rankings, Not Accreditation, Key Driver of Law School Tuition
Posted on October 27, 2009The Government Accountability Office yesterday released Issues Related to Law School Cost and Access (GAO-10-20): The ABA?s accreditation standards focus on a number of issues, including schools? facilities, student support services, faculty, admissions practices, and graduates? passage of the bar exam...
CBO & JCT Release Subsidizing Infrastructure Investment with Tax-Preferred Bonds
Posted on October 27, 2009The Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation yesterday released a joint report, Subsidizing Infrastructure Investment with Tax-Preferred Bonds: Subsidizing Infrastructure Investment with Tax-Preferred Bonds is a joint CBO/staff of the JCT study, which examines the types of tax preferences for state and local bonds, reports the amount of...
Templin: Comment on Buchanan's Social Security and Government Deficits: When Should We Worry?
Posted on October 27, 2009Benjamin Templin (Thomas Jefferson) has posted Comment on Neil H. Buchanan's Social Security and Government Deficits: When Should We Worry?, 92 Cornell L. Rev. 291 (2007), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: (This comment responds to Neil H. Buchanan, Social Security and Government Deficits: When Should We Worry?, 92 Cornell...
Kornhauser Presents Tax Politics and the Common Folk: 1932-1936 at BC
Posted on October 27, 2009Marjorie E. Kornhauser (Arizona State) presented Tax Politics and the Common Folk: 1932-1936 at Boston College as part of its Legal History Roundtable. Here is the abstract: Although interest groups have always played an important role in American democracy, by 1932 national special interest groups had grown so dramatically in...
Senate Close to Deal on Extending Homebuyer Tax Credit
Posted on October 27, 2009Bloomberg, Senate Close to Deal Replacing Homebuyer Tax Credit Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, Proposed Expansions of Homebuyer Tax Credit Would Be Highly Inefficient and Squander Federal Resources Reuters, Senate Dems Reach Deal on Homebuyer Credit Wall Street Journal, Senate Haggles Over Home-Buyer Tax credit Extension Washington Post, The...
Chicago Offers Bounties to Tax Whistleblowers
Posted on October 27, 2009Chicago Sun-Times, City May Pay You for Turning in Tax Cheats: Would you be willing to rat out a business that's cheating Chicago on taxes in exchange for a share of back taxes recovered? City Hall is counting on it. Mayor Daley's tough-times, 2010 budget includes a first-ever "Tax Whistleblower...
Democrats Propose 30% Tax on Foreign Banks That Refuse to Disclose Names of U.S. Customers
Posted on October 27, 2009House Ways & Means Committee Chair Charles Rangel, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, House Ways & Means Select Revenue Subcommittee Chair Richard Neal, and senior Senate Finance Committee member John Kerry today introduced the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act...
ABA Tax Section Hosts Careers in Tax Law
Posted on October 27, 2009The ABA Tax Section is co-hosting Careers in Tax Law at various law schools around the country to introduce J.D. and LL.M. students to careers available in the tax practice area: The career panels typically include three to four lawyers representing private practice, the government, academia, and one of the...
Behavioral Economics and Tax Policy
Posted on October 27, 2009William Congdon (Research Director, The Brookings Institution), Jeffrey Kling (Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution) & Sendhil Mullainathan (Harvard University, Department of Economics) have published Behavioral Economics and Tax Policy, 62 Nat'l Tax J...
What Does FIN 48 Tell Us About Tax Shelters?
Posted on October 26, 2009Petro Lisowsky (University of Illinois, Department of Accountancy), Leslie A. Robinson (Dartmouth College, Tuck School of Business) & Andrew Schmidt (Columbia University, Department of Accounting) have posted What Does FIN 48 Tell Us About Tax Shelters? Here is the abstract: We examine whether the reserve for income tax contingencies disclosed...
ABA Tax Section Webcast Today on Helping Charities via Pro Bono
Posted on October 26, 2009The ABA Tax Section offers a free webcast today on Helping Charities via Pro Bono: How to "Do It" Without Harm from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. EST: Providing pro bono assistance to charitable organizations (or nonprofit agencies, regardless of tax-exempt status, who serve the disadvantaged) is a valuable and important...
The Taxation of Athletes
Posted on October 26, 2009Andrés E. Bazó (Adorno & Yoss, Miami) has posted A Proposal for the Taxation of Athletes, 56 Tax Notes Int'l 35 (Oct. 5, 2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This paper deals with the taxation of athletes and the different legal status of athletes under a contractual relationship (football,...
TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup
Posted on October 26, 2009Saturday: WSJ: Congress Curtailed Cash Compensation, Expanded Stock Options Via § 162(m) to Spur Risk-Taking; Obama Proposes Same Approach to Discourage Risk-Taking Northeast People of Color Conference Knauer: Legal Fictions and Juristic Truth Equalizing the Tax Treatment of Mass Transit and Parking Sunday: Sarah Palin as Eleanor Roosevelt The Incredible...
U.S. News Annual Assessment of Law School Tax Programs
Posted on October 26, 2009I received in the mail today my ballot for the 2011 U.S. News Tax Rankings (see the 2010 tax rankings here and here). As in prior years, the survey is intended "to identify the law schools having the top programs in tax law." The survey is sent "to a sample...
Lawsky Presents Declining Marginal Utility and Tax Policy Today at Loyola-L.A.
Posted on October 26, 2009Sarah Lawsky (George Washington) presents On the Edge: Declining Marginal Utility and Tax Policy at Loyola-L.A. today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. Thomas Griffith (USC) is the commentator. Here is the abstract: Tax scholarship generally assumes that money has declining marginal utility (that is, that the next...
2010 Tannenwald Tax Writing Competition
Posted on October 26, 2009For students completing tax seminar papers this semester: The Theodore Tannenwald, Jr. Foundation for Excellence in Tax Scholarship and American College of Tax Counsel are sponsoring the 2010 Tannenwald Writing Competition: Named for the late Tax Court Judge Theodore Tannenwald, Jr...
Call for Tax Panels and Papers: 3rd National People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference
Posted on October 26, 2009The six regional People of Color scholarship conferences?the Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and Western?will come together for the first time since 2004 at the Third National People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference at Seton Hall Law School on September 9-12, 2010, to explore the meaning of a ?post-racial? society...
Is UC-Hastings America's Most Expensive Law School?
Posted on October 26, 2009Brian Leiter has posted this memo from UC-Hastings, reporting that nonresident tuition and mandatory fees will increase next academic year to $50,310 due to state budget cuts. That figure is higher than the current tuition and fees at the Top 10 law schools (although some law school websites may not...
Blasi: A Proposal for an Elective Tax Benefits Transfer System
Posted on October 26, 2009Ronald W. Blasi (Georgia State) has posted A Proposal for an Elective Tax Benefits Transfer System, 11 Fla. Tax Rev. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article proposes an elective tax benefit transfer system to be available to lessors of property they use in their trade or...
AICPA National Conference Kicks Off Today
Posted on October 26, 2009The four-day AICPA National Conference on Federal Taxes, AICPA Fall Tax Division Meeting, and National CPA/IRS Tax Issues Meeting kicks off today at the JW Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. Featured speakers include: Douglas H...
Sarah Palin as Eleanor Roosevelt
Posted on October 25, 2009Following up on last week's post, Does Sarah Palin Have a Tax Problem?, which discussed the tax consequences of the charity auction of dinner with Governor Palin for $63,500, Joe Kristan reports that Rev. Rul. 68-503 has a history dating back to Eleanor Roosevelt: According to a standard treatise, Bittker...
The Incredible Shrinking Estate Tax
Posted on October 25, 2009Tax Vox, The Incredible Shrinking Estate Tax, by Bob Williams (Tax Policy Center): The estate tax is only a faint shadow of its former self. In 2009, less than one-quarter of one percent of deaths?just 5,500 decedents?will leave taxable estates, the smallest percentage since at least the Great Depression...
Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads
Posted on October 25, 2009There is a bit of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with a new paper debuting on the list at #5: 1. [636 Downloads] To Roth or Not to Roth: Analyzing the Conversion Opportunity for 2010 and Beyond, by Richard L. Kaplan (Illinois)...
Monroe: Can the Partnership Anti-Abuse Rule Stop Partnership Tax Abuse?
Posted on October 25, 2009Andrea Monroe (Temple) has posted What?s in a Name: Can the Partnership Anti-Abuse Rule Really Stop Partnership Tax Abuse?, 60 Case W. Res. L. Rev. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The partnership taxation rules of subchapter K are uniquely flawed, afflicted by a combination of flexibility, technically...
Rixen: Tax Competition and Inequality
Posted on October 25, 2009Thomas Rixen (Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB)) has posted Tax Competition and Inequality on SSRN. Here is the abstract: International tax competition has undermined governments? ability to make effective political decisions on tax policies...
WSJ: Congress Curtailed Cash Compensation, Expanded Stock Options Via § 162(m) to Spur Risk-Taking; Obama Proposes Same Approach to Discourage Risk-Taking
Posted on October 24, 2009Weekend Wall Street Journal op-ed, Washington's Plans May Result in Even Higher Executive Pay; In 1992, Congress Intervened in Corporate Compensation and Messed Things Up; Now It's the White House's Turn, by Jonathan R. Macey (Yale): Executive pay has emerged, once again, as a major issue in Washington...
Northeast People of Color Conference
Posted on October 24, 2009Here are the Tax Prof presentations at today's Northeast People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference on America?s New Class Warfare? at SUNY-Buffalo: Francine J. Lipman (Chapman), Saving Private Ryan's Tax Refund: Almost two million men and women serve the United States as enlisted personnel in the Army, Navy, Marines and...
Knauer: Legal Fictions and Juristic Truth
Posted on October 24, 2009Nancy J. Knauer (Temple) has posted Legal Fictions and Juristic Truth, 22 St. Thomas L. Rev. __- (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The classic legal fiction is a curious artifice of legal reasoning. In a discipline primarily concerned with issues of fact and responsibility, the notion of a...
Equalizing the Tax Treatment of Mass Transit and Parking
Posted on October 24, 2009Shane Hartman (J.D. 2008, Seton Hall) has published Note, A Credit Where Credit Is Due: Why Congress' Long-awaited Equalization of the Transit Pass and Qualified-Parking Exclusions, While Laudable, Does Not Go Far Enough, 33 Seton Hall Legis. J. 565 (2009)...
Norway Publishes Tax Return Information on the Internet
Posted on October 23, 2009Scotsman, That's Rich: Norway's Tax List Reveals Everyone's Wealth: It's the moment nosy neighbours have been waiting for ? the release of official records showing the annual income and overall wealth of every Norwegian taxpayer. In a move that would be unthinkable in most countries, tax authorities in Norway have...
Curbing Excessive Compensation Through the Tax Code
Posted on October 23, 2009Aaron Zelinsky (J.D. 2010, Yale) has posted Note, Taxing Unreasonable Compensation: § 162(A)(1) and Managerial Power, 119 Yale L. J. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Section 162(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code, as construed by the IRS, effectively allows publicly traded businesses to deduct an unlimited amount...
Chicago-Kent Hosts Symposium Today on The Law of Philanthropy in the 21st Century
Posted on October 23, 2009Chicago-Kent hosts a symposium today on The Law of Philanthropy in the 21st Century. Here are the speakers and their topics: Introduction, by Anne-Marie Rhodes (Loyola-Chicago) Regulating Philanthropy in the 21st Century: An Institutional Choice Analysis, by Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer (Notre Dame) Rethinking Fiduciary Duty Law, by Melanie B...
Most Expensive Colleges
Posted on October 23, 2009Campus Grotto has compiled its annual list of the 100 most expensive colleges (tuition plus room & board). Here are the 50 most expensive colleges, along with their U.S. News ranking: College Cost 1. Sarah Lawrence College (n/r) $54,410 2. New York University (#32) $51,991 3...
Tax Prof Presentations at Central States Law Schools Association Annual Conference
Posted on October 23, 2009Here are the Tax Prof presentations at the two-day 2009 Central States Law Schools Association Annual Conference in Columbus, Ohio at Capital University School of Law: Samuel D. Brunson (Loyola-Chicago), Taxing Investment Fund Managers Using a Simplified Mark-to-Market Approach: For several years, a debate has swirled around the taxation of...
Johnson Posts Tax Articles on SSRN
Posted on October 23, 2009Steve R. Johnson (UNLV) has posted several additional tax papers on SSRN: IRS Duty of Consistency, 77 Tenn L. Rev. ___ (2010) Statutes Requiring "Plain Meaning" Interpretation, 53 State Tax Notes 763 (Sept. 14, 2009) Expert Witnesses and the Sixth Amendment, 124 Tax Notes 1029 (Sept...
Yin: Temporary Legislation and Fiscal Restraint
Posted on October 23, 2009George K. Yin (Virginia) has posted Temporary Legislation and Fiscal Restraint on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This essay shows that after taking into account the budget accounting rules in the legislative process, it is preferable to pass 'temporary' legislation - laws with an explicit expiration date or 'sunset' feature...
Chetty Presents Salience and Taxation Today at Columbia
Posted on October 22, 2009Raj Chetty (Harvard University, Department of Economics) presents Salience and Taxation: Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications at Columbia today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. Here is the abstract: This paper presents evidence that consumers underreact to taxes that are not salient and characterizes the welfare consequences of...
Court of Federal Claims Upholds Con Ed's LILO Transaction
Posted on October 22, 2009The Court of Federal Claims yesterday upheld a a LILO transaction in a 159-opinion, distinguishing BB & T Corp. v. United States, No. 04-094 (M.D.N.C. Jan. 4, 2007), aff?d, 523 F.3d 461 (4th Cir. 2008); and AWG Leasing Trust v. United States, 592 F. Supp...
Is $5,500 Golf Cart Credit Emblematic of "Tax Policy in the Age of Obama"
Posted on October 22, 2009Wall Street Journal editorial, Cash for Clubbers: Congress's Fabulous Golf Cart Stimulus: We thought cash for clunkers was the ultimate waste of taxpayer money, but as usual we were too optimistic. Thanks to the federal tax credit to buy high-mileage cars that was part of President Obama's stimulus plan, Uncle...
The Pension Protection Act's Misguided Attack on Donor-Advised Funds and Supporting Organizations
Posted on October 22, 2009Terry W. Knoepfle (North Dakota State University, College of Business) has published The Pension Protection Act of 2006: A Misguided Attack on Donor-Advised Funds and Supporting Organizations, 9 Fla. Tax Rev. 221 (2009). Here is the Introduction: In 2006, with the passage of the Pension Protection Act (PPA), Congress provided...
Fennell & Roin: Controlling Residential Stakes
Posted on October 22, 2009Lee Fennell (Chicago) & Julie Roin (Chicago) have posted Controlling Residential Stakes, 77 U. Chi. L. Rev. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Local communities often suffer when residents have too small a stake in their homes ? a point underscored by recent rashes of foreclosures and abandonments,...
Why All the Buzz About VAT?
Posted on October 22, 2009Leah Durner, Harley Duncan & Jon Sedon (all of KPMG?s Washington National Tax Practice) have published Why All the Buzz About VAT?, 125 Tax Notes 341 (Oct. 19, 2009) (posted with permission of authors and Tax Analysts): KPMG?s Washington National Tax office is conducting an initiative to inform the debate...
More Celebrity Tax Woes
Posted on October 22, 2009Ron Darling (former New York Mets pitcher): IRS $446,673 tax lien, California $84,860 tax lien, New York $12,664 tax lien Livan Hernandez (Washington Nationals pitcher): IRS $307,268 tax lien, California $30,000 tax lien Nas (rapper): IRS $2,584,206 tax lien Estate of Anna Nicole Smith: IRS $125,113 tax lien, California $43,281...
Abolishing Realization and Adopting Market-to-Market Taxation
Posted on October 22, 2009Timothy Hurley (Salisbury University) has published "Robbing" the Rich to Give to the Poor: Abolishing Realization and Adopting Market-to-Market Taxation, 25 T.M. Cooley L. Rev. 529 (2008). Here is part of the Introduction: This Article advocates abolishing the realization principle and adopting mark-to-market taxation...
House Holds Hearing Today on Fraud in the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Program
Posted on October 22, 2009The Subcommittee on Oversight of the House Ways & Means Committee holds a hearing today on the Administration of the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit. From the hearing announcement: In 2008, the ?Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008? (Public Law 110-289) established a first-time homebuyer tax credit for low- and...
Metcalf & Weisbach: Design of a Carbon Tax
Posted on October 22, 2009Gilbert E. Metcalf (Tufts University, Department of Economics) & David A. Weisbach (University of Chicago, Law School) have published Design of a Carbon Tax, 33 Harv. Envtl. L. Rev. 499 (2009). Here is the abstract: We consider the design of a tax on greenhouse gas emissions for a developed country...
Tax (Return) Stories: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Posted on October 21, 2009The American Scholar: Living on $500,000 a Year: What F. Scott Fitzgerald?s Tax Returns Reveal About His Life and Times, by William J. Quirk: Several years ago, my colleague and friend Matthew Bruccoli, an English professor and author of books about 20th-century American writers, made a surprising request...
Volcker Tax Panel Looks to Curb Corporate Tax's Bias of Debt Over Equity
Posted on October 21, 2009Wall Street Journal, Corporate Tax Breaks Get Scrutiny; Volcker-Led Panel Considers Whether to Curb Bias Toward Issuing Debt Over Stock, by Jonathan Weisman & John D. McKinnon: White House advisers are examining whether to curb the corporate tax code's bias toward raising money from tax-deductible debt issues rather than from...
San Diego Hosts Business Valuation and International Tax Conferences
Posted on October 21, 2009The University of San Diego School of Law has hosted two major tax conferences: Second Annual Business Valuation and Tax Conference, co-chaired by David Laro (U.S.Tax Court & Visiting Professor of Law, University of San Diego) and Mel Abraham (valuation expert and former Visiting Professor, University of San Diego)...
The Resurgence of Due Process Challenges to Retroactive Tax Legislation
Posted on October 21, 2009Robert R. Gunning (Silverstein & Pomerantz, Denver) has published Back From the Dead: The Resurgence of Due Process Challenges to Retroactive Tax Legislation, 47 Duq. L. Rev. 291 (2009). Here is part of the Introduction: Part I of this article describes the various constitutional challenges that have been launched against...
Call for Papers: North Carolina Tax Symposium
Posted on October 21, 2009The University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler School of Business has issued a call for papers for its Thirteenth Annual Tax Symposium to be held January 29-30, 2010. The symposium "is designed to bring together leading tax scholars from economics, accounting, finance, law, political science, and related fields...
Does Sarah Palin Have a Tax Problem?
Posted on October 21, 2009From Talking Points Memo: Back in September, it was reported that a dinner with former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin was being auctioned by charity on eBay with a minimum asking bid of $25,000. That was sort of funny. It was later reported that the winning bid was $63,500, from a...
Princeton Review Rankings v. U.S. News Rankings
Posted on October 21, 2009Yesterday, I blogged the Princeton Review's Top 50 Law Schools, based on data I extracted from the individual profiles of the 172 law schools in the 2010 edition of Best 172 Law Schools (with the University of Cincinnati College of Law on the cover). The rankings are based on the...
Celebrity, Death, and Taxes: Michael Jackson's Estate
Posted on October 21, 2009Bridget J. Crawford (Pace), Joshua C. Tate (SMU), Mitchell M. Gans (Hofstra) & Jonathan G. Blattmachr (Milbank, New York) have posted Celebrity, Death, and Taxes: Michael Jackson's Estate, 125 Tax Notes 345 (Oct. 19, 2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The untimely death of Michael Jackson this past June...
Group Asks Congress to Ban Tax Strategy Patents
Posted on October 21, 2009A broad coalition of consumer organizations, taxpayer rights groups and financial planners has sent a letter to Congress asking it to ban tax strategy patents: As you know, the problems associated with tax strategy patents are multiple and complex. First, we believe that they may limit the ability of taxpayers...
TIGTA: IRS Issues $20m/Year of Tax Refunds to Taxpayers Who Send in Bogus Checks
Posted on October 21, 2009After an individual was prosecuted for sending 150 dishonored checks totaling more than $3.3 million to the IRS and receiving more than $107,000 in erroneous refunds, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration undertook an investigation. TIGTA issued its report yesterday, suggesting processes to identify and stop dishonored check overpayments...
Repetti Delivers Inaugural Kenealy Lecture at BC
Posted on October 20, 2009James R. Repetti delivered the inaugural William J. Kenealy Lecture at Boston College. From the press release: A leading tax scholar, Repetti's lecture explored the role of economic analysis in determining the future of our tax system. Repetti noted that concerns about fairness, administrability and economic efficiency had traditionally played...
Error Rate of Tax Returns Prepared by IRS's Free Assistance Program: 41%
Posted on October 20, 2009The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today released its sixth annual review of the IRS's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly programs (Ensuring the Quality Assurance Processes Are Consistently Followed Remains a Significant Challenge for the Volunteer Program (2009-40-128)): The volunteer programs provide no-cost Federal...
IRS-GW 22nd Annual International Tax Institute
Posted on October 20, 2009The IRS and the George Washington University Law School will host the Twenty-Second Annual Institute on Current Issues in International Taxation on December 10 and 11, 2009 at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C.: On the first day, Douglas H. Shulman, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, will deliver...
Denham Receives AICPA Medal of Honor
Posted on October 20, 2009Robert E. Denham (Munger, Tolles & Olson, Los Angeles) today received the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants? 2009 Medal of Honor. From the AICPA press release: Denham received the award today at the fall meeting of the AICPA governing Council...
Duff: Tax Fairness and the Tax Mix
Posted on October 20, 2009David G. Duff (University of British Columbia, Faculty of Law) has posted Tax Fairness and the Tax Mix on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Since a society?s tax system is one of its most basic and essential social institutions, the justice or fairness of this tax system is an important...
2010 Princeton Review Top 50 Law Schools
Posted on October 20, 2009Last week, I blogged the lists of the Top 10 law schools in eleven categories posted on Princeton Review's web site in connection with its publication of the 2010 edition of Best 172 Law Schools (with the University of Cincinnati College of Law on the cover)...
Gerzog: Reforming the Charitable Split Interest Rules
Posted on October 20, 2009Wendy C. Gerzog (Baltimore) has posted The Times They are Not A-Changin': Reforming the Charitable Split Interest Rules (Again), 84 Chi.-Kent. L. Rev. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The article reviews the history of the tax treatment of charitable split interest gifts, explains the inequities that Congress...
Blattmachr & Nammacher: H.R. 436 Would Have Far Reaching Effect on Gift and Estate Tax Valuation
Posted on October 20, 2009Jonathan G. Blattmachr (Milbank, New York) & Scott A. Nammacher have posted Bill Would Have Far Reaching Effect on Gift and Estate Tax Valuation on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Representative Earl Pomeroy (D. North Dakota) has introduced a bill, HR 436, that would have significant impact on the value...
Median Family Income
Posted on October 19, 2009The Census Bureau has released Median Family Income By Family Size. Here are the ten states with the highest and lower median family incomes: State 1 Earner Family Size 2 People 3 People 4 People 1 New Jersey $60,026 $72,000 $86,070 $103,261 2 Connecticut $58,529 $72,586 $86,643 $102,124 3 Hawaii...
State Tax Revenues Plummet 16.3%
Posted on October 19, 2009The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government reports that state tax revenues continue to decline at a record rate, down 16.3% in the second quarter of 2009. Personal income tax revenues declined 27.5% and sales tax revenues declined 9.5% -- the steepest declines since 1963...
2010 Princeton Review Law School Rankings: Which Students Study the Most (and Least)?
Posted on October 19, 2009Last week, I blogged the lists of the Top 10 law schools in eleven categories posted on Princeton Review's web site in connection with its publication of the 2010 edition of Best 172 Law Schools (with the University of Cincinnati College of Law on the cover)...
Testimony at Friday's Meeting of Volcker Tax Reform Panel
Posted on October 19, 2009Following up on Friday's meeting of the President's Tax Reform Panel (President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB)): Wall Street Journal, White House Panel Urged To Back Ready-Made Tax Returns, by Martin Vaughan Citizens for Tax Justice, Suggested Principles for Tax Reform Testimony of Barry Melancon (President & CEO, American Institute...
TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup
Posted on October 19, 2009Saturday: State & Local Sales Tax Rates 2010 Princeton Review Law School Rankings: Most (and Least) Accessible Professors Bartlett: Don't Cut The Payroll Tax Hadari: Compulsory Arbitration in International Transfer Pricing Defining Ordinary Income After McNeil Sunday: California Court Upholds 1% Tax on Millionaires D...
Galle Presents The Role of Charity in a Federal System Today at Loyola-L.A.
Posted on October 19, 2009Brian D. Galle (Florida State) presents Foundation or Empire? The Role of Charity in a Federal System at Loyola-L.A. today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. Kik J. Stark (UCLA) is the commentator. Here is the abstract: This Article critiques the prevailing justification for subsidies for the charitable...
Harvard Blows $1.8 Billion by Investing "Cash" Holdings in Hedge Funds
Posted on October 19, 2009Boston Globe, Harvard Admits to $1.8b Gaffe in Cash Holdings; Operating Funds Were Lost to Stock, Hedge Fund Trades: Harvard University, one of the world?s richest educational institutions, stumbled into its financial crisis in part by breaking one of the most basic rules of corporate or family finance: Don?t gamble...
Union Carbide and the Research Tax Credit
Posted on October 19, 2009Charles Medallis (KPMG) & Leonard "Jay" Hite (KPMG) have posted Union Carbide: Good News and Guidance on the Research Credit, 125 Tax Notes 213 (Oct. 12, 2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article suggests that the news may actually be good for taxpayers that engage in manufacturing process...
WSJ: ObamaCare's Tax on Work
Posted on October 19, 2009Editorial in today's Wall Street Journal, ObamaCare's Tax on Work: Middle-Income Families Will Face a Big Marginal Rate Increase: None of the new distortions that the Senate health-care bill will layer onto the already-distorted tax code have received the attention they deserve, but in particular its effects on marginal tax...
California Court Upholds 1% Tax on Millionaires
Posted on October 18, 2009The California Court of Appeals rejected a taxpayer's constitutional challenge to Proposition 63, which imposed a 1% tax on annual incomes in excess of $1 million to fund state mental health services. Jensen v. California Franchise Tax Board, No. B211815 (Ct...
D.C. Circuit: AMT Trumps Tax Treaty
Posted on October 18, 2009The D.C. Circuit on Friday affirmed a Tax Court decision (T.C. Memo. 2008-118) that the § 59(a)(2) limitation of the foreign tax credit to 90% of the taxpayer?s AMT liability trumped the U.S.-Canada tax treaty. Jamieson v. Commissioner, No. 08-1253 (D...
2010 Princeton Review Law School Rankings: Best (and Worst) Teaching Faculties
Posted on October 18, 2009Last week, I blogged the lists of the Top 10 law schools in eleven categories posted on Princeton Review's web site in connection with its publication of the 2010 edition of Best 172 Law Schools (with the University of Cincinnati College of Law on the cover)...
Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads
Posted on October 18, 2009There is quite a bit of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with three new papers debuting on the list at #3, #4, and #5: 1. [564 Downloads] To Roth or Not to Roth: Analyzing the Conversion Opportunity for 2010 and Beyond, by...
57th Annual Montana Tax Institute
Posted on October 18, 2009Tax Profs speaking at this weekend's 57th Annual University of Montana School of Law Tax Institute: J. Martin Burke (Montana) & Gary Randall (Gonzaga), Tax Planning for Unmarried, But Committed, Couples and Pro Bono Representation of Low Income Taxpayers James Delaney (Wyomng), The Use of QPRTs, GRATs, GRITs, GRUTs, and...
A Review of Tax Research
Posted on October 18, 2009Michelle Hanlon (MIT) & Shane M. Heitzman (University of Rochester, Simon Graduate School of Business) have posted A Review of Tax Research on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In this paper, we present a critical review of tax research. We survey three main areas of tax research: 1) corporate decision-making...
GAO Issues Foreign-Source Income Report
Posted on October 18, 2009The Government Accountability Office on Friday released Study Countries That Exempt Foreign-Source Income Face Compliance Risks and Burdens Similar to Those in the United States (GAO-09-934): A debate is underway about how the United States should tax foreign-source, corporate income...
TIGTA: IRS Is Not Properly Monitoring Private Activity Bonds
Posted on October 18, 2009The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration on Friday reported that the IRS is not able to properly monitor whether a state has exceeded its § 146 annual volume cap for tax-exempt private activity bonds. Future Tax Revenues Are at Risk Because Certain Tax-Exempt Bonds May Exceed Annual Dollar Limits...
GAO Makes Recommendations to Improve IRS Performance in 2010 Tax Filing Season
Posted on October 18, 2009The Government Accountability Office on Friday released Opportunities Exist for IRS to Enhance Taxpayer Service and Enforcement for the 2010 Filing Season (GAO-09-1026): We recommend that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue take the following five actions...
State & Local Sales Tax Rates
Posted on October 17, 2009The Tax Foundation has released Updated Combined State and Local Sales Tax Rates. Here are the ten states with the highest and lowest rates: 1 Tennessee 9.41% 41 Wisconsin 5.42% 2 California 9.06% 42 Wyoming 5.38% 3 Washington 8.78% 43 Maine 5.00% 4 Oklahoma 8...
Subscribing to TaxProf Blog
Posted on October 01, 2009We offer two ways for you to have TaxProf Blog content automatically delivered to your computer, cell phone, or mobile device, as explained in the left column of the blog under the banner, "Subscribe to TaxProf Blog Via RSS Feed or Email": RSS Feeds: You can subscribe to one of...
Zelinsky: Reforming Health Care: The Paradoxes of Cost
Posted on October 01, 2009Edward A. Zelinsky (Cardozo) delivered the Dr. Arthur Grayson Distinguished Lecture Series at Southern Illinois University School of Law on ?Reforming Health Care: The Paradoxes of Cost, 31 J. Legal Med. ___ (2010). Here is the abstract: ?Whatever happens in Washington in the weeks and months ahead, the United States...
IRS's Whistle-Blower Office Release Annual Reports to Congress
Posted on October 01, 2009The IRS's Whistle-Blower Office has released its 2009 and 2008 annual reports to Congress
47% Will Pay $0 Income Tax in 2009
Posted on October 01, 2009CNN, 47% Will Pay No Federal Income Tax: In 2009, roughly 47% of households, or 71 million, will not owe any federal income tax, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Some in that group will even get additional money from the government because they qualify for refundable...
Buchanan Ingersoll Files Answer in $2m Tax Malpractice Suit
Posted on October 01, 2009Following up on my prior post: Blog of Legal Times, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Answers Malpractice Allegations: Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney and a former partner at the firm have responded to the malpractice suit filed by the name partners of Alcalde & Fay in July...
Does IRS Enforcement Make Health Care Mandate a 'Tax'?
Posted on September 30, 2009Following up on my prior posts (Tax Penalties and the Health-Care Bill; Obama's Nontax Tax): Wall Street Journal editorial, Rhetorical Tax Evasion: The IRS says it will fine or jail you for not paying Obama's mandate levy. President Obama's effort to deny that his mandate to buy insurance is a...
Business Groups Seeks Estate Tax Compromise
Posted on September 30, 2009Following up on last week's post, The Estate Tax Legislative Battle: forty-six business associations joined in a letter to Congress yesterday, abandoning their goal of repealing the estate and instead offering their support for Senator Kyl's proposal for a $5 million exemption ($10 million for married couples) and a 35%...
Waller: Dynamic Taxation, Private Information and Money
Posted on September 30, 2009Christopher J. Waller (University of Notre Dame, Department of Economics) has posted Dynamic Taxation, Private Information and Money on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The objective of this paper is to study optimal fiscal and monetary policy in a dynamic Mirrlees model where the frictions giving rise to money as...
ABA Tax Section Webcast Today on Tax-Exempt Bonds & Green Energy
Posted on September 30, 2009The ABA Tax Section offers a teleconference and webcast today on Public and Private Municipal Financing of Renewable Energy Projects and Green Expenditures from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. EST: This teleconference will explore the various ways municipal bonds can be utilized in connection with the public and private development of...
Top 100 Most Influential People in Tax and Accounting
Posted on September 30, 2009I am honored to be included on the list of Accounting Today's Top 100 Most Influential People for the fourth year in a row. The magazine contains one-sentence explanations of why each of the folks made the list; here is mine: Caron has built the leading tax blog on the...
California Commission Proposes Dramatic Tax Reform
Posted on September 30, 2009The California Commission on the 21st Century Economy has issued its final report, proposing dramatic changes in the state's tax structure: Reduce Personal Income Tax (PIT) for every taxpayer ? Reduce the number of tax brackets from six to two. The new tax rate would be 2...
A Seating Chart Tee Shirt
Posted on September 30, 2009As one who has difficulty learning my students' names each year, I may follow the approach Jack Bogdanski (Lewis & Clark) has taken this fall with his Income Tax class: This is an improvement on his prior clothing effort, and I am sure his students are grateful that he covered...
State Tax Revenues Plummet 17%
Posted on September 30, 2009Wall Street Journal, Falling Tax Revenues Slam States, by Conor Dougherty: State tax revenues in the second quarter plunged 17% from a year earlier as rising unemployment and reduced spending hurt sales- and income-tax collections, according to Census Bureau figures released Tuesday...
Schwidetzky: Integrating Subchapters K and S
Posted on September 30, 2009Walter D. Schwidetzky (Baltimore) has published Integrating Subchapters K and S?Just Do It, 62 Tax Law. 749 (2009). Here is part of the Introduction: The Code contains two ?pass-through? tax regimes for business entities. One is contained in Subchapter K, which applies to partnerships, the other in Subchapter S, which,...
Taxes and Health Care Reform
Posted on September 30, 2009FactCheck.org, RNC Tax Attack Goes Too Far: The Republican National Committee claims in a new Web ad that Democratic health care plans propose taxes on "charities and small businesses. A doctor?s tax. Taxes on your health insurance. Even a tax on medical supplies...
Live Webcast of Today's Volcker Tax Reform Panel Meeting
Posted on September 30, 2009A live webcast is available here of today's first meeting of the President's Tax Reform Panel (President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB)) at 12:30 p.m. EST. From Austin Goolsbee: The Administration wanted a report on options for tax reform from an outside group so they asked the PERAB to take...
Norman Stein Leaves Alabama for Drexel
Posted on September 30, 2009Norman Stein, Douglas Arant Professor of Law at the University of Alabama School of Law, has accepted a tenured position at the Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University, beginning Fall 2010. Professor Stein has been on the Alabama faculty for 25 years
CBPP: Debt as % of GDP, 1940-2050
Posted on September 30, 2009The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has released Updated Long-Term Fiscal Deficit and Debt Projections:
Stanford Law Grad-Call Girl Sentenced to Home Confinement Following Guilty Plea in Tax Evasion Case
Posted on September 29, 2009I previously blogged (here, here, and here) the case of 2001 Stanford Law Grad Cristina Warthen, who pled guilty in January 2009 in California federal district court to failing to pay taxes on $133,717 she earned as a prostitute in 2003 (United States v...
Chorvat Presents The Effect of the Taxation of Risky Income on Investment Behavior Today at Toronto
Posted on September 29, 2009Terrence Chorvat (George Mason) presents The Effect of the Taxation of Risky Income on Investment Behavior at the University of Toronto today as part of the James Hausman Tax Law and Policy Workshop Series. Here is the abstract: Domar and Musgrave?s article concerning the effects of a full-loss-offset income tax...
Tax Court: CPA's Google Search Does Not Constitute Reasonable Cause to Avoid Penalty
Posted on September 29, 2009The Tax Court yesterday held that a Google search did not constitute reasonable cause to excuse a Harvard MBA/ CPA's failure to properly rollover a $150,000 IRA distribution. Woodard v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2009-150 (Sept. 28, 2009): Mr. Woodard asks the Court to accept that his research on the...
Larson: Evidence Rules in the Tax Court
Posted on September 29, 2009Joni Larson (Thomas Cooley) has published Tax Evidence III: A Primer on the Federal Rules of Evidence as Applied by the Tax Court, 62 Tax Law. 555 (2009). Here is part of the Introduction: This Article surveys the Tax Court?s interpretation and application of the [Federal Rules of Evidence]...
Judge Drops Charges Against Cop for Oral Sex With Five Calves
Posted on September 29, 2009Nontax, but too weird to be ignored -- from the Philadelphia Daily News: [A] Superior Court judge dismissed animal-cruelty charges against a Moorestown police officer accused of sticking his penis into the mouths of five calves in rural Southampton in 2006, claiming a grand jury couldn't infer whether the cows...
50 State Ranking of Median Real Estate Tax/Median Home Value
Posted on September 29, 2009Following up on last week's post, 50 State Ranking of Median Real Estate Taxes Paid: several readers commented that they would like to see a 50 state ranking of median real estate taxes paid as a percentge of median home values. From the Tax Foundation [click on chart to enlarge]:
Leviner & Richison: The Role of Paid Preparers in Taxpayer Compliance
Posted on September 29, 2009Sagit Leviner (Tel Aviv University, Buchmann Faculty of Law) & Kyle Richison (IRS Office of Research, Analysis, and Statistics) have posted The Role Paid Preparers Play in Taxpayer Compliance in the United States: An Empirical Investigation with Policy Implications on SSRN...
SSRN Tax Professor Rankings
Posted on September 29, 2009SSRN has updated its monthly rankings of 609 American and international law school faculties and 1,500 law professors by (among other things) the number of paper downloads from the SSRN data base. Here is the new list (through September 18, 2009) of the Top 25 U...
Students Save Law Prof's Life
Posted on September 29, 2009Buffalo News, Compassionate Law Students Overrule Judge and Save His Life: Seven University at Buffalo Law School students get high grades from State Supreme Court Justice Richard C. Kloch Sr., their professor, not necessarily for legal knowledge but compassion...
Galle: The Role of Charity in a Federal System
Posted on September 29, 2009Brian D. Galle (Florida State) has posted Foundation or Empire? The Role of Charity in a Federal System. Here is the abstract: This Article critiques the prevailing justification for subsidies for the charitable sector, and suggests a new alternative...
NYSBA Releases Tax Reports
Posted on September 29, 2009The New York State Bar Association Tax Section has issued tax reports on: Qualified Intermediary and Related Withholding and Information Reporting Legislation Proposed by the Administration (No. 1089) Proposed Modifications to § 6662 Penalty in America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (No...
Lefcoe: Curbing TIF-Driven Economic Development After Kelo
Posted on September 29, 2009George Lefcoe (USC) has posted After Kelo, Curbing Opportunistic TIF-Driven Economic Development: Forgoing Ineffectual Blight Tests, Empowering Property Owners and School Districts, 83 Tul. L. Rev. 1 (2008), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: When economic development or urban redevelopment is funded by tax increment financing (TIF), local government officials,...
Davis Polk Publishes Financial Crisis Manual
Posted on September 28, 2009Davis Polk (New York) has published a free, 279-page Financial Crisis Manual: The Financial Crisis Manual is a comprehensive review of financial crisis laws as they apply to US financial institutions, covering the major Federal Reserve programs, Treasury's capital investments and warrants, the FDIC's debt guarantees, the public-private investment program,...
Kahn: Sotomayor Was Wrong in Rudkin Testamentary Trust/Knight
Posted on September 28, 2009Douglas A. Kahn (Michigan) has posted Rudkin Testamentary Trust -- A Response to Prof. Cohen, 124 Tax Notes 1263 (Sept. 21, 2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In the August 3 issue of Tax Notes, Professor Stephen Cohen [Georgetown)] wrote an article about Justice Sonia Sotomayor?s opinions in three...
CTJ: Six Progressive Tax Options to Finance Health Care Reform
Posted on September 28, 2009Citizens for Tax Justice has released Review and Comparison of Six Progressive Options to Finance Health Care Reform: This report compares the revenue impact and distributional effects of six progressive revenue measures that have been discussed by members of Congress in recent months as options for financing health care reform...
Gerzog: Miller -- Effective FLP Line Drawing
Posted on September 28, 2009Wendy C. Gerzog (Baltimore) has posted Miller: Effective FLP Line Drawing, 124 Tax Notes 1273 (Sept. 21, 2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Miller [Estate of Miller v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2009-119] is a decision on family limited partnerships (FLPs) with effective line drawing...
Call for Tax Papers: Michigan Law Review
Posted on September 28, 2009The Michigan Law Review has relaunched its website and created a new format for its online companion, First Impressions. First Impressions no longer publishes in symposium format, and instead accepts submissions of essays on timely legal topics and responses to articles published in the printed journal...
TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup
Posted on September 28, 2009Saturday: IRS Denies Deduction for Homes Donated to Fire Departments and Burned Down CBO: Changes in Federal Revenues and Tax Rates on Capital Gains ABA Tax Section Fall Meeting Nonprofits: Are You at Risk of Losing Your Tax-Exempt Status? Sunday: Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads Bartlett: Fiscal Responsibility Requires Higher...
Tax Lawyers Sued for Botched Tax Shelter
Posted on September 28, 2009National Law Journal, First Client Files Suit, Now Insurer Says No: Tax lawyers Jonathon Moore and Charles Bruce already had their hands full defending themselves from allegations that they botched a client's matter, resulting in millions of dollars in IRS back taxes and penalties...
The Next Federal Bailout: 'Great' Public Universities?
Posted on September 28, 2009Robert J. Birgeneau and Frank D. Yeary, the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley, published an op-ed in Sunday's Washington Post calling for a federal bailout of "great" public universities, Rescuing Our Public Universities: Almost 150 years ago, in an effort to better serve a...
Halperin Pubishes 2009 Erwin N. Griswold Lecture
Posted on September 28, 2009Daniel Halperin (Harvard) has published 2009 Erwin N. Griswold Lecture Before the American College of Tax Counsel: Rethinking the Advantage of Tax Deferral, 62 Tax Law. 535 (2009). Here is part of the Introduction: It has been more than ten years since I last spoke to a group of tax...
Criminal Tax Violations
Posted on September 27, 2009Suneel J. Nelson & Rollo C. Baker have published Tax Violations, 46 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 1099 (2009). Here is the Introduction: This Article outlines the elements, defenses, and sentencing consequences of various criminal tax violations under the I.R.C. §§ 7201, 7202, 7203, 7206, and 7212(a)...
Fleming Posts Tax Papers on SSRN
Posted on September 27, 2009J. Clifton Fleming, Jr. (BYU) has posted several of his tax papers on SSRN: Some Perspectives from the United States on the Worldwide Taxation vs. Territorial Taxation Debate, 3 J. Australasian Tax Teachers Ass'n 35 (2008) (with Robert J. Peroni (Texas) & Stephen E...
Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads
Posted on September 27, 2009There is a bit of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with a new #1 paper and a new paper debuting on the list at #5: 1. [322 Downloads] A Tale of Two Codes: An Empirical Analysis of the Jurisprudence of the United...
Bartlett: Fiscal Responsibility Requires Higher Taxes
Posted on September 27, 2009Forbes: Fiscal Responsibility Requires Higher Taxes, by Bruce Bartlett: Throughout most of our nation's history, political conservatives really only had one thing in common: They all believed in a balanced federal budget. They might disagree on religion, foreign policy and any number of other issues, but everyone who thought of...
ABA Tax Section Fall Meeting
Posted on September 26, 2009The three-day ABA Tax Section Fall Meeting concludes today in Chicago. The full program is here; Tax Profs with speaking roles today include: Low Income Taxpayers -- Keith Fogg (Villanova), Kathryn Sedo (Minnesota), George Willis (Chapman) Luncheon Plenary Session: IRS Regulation of Tax Return Preparers -- Les Book (Villanova) Representing...
Nonprofits: Are You at Risk of Losing Your Tax-Exempt Status?
Posted on September 26, 2009Gina M. Lavarda (J.D. 2010, Iowa) has published Note, Nonprofits: Are You at Risk of Losing Your Tax-Exempt Status?, 94 Iowa L. Rev. 1473 (2009). Here is the abstract: In 2004, the IRS studied 110 § 501(c)(3) organizations and found that seventy-five percent of them had violated federal tax law...
IRS Denies Deduction for Homes Donated to Fire Departments and Burned Down
Posted on September 26, 2009Following up on my prior post, IRS Burns Kirk Herbstreit's Donation of Home to Fire Department: the Associated Press picks up on the story in Burning Down the House? IRS Nixes Tax Deductions: Lured by the prospect of free demolition, homeowners around the country sometimes offer their houses to the...
CBO: Changes in Federal Revenues and Tax Rates on Capital Gains
Posted on September 26, 2009The Congressional Budget Office yesterday released a letter on Changes in Federal Revenues and Tax Rates on Capital Gains: As a result of the economic downturn, CBO expects revenues from individual and corporate income taxes in 2009 to account for about 50% of total revenue, below the average of about...
President Obama Wants Your Tax Reform Ideas
Posted on September 25, 2009The White House yesterday invited the public to submit tax reform ideas to President Obama's tax reform panel: President Obama has asked the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB) to develop options for tax reform. The members of the tax subcommittee are preparing ideas to be considered by the board...
IRS Issues Temporary Regs Applying 6-Year SOL to Overstatement of Basis
Posted on September 25, 2009The Treasury Depatment yesterday issued temporary regulations (T.D. 9466) defining an omission from gross income for purposes of the six-year limitations period for assessing tax attributable to partnership items, taking a position contrary to that of the Federal Circuit and Ninth Circuit that an overstatement of basis results in an...
Stetson Seeks to Hire a Tax VAP
Posted on September 25, 2009Stetson University College of Law seeks to hire two visiting assistant professors among several subject areas, including tax: The program, named in honor of Dean Emeritus Bruce R. Jacob, is designed for individuals who seek the opportunity to enter academia by gaining full-time teaching experience and developing their scholarly agenda...
ABA Tax Section Fall Meeting
Posted on September 25, 2009The three-day ABA Tax Section Fall Meeting continues today in Chicago. The full program is here; Tax Profs with speaking roles today include: Affiliated & Related Corporations -- Don Leatherman (Tennessee) Employee Benefits Distributions Update -- Kathryn Kennedy (John Marshall) Exempt Organizations Subcommittee on Political and Lobbying Organizations and Activities...
BBC: Curvy Students 'Perk of the Job'
Posted on September 25, 2009BBC, Curvy Students "Perk of the Job," by Katherine Sellgren: Terence Kealey, of the University of Buckingham, said lecturers were aware of females who "flaunted their curves". In a tongue-in-cheek article for Times Higher Education Magazine on the seven deadly sins of the academy, he advised academics to "look but...
Senate Committee
Posted on September 25, 2009The Senate Finance Committee staff issued a devasting critique of ACORN, alleging that the organization funneled money from its tax-exempt entities into impermissible lobbying and political activity. Staff Memo Sen. Grassley Letter to IRS Sen. Grassley Letter to Office of Personnel Management ACORN's Non-Exempt Entities ACORN?s Tax-Exempt Entities (1 of...
Nothwestern Private Equity Symposium
Posted on September 25, 2009The Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business has published a symposium issue on The Globalization of Private Equity: Changes in the International Market and the Impact on Private Equity Investments (29 Nw. J. Int'l L. & Bus. 601 (2009)), with three tax articles: Darryll K Jones, Sophistry, Situational Ethics,...
Knoll: The Tax Advantages and Disadvantages of S ESOPs
Posted on September 25, 2009Michael S. Knoll (Penn) has published Samuel Zell, the Chicago Tribune, and the Emergence of the S ESOP: Understanding the Tax Advantages and Disadvantages of S ESOPs, 70 Ohio St. L.J. 519 (2009). Here is the abstract: Samuel Zell's acquisition of the Chicago Tribune in December 2007 using a little-known...
Kaplan: To Roth or Not to Roth
Posted on September 24, 2009Richard J. Kaplan (Illinois) has posted To Roth or Not to Roth: Analyzing the Conversion Opportunity for 2010 and Beyond, BNA Daily Tax Report, Vol. 9, No. 181 (Sept. 22, 2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Beginning in 2010, all taxpayers will be able to convert their existing Individual...
'Girls Gone Wild' Founder Joe Francis Cops Tax Plea
Posted on September 24, 2009Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis plead guilty yesterday to two misdemeanor counts of filing false tax returns (and one count of bribing Nevada jail workers in exchange for food). The plea agreement calls for Francis to pay $250,000 in restitution and receive credit for jail time served...
Former KPMG Tax Partner Pleads Guilty in Second Tax Shelter Case
Posted on September 24, 2009Wall Street Journal: Ex-KPMG Tax Partner Pleads Guilty In Tax-Shelter Case, by Chad Bray: Former KPMG LLP tax partner Robert Pfaff pleaded guilty Wednesday to criminal charges in an alleged fraudulent tax-shelter scheme involving transactions in the U...
IRS Severs Ties With, and Files $2m in Liens Against, ACORN
Posted on September 24, 2009The IRS has severed ties with ACORN, after several of its employees were caught on video giving advice to a couple posing as a prostitute and pimp. (ACORN in the the past has worked with various groups in providing tax assistance to the poor through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance...
ABA Tax Section Fall Meeting
Posted on September 24, 2009The three-day ABA Tax Section Fall Meeting kicks off today in Chicago. The full program is here; Tax Profs with speaking roles today include: Low Income Taxpayer Representation Workshop -- Keith Blair (Baltimore), Keith Fogg (Villanova), Paul Kphlhoff (Valparaiso), Diana Leyden (UConn), Kathhryn Sedo (Minnesota), Carlton Smith (Cardozo) Tax Bridge...
IRS Extends Suspension of Collection Enforcement for Listed Transactions of Small Businesses
Posted on September 24, 2009The IRS sent a letter today to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus announcing an extension of the suspension of collection enforcement efforts for some listed transactions through Dec. 31, 2009, as Congress works on legislation to even out penalties under § 6707A (enacted under the American Jobs Creation Act)...
The 25 Most Dangerous Colleges in America
Posted on September 24, 2009The Daily Beast: [H]ow do America?s colleges stack up against each other, safety-wise? Specifically, which schools have the worst crime records? For that determination, The Daily Beast decided to look at the numbers. Specifically, for the past two decades, most colleges and universities nationwide have been required under the federal...
Mr. Tax Law Writing Tax Evader
Posted on September 24, 2009(Hat Tip: Russ Fox.) Prior TaxProf Blog coverage: WaPo Calls on Rangel to Resign (9/3/09) The Clock Is Ticking on Tax Cheat Charlie Rangel (9/1/09) More Tax Problems for Rep. Rangel (8/29/09) Morality and Charlie Rangel?s Taxes: It?s Much Easier to Raise Taxes If You Don?t Pay Them (7/27/09) "Rangel...
NY Times: The World Needs a New 'Tiny Tax'
Posted on September 24, 2009New York Times, A Tiny Tax Could Do a World of Good, by Philippe Douste-Blazy: As leaders of the world?s largest economies gather today in Pittsburgh for the Group of 20 meeting, people in the world?s poorest countries will likely look on with a mix of hope and trepidation, wondering...
IRS Provides Guidance on Waiver of 2009 Required Distribution
Posted on September 24, 2009The IRS provided guidance today on the waiver of 2009 required distributions from IRAs and pension plans: IR-2009-85 Notice 2009-82, 2009-41 I.R.B. ___ (Oct. 13, 2009)
Lee Sheppard Speaks Today at John Marshall
Posted on September 24, 2009Lee Sheppard (Contributing Editor, Tax Analysts) speaks today at John Marshall's Center for Tax Law & Employee Benefits on Current Developments in Tax Law. Topics to be covered include work rpoduct production, the Arthur Young decision and the Textron decision.
Lawyer-Friendly iPhone Apps
Posted on September 24, 2009In the October 2009 ABA Journal, 70 Sizzling Apps: Pump Up Your PC, PDA and smartphone With These Lawyer-Friendly Favorites, by G.M. Fillsko: Apps: It?s a little word for those mini-programs that can pay off big in productivity, knowledge or just plain fun...
What Are Law Schools Called?
Posted on September 24, 2009Stan Chess breaks down the names of the 199 ABA-approved law schools: 112: School of Law 39: College of Law 37: Law School 8: Law Center 3: Law (Berkeley Law, Carolina Law, New England Law)
50 State Ranking of Median Real Estate Taxes Paid
Posted on September 23, 2009The Tax Foundation has published New Census Data on Property Taxes on Homeowners, by Gerald Prante: Rank State Median Tax 1 New Jersey $6,320 2 Connecticut $4,603 3 New Hampshire $4,501 4 New York $3,622 5 Rhode Island $3,534 6 Massachusetts $3,406 7 Illinois $3,384 8 Vermont $3,281 9 Wisconsin...
Camp: Theory and Practice in Tax Administration
Posted on September 23, 2009Bryan Camp (Texas Tech) has posted Theory and Practice in Tax Administration, 29 Va. Tax Rev. ___ (2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article concerns the history of automation in U.S. tax administration and the challenges automation presents to administering the laws consistent with democratic values...
TIGTA Re-releases Report Calling for IRS to Seek Mandatory e-Filing of Individual Tax Returns by Paid Preparers
Posted on September 23, 2009Last week, I blogged the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration's release of New TIGTA Audit Encourages Mandatory e-Filing by Preparers (2009-40-130), which recommended that the IRS seek mandatory e-filing of individual tax returns prepared by paid preparers...
10th Annual Global Conference on Environmental Taxation Kicks Off Today
Posted on September 23, 2009The three-day Tenth Annual Global Conference on Environmental Taxation kicks off today in Lisbon, Portugal. For a list of the speakers and their topics, see here.
Laffer: Tax Lessons From the Great Depression
Posted on September 23, 2009Wall Street Journal op-ed,Taxes, Depression, and Our Current Troubles: Tariffs, Rising State and Federal Taxes, and Currency Devaluation Ruined the 1930s, and They Could Do the Same Today, by Athur B. Laffer: While Fed policy was undoubtedly important, it was not the primary cause of the Great Depression or the...
2010 State Business Tax Climate Index
Posted on September 23, 2009The Tax Foundation has published its 2010 State Business Tax Climate Index, which ranks the fifty states according to five indices: corporate tax, individual income tax, sales tax, unemployment insurance tax, and property tax. Here are the ten states with the best and worst business tax climates: 1 South Dakota...
Galle & Klick: State Finance in Times of Crisis
Posted on September 23, 2009Brian D. Galle (Florida State) & Jonathan Klick (Penn) have posted State Finance in Times of Crisis on SSRN. Here is the abstract: As recent events illustrate, state finances are pro-cyclical: during recessions, state revenues crash, worsening the effects of economic downturns...
Celebrity Tax News: Floyd Mayweather, Jim Thorpe
Posted on September 23, 2009Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. agreed to pay $5.6 million in back taxes before the IRS would be able to seize the money from his $10 million purse after his Saturday fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. Associated Press Los Angeles Times New York Times Following up on my prior post, Golfer...
Austrian Tax Institute Seeks to Hire Research Associate
Posted on September 23, 2009The Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law at the Vienna University of Economics and Business is looking to hire a Research Associate in the Special Research Program on International Tax Coordination: The start of the job can be individually agreed between November 2009 and January 2010, and will last...
Tax Preparers Help Families Get More College Financial Aid
Posted on September 23, 2009Eric P. Bettinger (Stanford University, School of Education), Bridget Terry Long (Harvard Graduate School of Education), Philip Oreopoulos (University of Toronto, Department of Economics) & Lisa Sanbonmatsu (NBER) today released The Role of Simplification and Information in College Decisions: Results from the H&R Block FAFSA Experiment on NBER...
Caron: The Story of Murphy -- A New Front in the War on the Income Tax
Posted on September 22, 2009I have posted my Tax Stories chapter, The Story of Murphy: A New Front in the War on the Income Tax, on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This chapter from the second edition of Tax Stories (Foundation Press) unpacks the D.C. Circuit?s stunning decision in Murphy v...
California Tax Plan Draws Fire
Posted on September 22, 2009The California Commission on the 21st Century Economy has delayed the release of its final report until later this week. The commission reportedly will call for a new 4% business net receipts tax in exchange for elimination of the corporate income tax, elimination of the state portion of the sales...
Tax Court Amends its Rules
Posted on September 22, 2009Chief Judge John O. Colvin has announced several amendments to the Tax Court's rules: Several of the amendments conform the Tax Court?s Rules more closely with selected procedures from the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In addition, the Court has amended Rule 202 (procedures applicable to disciplinary proceedings) and Rule...
Field: Checking in on 'Check-the-Box'
Posted on September 22, 2009Heather M. Field (UC-Hastings) has published Checking in on "Check-the-Box," 42 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 451 (2009). Here is the abstract: Twelve years ago, new regulations dramatically changed the manner in which the federal income tax system determines how business entities are taxed...
Smith: NFL Signing Bonuses and § 83
Posted on September 22, 2009Andre L. Smith (Florida International) has published Do NFL Signing Bonuses Carry a Substantial Risk of Forfeiture within the Meaning of Section 83 of the Internal Revenue Code?, 19 Seton Hall J. Ent. & Sport L. 311 (2009). Here is the abstract: Imagine a recently graduated collegiate football superstar who...
Sloan: Zell Seeks $300m Tax Savings From 'Sale' of Chicago Cubs for $845m
Posted on September 22, 2009Following up on my prior posts: Tax Breaks Fuel Sale of Chicago Cubs for $845m (9/17/09) Lawsky: The Tax Savings Behind the Sale of the Chicago Cubs for $845m (9/18/09) Lawsky: More on The Tax Savings Behind the Chicago Cubs Sale (9/21/09) Allan Sloan examines the tax implication of the...
How Ford Avoids the "Chicken Tax"
Posted on September 22, 2009Front page story in today's Wall Street Journal, To Outfox the Chicken Tax, Ford Strips Its Own Vans; Logic Takes a Back Seat -- and Windows, as Auto Maker Plays Tariff Games, by Matthew Dolan: Several times a month, Transit Connect vans from a Ford Motor Co...
The "Prom Effect": Why Children Born in the Winter Fare Poorly in Life
Posted on September 22, 2009Wall Street Journal, New Light on the Plight of Winter Babies: Researchers Stumble Upon Alternative Explanation for the Lifelong Challenges Faced by Children Born in Colder Months, by Justin Lahart: Children born in the winter months already have a few strikes against them...
Trailer for An Inconvenient Tax
Posted on September 22, 2009I previously blogged the forthcoming documentary, An Inconvenient Tax. Here is the official trailer: The filmmakers have assembled a distinguished group of two dozen interviewees for the film, including Tax Profs Michael Graetz (Columbia) and Dan Shaviro (NYU).
Pitfalls Ahead: A Manifesto for the Training of Lawyers
Posted on September 22, 2009Anita Bernstein (Brooklyn) has posted Pitfalls Ahead: A Manifesto for the Training of Lawyers on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Entrants joining the legal profession are entitled to fair warning about what they are getting into. Accounts of lawyers' heroism, triumph, and reformist energy continue to inspire young people to...
Lawsky: More on The Tax Savings Behind the Chicago Cubs Sale
Posted on September 21, 2009Sarah Lawsky (George Washington) expands on Friday's post, The Tax Savings Behind the Sale of the Chicago Cubs for $845m: First, the deal may not be so bullet-proof. In a Chicago Tribune story published earlier this year (which unfortunately does not appear to be available on line for free), Robert...
Tax Incentives and the Exercise of Stock Options
Posted on September 21, 2009George Ryan Huston & Thomas Joseph Smith (both of Florida State University, Department of Accounting) have posted Do Taxes Matter: Evidence of Individual and Corporate Tax Incentives on the Choice to Hold Shares Acquired from Exercise of Employee Stock Options on SSRN...
TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup
Posted on September 21, 2009Saturday: Police Seize Maradona's Earrings for Back Taxes SNL on Joe Wilson's Outburst Roberts: Mitigating the Distributional Impacts of Climate Change Policy An International Tax Guide for Professors Taking Non-U.S. Sabbaticals Sunday: IRS to Audit 6,000 Companies Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads American Lawyer: Recruiting Season, 2009-10 International Tax Law:...
Hines Presents Reconsidering the Taxation of Foreign Income Today at Loyola-L.A.
Posted on September 21, 2009James R. Hines, Jr. (Michigan) presents Reconsidering the Taxation of Foreign Income, 62 Tax L. Rev. 269 (2009), at Loyola-L.A. today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. Heather Field (UC-Hastings) is the commentator. Here is the abstract: This paper evaluates the efficiency and distributional consequences of taxing foreign...
The Estate Tax Legislative Battle
Posted on September 21, 2009Wall Street Journal, Estate Tax Faces Its Own Life-and-Death Struggle, by Jonathan Weisman: President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are united behind an effort to block a scheduled year-end repeal of the estate tax. But prospects are blurred by divisions between the House and Senate over the contours of a...
The Case for an Employer Tax Break
Posted on September 21, 2009Op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal, The Case for an Employer Tax Break: Temporary Tax Relief for Businesses Who Hire New Workers Can Energize the Economy, by Blair W. Effron (Centerview partners, New York): Companies need more robust consumer spending to justify increased payrolls, but without increased payrolls, the consumer...
Borden: Taxing Shared Economies of Scale
Posted on September 21, 2009Bradley T. Borden (Washburn) has posted Taxing Shared Economies of Scale, 61 Baylor L. Rev. ___ (2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Economies of scale exist if long-run average costs decline as output rises. All else being equal, the decline in average costs should lead to greater profitability, making...
WSJ: Obama's Nontax Tax
Posted on September 21, 2009Wall Street Journal editorial, Obama's Nontax Tax: On a Sunday Show, the President Offers a Revealing Definition: President Obama didn't make much news on his round of five Sunday talk shows yesterday, with one notable exception. The President revealed a great deal about his philosophy of government and how he...
IRS Extends Tax Amnesty Deadline for Those With Offshore Accounts to Oct. 15
Posted on September 21, 2009The IRS today (IR-2009-84) extended its amnesty program (see FAQ here) for individuals who have evaded U.S. taxes through offshore accounts for an additional 22 days -- to October 15. So far, more than 3,000 taxpayers have come forward and agreed to pay back taxes, interest, and penalties...
American Lawyer: Recruiting Season, 2009-10
Posted on September 20, 2009The American Lawyer, Sullivan & Cromwell Drops Challenge to NALP Recruiting Rules After Threat of Harvard Ban, by Zach Lowe: Everyone we talk to seems to agree that this is the craziest, most stressful recruiting season in recent memory. More top law schools have moved what used to be fall...
International Tax Law: U.S., Canada & Japan
Posted on September 20, 2009Sharon Stern Gerstman (Law Clerk, New York Supreme Court), Elinore Richardson (Borden Ladner Gervais, Toronto), Salvatore Mirandola (Borden Ladner Gervais, Toronto), Stephanie Wong (Borden Ladner Gervais, Toronto) & Pamela A. Fuller have published International Tax Law, 43 Int'l Law...
Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads
Posted on September 20, 2009This week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads is the same as last week's list 1. [357 Downloads] Ghosts of 1932: The Lost History of Estate and Gift Taxation, by Jeffrey A. Cooper (Quinnipiac) 2. [304 Downloads] A Tale of Two Codes: An Empirical Analysis of the...
IRS to Audit 6,000 Companies
Posted on September 20, 2009Bloomberg, IRS to Audit 6,000 Companies to Test Employment Tax Compliance, by Ryan J. Donmoyer: The IRS will audit 6,000 U.S. companies to determine whether they pay all their required employment taxes to fund Social Security and Medicare benefits. The IRS said the audits will provide data for its first...
Roberts: Mitigating the Distributional Impacts of Climate Change Policy
Posted on September 19, 2009Tracey M. Roberts (Research Affiliate, Vanderbilt University, Climate Change Research Network) has posted Mitigating the Distributional Impacts of Climate Change Policy, 67 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Under both a cap-and-trade system and a greenhouse gas tax the statutory incidence of the...
An International Tax Guide for Professors Taking Non-U.S. Sabbaticals
Posted on September 19, 2009Michelle Dhanda (J.D. 2010, Suffolk) has published Note, International Taxation: A Guide for Academics Abroad, 32 Suffolk Transnat'l L. Rev. 701 (2009). Here is part of the Introduction: Academics are one group who consistently travel to other nations, and their tax burden is relatively heavy...
Police Seize Maradona's Earrings for Back Taxes
Posted on September 19, 2009While former soccer star and current Argentina national team coach Diego Maradona was visiting a fat farm in Italy, local authorities seized his earrings to help pay off a $54 million tax liability from his playing days for the Napoli soccer team (1984-1991)...
The New Fiscal Sociology: Taxation in Comparative and Historical Perspective
Posted on September 18, 2009Cambridge University Press has published The New Fiscal Sociology: Taxation in Comparative and Historical Perspective, edited by Isaac William Martin (University of California-San Diego, Department of Sociology), Ajay K. Mehrotra (Indiana University-Bloomington, School of Law) & Monica Prasad (Northwestern University, Department of Sociology): The New Fiscal Sociology: Taxation in Comparative...
Cleveland-Marshall Seeks to Hire Tax Prof
Posted on September 18, 2009Cleveland-Marshall College of Law seeks to hire seeks to fill two tenure-track faculty positions in a variety of fields, including tax and trusts & estates. One of the positions is at the Assistant Professor level; the other position may be at the Assistant, Associate or Professor level...
Top 5 Ways Students Use Technology to Cheat
Posted on September 18, 2009Higher Ed Morning, The Top 5 Ways Students Use Technology to Cheat: 26% store info on their phone and look at it while taking a test 25% send text messages to friends, asking for answers 17% take pictures of a test ? and then send it to their friends 20%...
Lawsky: The Tax Savings Behind the Sale of the Chicago Cubs for $845m
Posted on September 18, 2009Sarah Lawsky (George Washington) shares her thoughts on the tax savings driving the sale of the Chicago Cubs: Yesterday, Paul linked to an article about the acquisition of the Chicago Cubs. The article said "tax breaks" would allow Tribune Company (the seller) and Tom Ricketts (the buyer) to "save hundreds...
Holcomb Presents Taxing Gestational Surrogacy Today at Samford
Posted on September 18, 2009Morgan L. Holcomb (Hamline) presents When Your Body is Your Business: Taxing Gestational Surrogacy today at Samford as part of its Works-in-Progress Series: Our thesis is that the fees gestational surrogates receive are part of the surrogate's gross income...
Donor's Suicide After $30m Gift to Harvard Law School and Tax Evasion Investigation Raises Issues of IRS Clawback, Enforceability of Pledge
Posted on September 18, 2009In today's Harvard Crimson, Caspersen Taxes May Be Suspect: Harvard Law School?s biggest donor, who died last week in an apparent suicide, may have owed up to $100 million in back taxes and fines, the New York Times reported this week. Finn M.W. Caspersen, who gave over $30 million to...
Christians: Global Trends and Constraints on Tax Policy in the Least Developed Countries
Posted on September 18, 2009Allison Christians (Wisconsin) has posted Global Trends and Constraints on Tax Policy in the Least Developed Countries, 40 U. Brit. Colum. L. Rev. ___ (2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Through decades of tax reform and cross-border collaboration, the world's wealthiest countries have adopted domestic tax policy norms that...
Emily McMahon Named Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy
Posted on September 18, 2009Following up on this week's post on President Obama's nomination of Michael Mundaca to be Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy: Mr. Mundaca has selected Emily S. McMahon to be Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, effective Monday, September 21. Here is Ms...
SSRN Tax Faculty Metropolitan Area Rankings
Posted on September 17, 2009Theodore P. Seto (Loyola-L.A.) has updated his rankings of the Top 10 Tax Faculties by Metropolitan Region, as measured by the number of SSRN downloads (through 8/19/09): All-Time Downloads Recent Downloads 1 Los Angeles 38,967 Los Angeles 8351 2 Boston 37...
Obama Nominates Michael Mundaca to be Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy
Posted on September 17, 2009President Obama yesterday nominated Michael Mundaca, Acting Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy and Senior Advisor for Policy, Office of Tax Policy, to be Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy. From the White House press release: Mr. Mundaca served in the Treasury Department during the Clinton Administration and returned to the Treasury...
ATPI Hosts Conference Today on Tax Reform and the Low-Income Taxpayer
Posted on September 17, 2009The American Tax Policy Institute hosts a conference today on Tax Reform and the Low-Income Taxpayer: Organized by Joseph Bankman of Stanford Law School and Leslie Book of Villanova Law School, the half-day conference will take place from 8:00 a.m. ? 1:00 p...
Hein Adds Tax Resources
Posted on September 17, 2009Hein has announced two new tax resources: The Alternative Minimum Tax: A Legislative History, with more than 160 documents in three volumes, including congressional hearings on the AMT dating back to 1986. The Tax Archive, with more than 900 volumes and nearly one million pages of tax legislative history materials...
SOI Releases 2007 Tax-Exempt Bond Data
Posted on September 17, 2009The IRS's Statistics of Income Division yesterday released Tax-Exempt Bonds, 2007: Tables from the issue year 2007 tax-exempt bonds studies are now available. These tables are based on Forms 8038-G (Information Return for Tax-Exempt Governmental Obligations) and Forms 8038 (Information Return for Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds) filed with the IRS...
Judson: WSJ
Posted on September 17, 2009Following up my post on the front-page Wall Street Journal article, Income Gap Shrinks in Slump at the Expense of the Wealthy: Bruce Judson responds in the Huffington Post, Economic Inequality: The Wall Street Journal Is Just Wrong: [T]he article says that economic inequality was never really a problem, and...
2010 Tax Rate Tables
Posted on September 17, 2009CCH today released its projected 2010 federal tax brackets and tables, taking into account projected inflation adjustments (based on inlfation data released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Labor): Standard Deduction: No change -- $5,700 single/$11,400 joint (as in 2009) Personal Exemption: No change -- $3,650 (as in 2009) Gift...
Gerzog: Families for Tax Purposes: What About the Steps?
Posted on September 17, 2009Wendy C. Gerzog (Baltimore) has published Families for Tax Purposes: What About the Steps?, 42 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 805 (2009). Here is the abstract: At least 4.4 million families in the U.S. are blended ones that include step-children and step-parents...
Tax Breaks Fuel Sale of Chicago Cubs for $845m
Posted on September 17, 2009Yahoo Sports, Buying Cubs Could be a Steal for Ricketts, by Josh Peter: A businessman has agreed to pay $845 million for the Chicago Cubs ... The Cubs pocket more than $2 million for each of their 81 regular-season home games, based on financial information Yahoo! Sports obtained from three...
NEJM Proposes Soda Tax to Curb Obesity
Posted on September 17, 2009New England Journal of Medicine, The Public Health and Economic Benefits of Taxing Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has been linked to risks for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease; therefore, a compelling case can be made for the need for reduced consumption of these beverages...
SSRN Graduate Tax Faculty Rankings
Posted on September 16, 2009Theodore P. Seto (Loyola-L.A.) has updated his rankings of the Top 15 Graduate Tax Faculties, as measured by the number of SSRN downloads (through 8/19/09): All-Time Downloads Recent Downloads 1 Michigan 26,128 Michigan 6777 2 Loyola ?L.A. 10,839 Loyola ?L...
Peer Reviewed Scholarship Marketplace
Posted on September 16, 2009Following up on my prior post, South Carolina Law Review Launches Peer Review Project: Peer Reviewed Scholarship Marketplace (?PRSM?), a consortium of student-edited legal journals, exists to provide student-editors with peer evaluations of legal-scholarship manuscripts and to assure the publication of quality articles...
Tax Court OKs D.C. Facade Conservation Easements, But Reduces Charitable Deduction by 61%
Posted on September 16, 2009The Tax Court yesterday approved charitable deductions for facade conservation easements on two homes located in Washington, D.C., but reduced the valuation. The taxpayer had valued the facade conservation easements at 11% and 13% of the $2.1 million fmv of the homes (within the 10% - 15% range specified on...
NLJ on the Tax Literacy Project
Posted on September 16, 2009Following up on my prior post, Tax Literacy Project: the National Law Journal profiles Law Prof's Mission Is to Make Tax Policy Interesting: Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has received a lot of press for her "Our Courts" Web site, which uses interactive games to teach middle school...
TurboTax Tries to Kill California's ReadyReturn
Posted on September 16, 2009The Los Angeles Times, California GOP Legislators Blocked 20 Bills After Demands Were Unmet: Republicans in the Senate blocked more than 20 bills -- all needing GOP votes to pass, many approved by the lower house with bipartisan or near-unanimous support -- to leverage a trio of unrelated demands...
Jon Stewart on the ACORN Tax Scandal
Posted on September 16, 2009The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c The Audacity of Hos www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests
Garbarino: A Research Agenda in Comparative Taxation
Posted on September 16, 2009Carlo Garbarino (Bocconi University Law Department) has published An Evolutionary Approach to Comparative Taxation: Methods and Agenda for Research, 57 Am. J. Comp. L. 677 (2009). Here is the abstract: This paper discusses the methods of comparative taxation and provides an outline of an evolutionary approach to this new and...
Dexter: Tenure Buyouts -- Employment Death Taxes and Wages
Posted on September 16, 2009Bobby L. Dexter (Chapman) has published Tenure Buyouts: Employment Death Taxes and the Curious Obesity of "Wages," 70 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 343 (2009). Here is the abstract: Prior to January of 1994, institutions of higher education could appeal to an exemption in the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of...
Father and Daughter at the Ballpark
Posted on September 16, 2009Check out the priceless scene at last night's Phillies-Nationals baseball game:
SSRN Tax Faculty Rankings
Posted on September 15, 2009Theodore P. Seto (Loyola-L.A.) has updated his ranking of the Top 25 U.S. Law School Tax Faculties, as measured by the number of SSRN downloads (through 8/19/09): All-Time Downloads Recent Downloads 1 Michigan 26,128 Michigan 6777 2 Harvard 23,955 Illinois 4366 3 Illinois 15,724 UC-Davis 3976 4 Pennsylvania 14,560 Harvard...
Court Denies Tax Lawyer's $100,000 Medical Expense Deduction for Prostitutes and Porn
Posted on September 15, 2009Via Joe Kristan: The Tax Court yesterday denied a New York tax lawyer's claimed $100,000+ medical expense deduction for the costs of prostitutes and pornographic material. Halby v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2009-204 (Sept. 14, 2009): During 2004 and 2005 petitioner frequented prostitutes in New York...
FedEx to Challenge IRS Characterization of its Drivers as Employees, Not Independent Contractors
Posted on September 15, 2009Following up on my prior posts: FedEx Drivers Are Employees, Not Independent Contractors FedEx Defends Treatment of its Drivers as Independent Contractors, Not Employees What Can Brown Do To You: UPS Tax Lawyer Drops Dime on FedEx, Prompts Ohio to Reclassify Drivers as Employees, Resulting in $654k Tax Liability According...
Five Major Research Universities Commit to Open-Access Publishing
Posted on September 15, 2009Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, MIT, and the University of California at Berkeley yesterday agreed to this Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity which commits each school to "the timely establishment of durable mechanisms for underwriting reasonable publication charges for articles written by its faculty and published in fee-based open-access journals and for...
IRS Improves Computer Security After Loss/Theft of 500 Laptops
Posted on September 15, 2009The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released a report yesterday noting that after the loss of nearly 500 laptop computers, the IRS has improved its procedures for protecting confidential taxpayer data and guarding against the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information if laptops are lost or stolen in the future...
Bostick Named Benefits Tax Counsel
Posted on September 15, 2009George H. Bostick (Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, Washington, D.C.) has been named Benefits Tax Counsel at the U.S. Treasury Department, effective September 14: The Office of the Benefits Tax Counsel develops and reviews policy, legislation, regulations, and revenue rulings dealing with all aspects of employee benefits taxation and related matters...
Behavioral Economics and Tax Policy
Posted on September 15, 2009William Congdon (Research Director, The Brookings Institution), Jeffrey Kling (Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution) & Sendhil Mullainathan (Harvard University, Department of Economics) have published Behavioral Economics and Tax Policy. Here is the abstract: Behavioral economics is changing our understanding of how economic policy operates, including tax policy...
TIGTA Recommends That IRS Seek Mandatory e-Filing of Individual Tax Returns by Paid Preparers
Posted on September 15, 2009The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration issued a press release today, New TIGTA Audit Encourages Mandatory e-Filing by Preparers: The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) today publicly released an audit report recommending that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seek mandatory e-filing of individual tax returns prepared by...
Tax Foundation: NY's 'Amazon Tax' Is Unconstitutional and Unwise
Posted on September 15, 2009The Tax Foundation today released a new report, "Amazon Tax" Unconstitutional and Unwise: On September 9, 2009, the Tax Foundation filed an amicus curiae brief ("friend of the court") in the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, in the case of Amazon...
A Tax LL.M. as "Recession Insurance"?
Posted on September 15, 2009Following up on yesterday's post, USC Launches Graduate Tax Program: the National Law Journal reports that USC Will Market Tax LL.M as Recession Insurance: The new tax LL.M. is designed to attract working professionals who plan to specialize, particularly in light of the tight job market, [Dean Robert] Rasmussen said...
Eric Solomon, Karen Gilbreath-Sowell Join Ernst & Young
Posted on September 15, 2009The Wall Street Journal reports that two former senior U.S. Treasury Department tax officials are joining Ernst & Young: Eric Solomon (right), former Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, will be director of the firm's National Tax Department. Karen Gilbreath-Sowell, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, will be co-director of...
USC Launches Graduate Tax Program
Posted on September 14, 2009The University of Southern California Gould School of Law announced on Friday that it is starting a graduate tax program: Some of the nation?s most esteemed tax scholars teach at USC Law, creating an ideal setting for a new tax program, [USC Law Dean Robert] Rasmussen added...
LSU Seeks to Hire Tax Prof
Posted on September 14, 2009Tax Prof Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz, Vice Chancellor for Business and Financial Affairs and J.Y. Sanders Professor of Law, reports that LSU is seeking to hire an entry-level or lateral Tax Prof: As the LSU Law Center mourns the loss of its dedicated scholar and teacher, Professor Susan Kalinka, we are...
Recent Trends in Top Income Shares in the U.S.
Posted on September 14, 2009Richard V. Burkhauser (Cornell University, Department of Policy Analysis & Management), Shuaizhang Feng (Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School and the Program in Science Technology and Environmental Policy), Stephen P. Jenkins (University of Essex, Institute for Social and Economic Research) & Jeff Larrimore (Cornell University, Department of Economics) have posted Recent...
TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup
Posted on September 14, 2009Saturday: Fact-Checking the Tax Treatment of Cash for Clunkers Should Casebook Authors Give a Rebate to Their Students? Karjala Posts Tax Papers on SSRN Institute Releases The Role of Rankings in Higher Ed Policymaking Sunday: Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads Ford Plots to Preserve $19b Tax Loss U...
Fleischer Presents Distributive Justice and Charitable Tax Subsidies Today at Loyola-L.A.
Posted on September 14, 2009Miranda P. Fleischer (Colorado) presents Theorizing the Charitable Tax Subsidies: The Role of Distributive Justice at Loyola-L.A. today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. Ellen P. Aprill (Loyola-L.A.) is the commentator. Here is the abstract: Distributive justice plays a starring role in many fundamental tax policy debates, from...
Proposed § 104 Regs Eliminate Requirement That Damages be Based on "Tort or Tort Type Rights"
Posted on September 14, 2009The IRS today released proposed § 104 regulations: This document contains proposed regulations relating to the exclusion from gross income for amounts received on account of personal physical injuries or physical sickness. The proposed regulations reflect amendments under the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996...
Joint Tax Committee Releases Description of International Tax Aspects of Obama's FY 2010 Budget
Posted on September 14, 2009The Joint Committee on Taxation today released Description of Revenue Provisions Contained in the President?s Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Proposal -- Part Three: Provisions Related to the Taxation of Cross-Border Income and Investment (JCS-4-09). Prior releases: Part One: Individual and Estate and Gift Tax Part Two: Business Tax
Kentucky Seeks to Hire Tax Prof
Posted on September 14, 2009The University of Kentucky College of Law seeks to fill an entry-level tenure-track faculty position to begin Fall 2010 in a variety of fields, including tax. Applications (letter of application and CV) may be sent to Eugene R. Gaetke, Chair, Faculty Appointments Committee.
Taxing Big Banks to Account for Systemic Risk
Posted on September 14, 2009In today's Wall Street Journal, BIS Advises Higher Taxes For Big Banks: Big banks' risks to the system increase more than proportionately with their size, and these financial giants should pay higher taxes to offset their potential threats to the system, a new study by the Bank for International Settlements...
Call for Applicants: Graduate Student Workshop on the New Fiscal Sociology
Posted on September 14, 2009The Graduate Student Workshop on the New Fiscal Sociology has issued a Call for Applicants: In recent years, scholars from a variety of disciplines have embarked on an innovative wave of multidisciplinary research on the social and historical sources and consequences of taxation...
U.S. News Economic Diversity Rankings
Posted on September 13, 2009U.S. News & World Report has released an Economic Diversity Ranking of colleges and universities, as measured by the percentage of undergraduate students receiving Pell Grants. Here is the Economic Diversity Ranking of the Top 25 National Universities (along with their overall U...
Tower Posts Tax Papers on SSRN
Posted on September 13, 2009Ralph B. Tower (Wake Forest University, School of Business and Accountancy) has posted several of his tax papers on SSRN: Tax Credits: Their Critical Role in Comprehensive Tax Reform, 121 Tax Notes 460 (Oct. 27, 2008) Cloning Complexity: Alternate Taxes and the Federal-State Relationship, 47 State Tax Notes 773 (Mar...
Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads
Posted on September 13, 2009This week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads is the same as last week's: 1. [339 Downloads] Ghosts of 1932: The Lost History of Estate and Gift Taxation, by Jeffrey A. Cooper (Quinnipiac) 2. [286 Downloads] A Tale of Two Codes: An Empirical Analysis of the Jurisprudence...
Ford Plots to Preserve $19b Tax Loss
Posted on September 13, 2009Bloomberg, Ford Deploys Plan to Keep $19 Billion in Tax Benefits, by Keith Naughton: Ford Motor Co. is seeking to make it harder for investors to own 5 percent or more of its stock to protect $19 billion in tax breaks built up since at least 2003. Ford ...
Karjala Posts Tax Papers on SSRN
Posted on September 12, 2009Dennis S. Karjala (Arizona State) has posted several of his business and tax papers on SSRN: Planning Problems in the Limited Liability Company, 73 Wash. U. L.Q. 455 (1995) An Analysis of Close Corporation Legislation in the United States, 21 Ariz. St...
Institute Releases The Role of Rankings in Higher Ed Policymaking
Posted on September 12, 2009The Institute for Higher Education Policy has released The Role and Relevance of Rankings in Higher Education Policymaking. Here is part of the Executive Summary: Debates over the use of college rankings are often framed in binaries: ardent advocates versus outright rejectionists, rankers versus rankees...
Fact-Checking the Tax Treatment of Cash for Clunkers
Posted on September 12, 2009Following up on my previous posts: Tax Clunkers (Aug. 26, 2009) Tax for Clunkers (Continued) (Aug. 28, 2009) FactCheck.org asks "Clunkers" Credits Taxable?: Q: Will the "Cash for Clunkers" credits be taxed as income for consumers who participated in the program? A: The act establishing the program prohibits the credit...
Should Casebook Authors Give a Rebate to Their Students?
Posted on September 12, 2009I previously blogged the 2005 New York Times op-ed by Ian Ayres (Yale), responding to the conflict of interest faced by professors who adopt their own books in their classes by suggesting that professors rebate back to students their royalties on the book...
Linda Stiff Retires From IRS
Posted on September 11, 2009Dow Jones reports that Linda Stiff is retiring as Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement after thirty years at the IRS. She will be succeeded by Steven T. Miller, currently Commissioner of the Large and Midsize Business Division. Ms. Stiff served as Acting Commissioner of the IRS for seven months...
Osgoode Hall Hosts Conference Today on Tax Expenditures and Public Policy in Comparative Perspective
Posted on September 11, 2009Osgoode Hall Law School kicks off a two-day conference today on Tax Expenditures and Public Policy in Comparative Perspective. Speakers include: Benjamin Alarie (Toronto) Lily Batchelder (NYU) Kim Brooks (McGill) Neil Brooks (Osgoode Hall) Dorothy A. Brown (Emory) Neil Buchanan (George Washington) Charlotte Crane (Northwestern) David Duff (British Columbia) Timothy...
Paul Weiss's Alfred Youngwood Receives Distinguished Leader Award
Posted on September 11, 2009Paul Weiss tax partner Alfred D. Youngwood has received The American Lawyer's Law Firm Distinguished Leader Award: When Alfred Youngwood became the first democratically elected chairman of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in 1999, the firm was going through an anxious transition...
An Empirical Investigation of Law School Grads that Fail the Bar
Posted on September 11, 2009Jane Yakowitz (UCLA) has posted The Marooned Law School Graduates: An Empirical Investigation of Law School Graduates that Fail the Bar Exam on SSRN. Here is the abstract: What happens to law school graduates that fail the bar exam? This invisible population makes up a significant portion of the graduating...
Home Office Deduction Trips Up Treasury Department Nominee
Posted on September 11, 2009Wall Street Journal, Tax Inquiry Delays Pick by Obama at Treasury, by Martin Vaughan: President Barack Obama's nominee for the top international post at the Treasury Department has been sidetracked by a Senate committee's investigation into her personal tax returns...
Lederman Presents W(h)ither Economic Substance? Today at San Diego
Posted on September 11, 2009Leandra Lederman (Indiana-Bloomington) presents W(h)ither Economic Substance? at San Diego today as part of its Tax Law Speaker Series. Here is the abstract: Abusive transactions that claim inappropriate tax benefits are a perennial problem, but they are particularly distressing in a weak economy...
Johnston: NYT, WSJ Skew Income Concentration Data
Posted on September 11, 2009Following up on three recent posts: WSJ: Income Gap Shrinks in the U.S. (Sept. 10, 2009) NY Times: Rise of the Super-Rich Hits a Sobering Wall (Aug. 22, 2009) Saez: New Income Concentration Data (Aug. 15, 2009) David Cay Johnston has published Wrongheaded and Incomplete on Incomes: The Wall Street...
Ryznar: The Tax Disincentives for Married Women
Posted on September 11, 2009Margaret Ryznar (Law Clerk to Myron H. Bright, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit) has posted To Work, or Not to Work? The Immortal Tax Disincentives for Married Women, 13 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. ___ (2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Among the most fundamental barriers...
Florida Hosts Symposium Today on International Tax
Posted on September 11, 2009The University of Florida Graduate Tax Program today hosts the Fifth Annual International Taxation Symposium. Here are the speakers and their topics: John F. Avery Jones, Understanding the OECD Model Tax Convention: The Lessons of History Irene J.J. Burgers (University of Groningen, The Netherlands), The New OECD Approach on Profit...
ACORN Gives Tax Advice to Prostitute
Posted on September 11, 2009Transcript Associated Press CNN Fox News
Updated Legal Educator Blog Census
Posted on September 10, 2009Colin Miller (John Marshall) of our sister EvidenceProf Blog has updated his 2009 Legal Educator Blog Census: Blog/Blogger Statistics New Blogs/Bloggers Alphabetical Blog Listing Blogs by Law School: A-M Blogs by Law School: N-Z There are 585 bloggers at U...
Joint Tax Committee Releases Tax Reports
Posted on September 10, 2009The Joint Committee on Taxation yesterday released: Description of Revenue Provisions Contained In the President?s Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Proposal Part Two: Business Tax Provisions (JCS-3-09) Oil And Gas Tax Provisions: A Consideration Of The President?s Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Proposal (JCX-34-09)
GAO: Employee v. Independent Contractors
Posted on September 10, 2009The Government Accountability Office yesterday released Employee Misclassification: Improved Coordination, Outreach, and Targeting Could Better Ensure Detection and Prevention: When employers improperly classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees, those workers do not receive protections and benefits to which they are entitled, and the employers may fail to pay...
SOI Releases Two New Studies
Posted on September 10, 2009The IRS's Statistics of Income Division has released Tax Stats 2009-19, with two new studies: Tax Year 2006 Private Foundations and Nonexempt Charitable Trusts Data Tax Year 2006 Exempt Organization Data
Law Prof Charged With Tax Evasion Claims ADD as Defense
Posted on September 10, 2009From Jonathan Turley (George Washington): Minnesota prosecutors have charged Hamline University professor Robin Magee with 11 felony counts for failing to file tax returns and filing false returns. In addition to to criminal law, tax law is one of Magee?s specialties and she also practices as a tax lawyer...
California Commission on the 21st Century Economy Holds Final Public Meeting Today
Posted on September 10, 2009The California Commission on the 21st Century Economy holds its final meeting today at UCLA to consider the Tax Structure Options prepared by its staff. Yesterday, the commission released a spate of documents: Description of the Tax Packages Descriptive Information about the Proposed Changes to the Personal Income Tax Updated...
WSJ: Income Gap Shrinks in U.S.
Posted on September 10, 2009Front page story in today's Wall Street Journal, Income Gap Shrinks in Slump at the Expense of the Wealthy, by Bob Davis & Robert Frank: The deepest downturn in the U.S. economy since the Great Depression may finally shrink the gap between the very best-off Americans and everyone else...
Burke: Revisiting the ALI's Carried Interest Proposals
Posted on September 10, 2009Karen C. Burke (San Diego) has posted Back to the Future: Revisiting the ALI's Carried Interest Proposals on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Congress is currently considering carried-interest legislation (section 710) that would limit the ability of service partners to convert ordinary compensation income into tax-favored capital gain...
SSRN Tax Professor Rankings
Posted on September 10, 2009SSRN has updated its monthly rankings of 609 American and international law school faculties and 1,500 law professors by (among other things) the number of paper downloads from the SSRN data base. Here is the new list (through August 18, 2009) of the Top 25 U...
Tier 4 Grads Are Happier at BigLaw Jobs Than Top 10 Grads
Posted on September 09, 2009The American Lawyer, Not That Into You, by Ronit Dinovitzer (University of Toronto, Department of Sociology) & Bryant Garth (Dean, Southwestern Law School): [W]e have been tracking the careers of a nationally representative sample of 5,000 lawyers who began practice in 2000...
Joint Tax Committee: Description of Tax Provisions in Obama's FY 2010 Budget
Posted on September 09, 2009The Joint Committee on Taxation yesterday released Description of Revenue Provisions Contained in the President?s Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Proposal -- Part One: Individual Income Tax and Estate And Gift Tax Provisions (JCS-2-09): This document, prepared by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, provides a description and analysis...
More on the Volcker Tax Reform Panel
Posted on September 09, 2009Following up on yesterday's post, Toward Tax Reform: Recommendations for President Obama's Task Force: Dow Jones, White House Tax Panel Stays Out Of Public Eye, by Martin Vaughan: A task force appointed by President Obama to recommend changes to the tax?code by December has held no public meetings, and the...
CTJ: Bush Tax Cuts Cost 2.5x Health Care Reform
Posted on September 09, 2009Citizens for Tax Justice has published The Bush Tax Cuts Cost Two and a Half Times as Much as the House Democrats? Health Care Proposal: Newly revised estimates from Citizens for Tax Justice show that the Bush tax cuts cost almost $2.5 trillion over the decade after they were first...
TIGTA Releases Three Tax Reports
Posted on September 09, 2009The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has released: Changing Strategies Led to the Termination of the My IRS Account Project (2009-20-102) The Office of Disclosure Continues to Improve Upon Its Responses to Taxpayers? Requests Under the Freedom of Information Act (2009-30-115) To Address Its Human Capital Challenge, the Internal...
Treasury Department Releases Analysis of Section 529 College Savings Plans
Posted on September 09, 2009The Treasury Department and the White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families today released An Analysis of Section 529 College Savings and Prepaid Tuition Plans: The report recommends five approaches to making Section 529 savings plans more attractive, effective and reliable for middle class families, and those who...
The Top 10 Law Schools for Hispanics
Posted on September 09, 2009Hispanic Business Magazine has published its annual ranking of the Top 10 Law Schools for Hispanics: New Mexico Texas Florida State American Miami San Francisco Arizona State Florida USC UCLA (Hat Tip: Law School Headlines.)
Syracuse Seeks to Hire Tax Prof
Posted on September 09, 2009Syracuse University College of Law seeks to fill an entry-level tenure-track faculty position to begin Fall 2010 in a variety of fields, including tax. Applications (CV and three references) are due by November 1 to Margaret M. Harding, Chair, Faculty Appointments Committee.
Federal Court Orders School to Give Tenure Hearing to Fired Law Prof
Posted on September 09, 2009Following up on my earlier post, Nepotism Allegations Dog Cooley Law School: in today's National Law Journal, Law School Professor Who Alleged Nepotism Wins Tenure Hearing, by Leigh Jones: A federal judge has ordered Thomas M. Cooley Law School to provide a tenure hearing to a professor who claims that...
CBPB: Income Concentration Is at Highest Level Since 1928
Posted on September 09, 2009Following up on last month's post, Saez -- New Income Concentration Data: the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities today released Top 1 Percent of Americans Reaped Two-Thirds of Income Gains in Last Economic Expansion; Income Concentration in 2007 Was at Highest Level Since 1928, New Analysis Shows, by Avi...
Cincinnati Needs Spring 2010 Visitor
Posted on September 08, 2009Due to the sudden retirement of a colleague, we are looking for a 2010 Spring Semester visitor to teach Corporations I and one other business-related course at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. This is an opportunity to spend a semester at a great law school, with a great...
Yin: Corporate Tax Reform, Finally, After 100 Years
Posted on September 08, 2009George K. Yin (Virginia) has posted Corporate Tax Reform, Finally, After 100 Years on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Future increases to individual income tax rates and reductions to the corporate tax rate will invite the widespread use of C corporations as tax shelter vehicles, an old problem that was...
The Portia Effect: Women Lawyers With Masculine Names Have Better Shot at Judgeships
Posted on September 08, 2009Bentley Coffey (Clemson University, Department of Economics) & Patrick McLaughlin (George Mason University, Mercatus Center) have published From Lawyer to Judge: Advancement, Sex, and Name-Calling, 11 Am. L. & Econ. Rev. 112 (2009). Here is the abstract: This paper provides the first empirical test of the Portia Hypothesis: females with...
Legal Rebels: Tom Bruce, Bill Henderson
Posted on September 08, 2009Following up my post, ABA Journal Launches Legal Rebels Project, which discussed the ABA Journal's plan to profile fifty of the legal profession's leading innovators over the next three months: the ABA Journal has announced three new "legal rebels" (bringing the total thus far to ten)...
The Student Debt Crisis, Part III
Posted on September 08, 2009William D. Henderson (Indiana-Bloomington), Drawing the Right Lessions from the Bleak Entry-Level Legal Job Market: Since the last major legal recession of the early 1990s, elite law schools adapted their business model to the seeming certainty of virtually guaranteed high paying jobs for their graduates...
TaxProf Blog Holiday Weekend Roundup
Posted on September 08, 2009Saturday: U.S. News Law School Rankings: Judicial Clerkships The Effect of the EITC on Earnings Growth NYSBA Releases Tax Reports Sunday: Eric Posner's Advice to Law Students: Do Not Take International Law WSJ: Convert Remainder of Stimulus Package to Corporate Tax Repeal The Student Debt Crisis, Part I Earnings Volatility...
Undergraduate Degree Ranking by Starting Salary
Posted on September 08, 2009PayScale has issued its College Salary Report, which ranks 75 undergraduate degrees by the median starting and mid-career salaries. Here are the Top and Bottom 10: Undergraduate Degree Median Starting Salary Median Mid-Career Salary 1 Aerospace Engineering $59,600 $109,000 2 Chemical Engineering $65,700 $107,000 3 Computer Engineering $61,700 $105,000 4...
NY Times: US-UBS Deal Lets Tax Cheats Off the Hook
Posted on September 08, 2009New York Times, Swiss Deal With I.R.S. May Hide Some Tax Cheats, by Lynnley Browning: When the IRS announced a deal last month that would force Switzerland to reveal the names of thousands of Americans suspected of offshore tax evasion, the agency called it a major step forward...
Obama to Let Taxpayers Convert Tax Refunds Into IOUs
Posted on September 08, 2009In his weekly radio address on Saturday, President Obama announced: [W]e?ll make it easier for people to save their federal tax refunds, which 100 million families receive. Today, if you have a retirement account, you can have your refund deposited directly into your account...
NLJ: Recession Forces Law Schools to Bow to Reality
Posted on September 08, 2009In this week's National Law Journal, Reality's Knocking: The Recession Is Forcing Schools to Bow to Reality, by Karen Sloan: The movement to incorporate practical skills into legal education isn't new, but legal educators and researchers report that the floundering economy is increasing incentives for law schools to revamp their...
Toward Tax Reform: Recommendations for President Obama's Task Force
Posted on September 08, 2009Tax Analysts today published Toward Tax Reform: Recommendations for President Obama's Task Force: This book of advice for the President?s tax reform panel includes essays by 32 prominent tax experts ? lawyers, economists, and academics from across the political spectrum...
ABA Releases Law Student Tax Challenge Problem
Posted on September 08, 2009The ABA Section of Taxation Young Lawyers Forum has released the problem (J.D.; LL.M.) and updated rules (J.D.; LL.M.) for the 9th Annual Law Student Tax Challenge: An alternative to traditional moot court competitions, the Law Student Tax Challenge asks two-person teams of students to solve a cutting-edge and complex...
Book Review: Institutional Foundations of Public Finance: Economic and Legal Perspectives
Posted on September 07, 2009Alan D. Viard (American Enterprise Institute) has published Book Review: Institutional Foundations of Public Finance: Economic and Legal Perspectives (Harvard University Press, 2009) (Alan J. Auerbach & Daniel N. Shaviro, eds.), 62 Nat'l Tax J. 367 (2009)...
Bernie Madoff Gets $13,800 Tax Refund
Posted on September 07, 2009Palm Beach Post, Madoffs Get $13,800 Property Tax Rebate: Palm Beach County wrote the couple a $13,800 check -- a rebate, handing back taxes the Madoffs paid on their Palm Beach mansion. The county had little choice, experts say: The Madoffs' property had been overvalued, so they'd paid too much...
Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads
Posted on September 07, 2009This week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads is the same as last week's, with the #4 and #5 papers switching positions: 1. [314 Downloads] Ghosts of 1932: The Lost History of Estate and Gift Taxation, by Jeffrey A. Cooper (Quinnipiac) 2. [260 Downloads] A Tale of...
The Student Debt Crisis, Part II
Posted on September 07, 2009New York Times, Why College Costs Rise, Even in a Recession, by Ron Lieber: If you have paid a college tuition bill recently ... [you may want] to ask some pointed questions of the people who are doing the educating. Where does all that money go? And why can?t the...
Earnings Volatility Across Groups and Time
Posted on September 06, 2009John Sabelhaus (University of Maryland) & Jae Song (U.S. Social Security Administration) have published Earnings Volatility Across Groups and Time, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 347 (2009). Here is the abstract: Inferences about earnings volatility across groups and time depend on the underlying models of earnings dynamics, data sources, earnings concepts,...
Eric Posner's Advice to Law Students: Do Not Take International Law
Posted on September 06, 2009Duncan Hollis (Temple) asks: When Should American Law Students Take International Law? Eric Posner (Chicago) answers: never: There is no reason to take international law in any year unless you want to work as a lawyer in the State Department or certain obscure precincts of the Justice Department, hope to...
WSJ: Convert Remainder of Stimulus Package to Corporate Tax Repeal
Posted on September 06, 2009Editorial in the Weekend Wall Street Journal: The Jobless Stimulus: It's Still Not Too Late to Redirect $400 Billion to Business Tax Cuts: [A] tax-cutting stimulus would have provided much more job and economic growth for the buck, and it could even now too...
The Student Debt Crisis, Part I
Posted on September 06, 2009The Wall Street Journal, Students Borrow More Than Ever for College; Heavy Debt Loads Mean Many Young People Can't Live Life They Expected, by Anne Marie Chaker: Students are borrowing dramatically more to pay for college, accelerating a trend that has wide-ranging implications for a generation of young people...
U.S. News Law School Rankings: Judicial Clerkships
Posted on September 05, 2009U.S. News & World Report yesterday published its first ranking of law schools by the percentage of the 2007 J.D. graduating class with clerkships with Article III federal judges. Here are the Top 50 law schools by this measure, along with the percentage of all federal and state judicial clerkships...
The Effect of the EITC on Earnings Growth
Posted on September 05, 2009Molly Dahl (Congressional Budget Office), Thomas DeLeire (University of Wisconsin, Robert M. LaFollette School of Public Affairs) & Jonathan Schwabish (Congressional Budget Office) have published Stepping Stone or Dead End? The Effect of the EITC on Earnings Growth, 62 Nat'l Tax J...
NYSBA Releases Tax Reports
Posted on September 05, 2009The New York State Bar Association Tax Section has issued tax reports on: Residency Rules for Student Housing (No. 1187) Application of Anti-Conduit Regulations to Hybrid Entities and Instruments (No. 1188)
Income Mobility in the U.S.
Posted on September 04, 2009Gerald Auten & Geoffrey Gee (both of the Office of Tax Analysis, U.S. Treasury Department) have published Income Mobility in the United States: New Evidence from Income Tax Data, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 301 (2009). Here is the abstract: While many studies have documented the long?term trend of increasing income...
Lawsky & Cahn: Embryo Exchanges and Adoption Tax Credits
Posted on September 04, 2009Sarah B. Lawsky (George Washington) & Naomi R. Cahn (George Washington) have published Embryo Exchanges and Adoption Tax Credits, 123 Tax Notes 1365 (June 15, 2009). Here is the abstract: The ?Option of Adoption Act,? a Georgia bill introduced by a staunchly anti-abortion Georgia state representative, establishes procedures for genetic...
The Little White Book of Baseball Law
Posted on September 04, 2009John H. Minan (San Diego) & Kevin Cole (San Diego) have published The Little White Book of Baseball Law (ABA 2009). From the publisher's description: From free agency and scalping tickets, to the infamous Bartman Ball, this book has it all. The game of baseball has often resulted in brawls,...
IRS Is Building "Elite Division" to Audit Taxpayers With Offshore Accounts
Posted on September 04, 2009Bloomberg Federal Tax Crimes Roth & Co. Wall Street Journal Web CPA
"Law School Is Not a Pizza Shop"
Posted on September 04, 2009Fascinating article in this month's Washington Monthly, Pie in the Sky: What Happened When a Billionaire Pizza Mogul Tried to Build an Elite Catholic Law School, by Mariah Blake: Monaghan never lost sight of his Catholic roots. And beginning in the mid-1980s, he started delving more deeply into his faith,...
Hasen: Financial Options in the Real World
Posted on September 04, 2009David M. Hasen (Penn State) has posted Financial Options in the Real World -- An Economic and Tax Analysis on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Many of the consequences of issuing and purchasing options on publicly traded property have been well understood since Black and Scholes developed a model for...
Keeping in Touch With Your Child at College
Posted on September 04, 2009As I' have previously noted (here and here), I am grappling with the mixed emotions of my older child's departure to college three weeks ago. Thankfully, technology has made it quite easy to keep in touch with him: Facebook, Twitter Revolutionizing How Parents Stalk Their College-Aged Kids
Are Tax Havens Good Neighbors?
Posted on September 04, 2009Luisa R. Blanco (Pepperdine University, School of Public Policy) & Cynthia L. Rogers have posted Are Tax Havens Good Neighbors? An LDC Perspective on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Tax competition and spillover models offer ambiguous predictions concerning tax haven consequences for non-tax haven countries...
Lamest Accountant Video "Winners"
Posted on September 04, 2009In my article, Tax Myopia, or Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Tax Lawyers, 13 Va. Tax Rev. 517, 520 n.6 (1994), I quoted James Gordon's great line: "A tax lawyer is a person who is good with numbers but who does not have enough personality to...
Tax Prof Moves, 2009-2010
Posted on September 03, 2009Entry Level Hires Ilan Benshalom (Northwestern VAP) to Hebrew University, Israel Sam Brunson (Willkie Farr, New York) to Loyola-Chicago Mirit Eyal-Cohen (UCLA SJD) to Pittsburgh Benjamin Leff (Harvard VAP) to American Sagit Leviner (Tel Aviv University, Israel, VAP) to Ono Academic College, Faculty of Law, Israel Shuyi Oei (Bingham McCutchen,...
Testimony at IRS Forum on Tax Return Preparers
Posted on September 03, 2009Here are the statements from yesterday's IRS Public Forum on Tax Return Preparer Review: Government Accountability Office, by Michael Brostek (Director, Strategic Issues) Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, by Mike McKenney (Assistant Inspector General for Audit) Oregon State Board of Tax Practitioners, by Ron A...
NY Times: Lock the Law School Doors
Posted on September 03, 2009New York Times DealBook, Lock the Law School Doors, by Dan Slater: [A]s job opportunities abate, law school matriculation rates rise unchecked. Each year, the number of students who enroll at one of 200 law schools approved by the ABA inches closer to 50,000...
The Twix Tax Test Brings Twisted Results
Posted on September 03, 2009Chicago Sun-Times, The Twix Tax Test Brings Twisted Results: A quick check of how retailers are applying Illinois' new sales tax law that took effect Tuesday shows that knowing what to count as candy vs. food will be a bit of a challenge. Candy used to be considered food and...
Minnesota's EITC Program
Posted on September 03, 2009Donald P. Hirasuna (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis) & Thomas F. Stinson (University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics) have published Minnesota?s Earned Income Credit Program: Utilization by Current and Former Welfare Households and the Impact of Policy Parameters, 62 Nat'l Tax J...
Tracking Law Firm Client Advisories
Posted on September 03, 2009Tax Prof Jack Bogdanski (Lewis & Clark) passed along this great site -- myCorporateResource.com: myCorporateResource.com is designed to empower corporate professionals with the latest in legal and commercial information from the world?s top law firms and industry insiders...
Georgetown Baseball Program Placed on NCAA Probation
Posted on September 03, 2009Yesterday, in blogging about attending my son's first college soccer game, I mentioned my underwhelming college baseball career at Georgetown. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I found this picture from the student newspaper recording one of my few highlights -- scoring in a rare win against Navy...
WaPo Calls on Rangel to Resign
Posted on September 03, 2009Editorial in today's Washington Post, Sorry, Charlie; Rep. Rangel Must Step Aside as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee: His belated revelation of previously unreported income, property and bank accounts demands that he step aside as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee...
Tax Court Denies IRS Worker's Claimed $49k Loss From Side Business
Posted on September 03, 2009The Tax Court yesterday denied an IRS worker's claimed $48,778 in losses over a three-year period from side "business" that earned $400. Morrissey v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2009-135 (Sept. 2, 2009) (citation omitted): Joseph E. Morrissey (hereafter petitioner) worked full time for the IRS from 1998 to 2006, initially...
How Nebraska, Others Hide Adjuncts From U.S. News Rankings
Posted on September 03, 2009In today's Inside Higher Ed, Hiding Adjuncts From "U.S. News": The American Federation of Teachers on Wednesday posted a blog item asking how it is, given those well documented trends, that magazine rankings give parents the sense that most of the teaching at large universities is done by full-time faculty...
'Make Sure Your Balls Aren?t Too Big'
Posted on September 03, 2009Advice from Feminist Law Professors: Make Sure Your Balls Aren?t Too Big.
The Downside of an iPhone
Posted on September 03, 2009One of the things I love about my iPhone is the ability to multitask my way through the day. I pound out email whenever and wherever I can -- waiting in line at the grocery store, before and during breaks in my kids' games, while watching Jon Stewart and Steven...
Tax Court Rejects NYU Prof's Request to "Just Google It"
Posted on September 02, 2009Cunningham v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2009-194 (Aug. 31, 2009): The issues for decision are whether petitioners' reported losses from horse activities are limited by § 469 and whether petitioners have shown reasonable cause for the late filing of their return...
The Reach of the Blogosphere
Posted on September 02, 2009Yet another example of the reach of the blogosphere: I went to my son's first college soccer game yesterday, and seized the opportunity to have lunch with my favorite accountant-tax blogger: Joe Kristan: Joe beat me to the punch by blogging our lunch here...
Revenue Effects of State Corporate Income Tax Policies
Posted on September 02, 2009Sanjay Gupta (Michigan State University, Broad College of Business), Jared Moore (Oregon State University, College of Business), Jeffrey Gramlich (University of Southern Maine, School of Business) & Mary Ann Hofmann (Appalachian State University, Walker College of Business) have published Empirical Evidence on the Revenue Effects of State Corporate Income Tax...
Shultz & Zedeck: Predicting Lawyer Effectiveness -- A New Assessment for Use in Law School Admission Decisions
Posted on September 02, 2009Following up on my earlier post, UC-Berkeley -- Testing for Empathy as an LSAT Alternative?: Marjorie M. Shultz UC-Berkeley, Law) & Sheldon Zedeck (Vice Provost, UC-Berkeley) have posted Predicting Lawyer Effectiveness: A New Assessment for Use in Law School Admission Decisions on SSRN...
Luppino: The McCain and Obama Tax Plans
Posted on September 02, 2009Anthony J. Luppino (Missouri-Kansas City) has published A Little of This, a Little of That: Potential Effects on Entrepreneurship of the McCain and Obama Tax Proposals, 31 W. New Eng. L. Rev. 717 (2009). Here is part of the Conclusion: There are certainly many aspects of both the McCain and...
"What Inspired Me to Go to Law School"
Posted on September 02, 2009The Access Group, a nonprofit graduate loan company, sponsored a law student video contest on What Inspired Me to Go to Law School. A panel of celebrity judges watched the 113 entries and selected ten finalists, which were posted on YouTube, with the winner of the $10,000 law school scholarship...
Walker: Evolving Executive Equity Compensation and the Limits of Optimal Contracting
Posted on September 02, 2009David I. Walker (Boston University) has posted Evolving Executive Equity Compensation and the Limits of Optimal Contracting on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Executive equity compensation in the U.S. is evolving. At the turn of the millennium, stock options dominated the equity pay landscape, accounting for over half of the...
Diane Ring Interview on International Tax Issues
Posted on September 02, 2009Jefferson P. VanderWolk (Faculty of Law, Chinese University of Hong Kong) hosts a two-part interview with Diane Ring (Boston College) "on current international tax issues including tax havens, transfer pricing, and pending US legislation":
College Rankings by "Contributions to Society"
Posted on September 02, 2009Washington Monthly has released its annual college rankings, "which rate schools not based on crude and easily-manipulated measures of money and prestige, like certain other magazines do, but rather on their contributions to society." The methodology is: Community Service (33...
Court Allows Former IRS Agent, Fired for Bringing Dagger to Work, to Sue Secretary Geithner
Posted on September 02, 2009Following up on my previous post, IRS Agent, Fired for Wearing Knife to Work, Sues Claiming Religious Discrimination: U.S. District Judge Sim Lake has dismissed a claim filed by former IRS agent Kawaljeet Tagore under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act against the IRS, the Treasury Department, Secretary Tim Geithner and...
Government Reports on Mortgage Interest Deduction
Posted on September 01, 2009Government Accountability Office, Home Mortgage Interest Deduction: Despite Challenges Presented by Complex Tax Rules, IRS Could Enhance Enforcement and Guidance Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Mortgage Interest Data Could Be Used to Pursue More Nonfilers and Underreporters
Subscribing to TaxProf Blog
Posted on September 01, 2009We offer two ways for you to have TaxProf Blog content automatically delivered to your computer, cell phone, or mobile device, as explained in the left column of the blog under the banner, "Subscribe to TaxProf Blog Via RSS Feed or Email": RSS Feeds: You can subscribe to one of...
More Celebrity Tax Woes
Posted on September 01, 2009Julio Cesar Chavez (former Mexican boxer): IRS $12,770,685 tax lien Miguel Ferrer (actor (RoboCop); cousin of George Clooney: IRS $289,800 tax lien Jerry Koosman (former New York Mets player): plead guilty to failure to pay $90,000 of federal income taxes for 2002-2004 Blake Lewis (former American Idol contestant): IRS $124,798...
Allgood: Charity, Impure Altruism, and Marginal Redistributions of Income
Posted on September 01, 2009Sam Allgood (University of Nebraska, Department of Economics) has published Charity, Impure Altruism, and Marginal Redistributions of Income, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 219 (2009). Here is the abstract: Warm?glow utility mitigates concerns that public giving crowds?out private giving dollar?for?dollar...
The Polish Tax System
Posted on September 01, 2009Rados?aw Piwowarski has posted The Polish Tax System ? What Has Been Achieved Thus Far? What Should Be Done in the Future? on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The paper briefly discussed the main parts of the Polish tax system underlining its important bad points and problems...
Physics/Math, Economics Majors Ace the LSAT; Criminal Justice, Prelaw Majors Bomb the Test
Posted on September 01, 2009Michael Nieswiadomy (University of North Texas, Department of Economics) has posted LSAT Scores of Economics Majors: The 2008-2009 Class Update on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Using 1994-1995 and 2002-2003 data, Nieswiadomy (1998, 2006) found that economics majors scored well on the LSAT...
Law Firm Commentary on the Textron Tax Work Papers Case
Posted on September 01, 2009Following up on my prior post, En Banc First Circuit Reverses Panel, Gives IRS Access to Textron's Work Papers: here are some law firm commentaries on the decision: Morgan Lewis Nixon Peabody
The Clock Is Ticking on Tax Cheat Charlie Rangel
Posted on September 01, 2009The Clock Is Ticking on Tax Cheat Charlie Rangel, by Byron York: It hasn?t gotten much attention amid news of Ted Kennedy, Obamacare and the worsening outlook in Afghanistan, but an extraordinary situation is developing in the House of Representatives...
OECD Releases Report on Global Tax Transparency
Posted on September 01, 2009The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development yesterday released its fourth annual assessment of tax transparency and information exchange in 87 countries, Tax Co-operation 2009: Towards a Level Playing Field, by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information: The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information conducts...
Masur Presents Well-Being Analysis Today at Loyola-L.A.
Posted on August 31, 2009Jonathan Masur (Chicago) presents Well-Being Analysis (with John Bronsteen (Loyola-Chicago) & Christopher J. Buccafusco (Chicago-Kent)) today at Loyola-L.A. today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. The commentator is A.J. Julius (UCLA, Department of Philosophy)...
Can Attending a Cheaper Law School Lead to a Big-Firm Job?
Posted on August 31, 2009The American Lawyer: Can Attending a Cheaper Law School Lead to a Big-Firm Job?, by Brian Baxter: Times are tough for today's law students. Big law firms are reducing the size of their summer classes and even graduates of top-ranked law schools are having a tough time finding a job...
Knoll: Taxation and the Competitiveness of Sovereign Wealth Funds
Posted on August 31, 2009Michael Knoll (Penn) has published Taxation and the Competitiveness of Sovereign Wealth Funds: Do Taxes Encourage Sovereign Wealth Funds to Invest in the United States?, 83 S. Cal. L. Rev. 703 (2009). Here is the abstract: Sovereign wealth funds (?SWFs?) control large amounts of capital and have made, and are...
Ault: The Role of the OECD in Developing International Tax Norms
Posted on August 31, 2009Hugh J. Ault (Boston College) has published Reflections on the Role of the OECD in Developing International Tax Norms, 34 Brook. J. Int'l L. 757 (2009). Here is part of the Introduction: In this paper, I would like to focus on the process through which the OECD works, as reflected...
Bill Bradley: Tax Reform?s Lesson for Health Care Reform
Posted on August 31, 2009New York Times op-ed by Bill Bradley, Tax Reform?s Lesson for Health Care Reform: The chance of bipartisan agreement on health care seems to be waning as August draws to a close and ideologues mount increasingly vitriolic attacks on President Obama?s health care initiative...
Fellowships for Aspiring Law Professors (2009-10 Edition)
Posted on August 31, 2009For practitioners and others contemplating joining the law professor ranks, many law schools offer wonderful opportunities to transition into the legal academy with one- or two-year fellowships which allow you to enter the AALS Faculty Recruitment Conference (the "meat market") with published scholarship (and in many cases teaching experience) under...
LaLumia: The EITC and Self-Employment Income
Posted on August 31, 2009Sara LaLumia (Williams College, Department of Economics) has published The Earned Income Tax Credit and Reported Self-Employment Income, 62 Nat'l Tax J. 191 (2009). Here is the abstract: The EITC subsidizes earnings from both wages and self?employment...
Does the Incentive Effect of the Charitable Deduction Vary Across Charities?
Posted on August 31, 2009Michelle H. Yetman & Robert J. Yetman (both of University of California-Davis, Graduate School of Management) have posted Does the Incentive Effect of the Charitable Deduction Vary Across Charities? on SSRN. Here is the abstract: We examine how taxes affect the amounts of donations given to charities and, in particular,...
TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup
Posted on August 31, 2009Saturday: CT AG Demands Access to 4,450 Taxpayer Names to be Released by UBS to IRS AICPA Urges Civil Tax Penalty Reform The 'Good Enough' Law Teacher VanderWolk Posts Tax Papers on SSRN Sunday: Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads UBS Tax Case Web Site District Court Rejects $690m Assignment of...
Dems/Unions Push New Investment Taxes
Posted on August 31, 2009Reuters: Dems/Unions Push New Wave of Investment Taxes, by James Pethokoukis: American equity investors have suffered a lost decade of portfolio performance ? the S&P 500 is about where it was back in 1998 ? and trillions of dollars of lost net worth, so it may seem a terrible time...
District Court Rejects $690m Assignment of Future Income Tax Shelter
Posted on August 30, 2009The U.S. District Court on Friday rejected a $690 million assignment of future income tax shelter in a 91-page opinion. Schering-Plough Corp. v. United States, No. 05-2575 (D. N.J. Aug. 28, 2009) (citations omitted): The Court holds that the 1991 and 1992 swap-and-assign transactions into which Schering-Plough entered should not...
Tax Regimes for Private Pension Savings
Posted on August 30, 2009Koen Caminada (Leiden Law School, Department of Economics) & Kees Goudswaard (Leiden University, Department of Public Finance) have posted Budgetary Costs of Tax Facilities for Pension Savings: An Empirical Analysis on SSRN. Here is the abstract: A wide variety of tax regimes for (occupational) private pension saving are in place...
Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads
Posted on August 30, 2009There 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 #2 and #5: 1. [284 Downloads] Ghosts of 1932: The Lost History of Estate and Gift Taxation, by...
UBS Tax Case Web Site
Posted on August 30, 2009UBS has set up this web site with documents and other information concerning its settlement agreement with the United States and the disclosure of the names of 4,450 U.S. taxpayers with offshore accounts. (Hat Tip: Alan E. Weiner.)
The 'Good Enough' Law Teacher
Posted on August 29, 2009Mary R. Falk (Brooklyn) has published "The Play of Those Who Have Not Yet Heard of Games": Creativity, Compliance, and the "Good Enough" Law Teacher, 6 J. Ass'n Legal Writing Directors 201 (2009). Here is the abstract: If there is creative thinking out there in the law offices and courts...
VanderWolk Posts Tax Papers on SSRN
Posted on August 29, 2009Jefferson P. VanderWolk (Faculty of Law, Chinese University of Hong Kong) has posted two tax papers on SSRN: Codification of the Economic Substance Doctrine: If We Can't Stop It, Let's Improve It U.S. Exceptionalism in International Taxation: It's Time for a Change
CT AG Demands Access to 4,450 Taxpayer Names to be Released by UBS to IRS
Posted on August 29, 2009Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced on Thursday that he has sent letters to the IRS and Department of Justice requesting the names of the 4,450 taxpayers to be released under the August 19 settlement agreement with UBS and the Swiss government...
AICPA Urges Civil Tax Penalty Reform
Posted on August 29, 2009The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants yesterday submitted a 20-page report to Congress, the Treasury Department, and the IRS, Report on Civil Penalties: The Need for Reform: We are writing to express our concerns about the current state of civil tax penalties and to offer some suggestions for improvement...
UConn Law Prof's
Posted on August 28, 2009Following up on my previous post, UConn Law Prof Suspended for Showing Film Clip in Class; Blames Technology "Wardrobe Malfunction": Above the Law reports on Professor Robert L. Birminham's latest travails (from the Hartford Courant): Heather Kaufmann, 33, surrendered to police Monday and is facing charges of second-degree forgery, third-degree...
Colorado Seeks to Fill Endowed Professorship in Tax
Posted on August 28, 2009The University of Colorado Law School at Boulder is accepting applications and nominations to an endowed professorship in the area of business law, including business associations, securities law, corporate finance, entrepreneurial law, tax, and commercial law...
Even Tax Lawyers Get the Ax
Posted on August 28, 2009From Above the Law, Nationwide Layoff Watch: Even Tax Lawyers Get the Ax: Nothing is certain but death and taxes -- and employment for tax lawyers, right? Not necessarily. Read more at our sister site, Going Concern: True Partners Consulting (TPC), who provides ?Intelligent Tax Advice? according to its website,...
Brophy: The Signaling Value of Law Reviews -- An Exploration of Citations and Prestige
Posted on August 28, 2009Alfred L. Brophy (North Carolina) has published The Signaling Value of Law Reviews: An Exploration of Citations and Prestige, 36 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 229 (2009). Here is the abstract: This brief Essay reports a study of citations to every article published in 1992 in thirteen leading law journals...
More Tax Problems for Rep. Rangel
Posted on August 28, 2009New York Post: Tax Chief Charlie a Tax "Cheat," Too: The Tax Man is a deadbeat. Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, has failed to pay taxes on two plots of land he has in New Jersey, records show. Rangel's ownership of the small, undeveloped...
Tax for Clunkers (Continued)
Posted on August 28, 2009Following up on Wednesday's post, Tax for Clunkers: Jim Maule (Villanova) elaborates in State Tax Consequences of Cash-for-Clunkers: Although the IRS has made it clear, following the language of the enacting statute, that the amounts paid by the government to auto dealers as part of the cash-for-clunkers program is gross...
Sales Tax Holidays: Politically Expedient but Poor Tax Policy
Posted on August 28, 2009The Tax Foundation has released Sales Tax Holidays: Politically Expedient but Poor Tax Policy, by Mark Robyn, Micah Cohen and Joseph Henchman. Here is the Executive Summary: Sales tax holidays are periods of time when selected goods are exempted from state (and sometimes local) sales taxes...
Zelinsky: Interpretive Bulletin 08-1 and Economically Targeted Investing
Posted on August 28, 2009Edward A. Zelinsky (Cardozo) has published Interpretive Bulletin 08-1 and Economically Targeted Investing: A Missed Opportunity, 82 S. Cal. L. Rev. Postscript 11 (2009). Here is the Conclusion: IB 08-1 was a missed opportunity. By attenuating ERISA?s exclusive benefit rule, the ETI moniker opens the decisionmaking of employee plan fiduciaries...
Papers in Higher Ranked Journals Get Cited More
Posted on August 28, 2009The Impact Factor?s Matthew Effect: A Natural Experiment in Bibliometrics, by Vincent Larivière & Yves Gingras: Since the publication of Robert K. Merton?s theory of cumulative advantage in science (Matthew Effect), several empirical studies have tried to measure its presence at the level of papers, individual researchers, institutions or countries...
Installing an Extra Bathroom Won't Improve Your Child's SAT Scores
Posted on August 28, 2009The New York Times uses this graph to show that kids from higher income families get higher average SAT scores: Greg Mankiw (Harvard) responds in The Least Surprising Correlation of All Time: Of course! But so what? This fact tells us nothing about the causal impact of income on test...
Crawford & Gans:
Posted on August 27, 2009Bridget J. Crawford (Pace) & Mitchell Gans (Hofstra) have posted Sticky Copyrights: Discriminatory Tax Restraints on the Transfer of Intellectual Property, 66 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. ___ (2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The focus of this article is the federal estate and gift tax treatment of copyright...
Former Adjunct Arrested in Louisville Law School Library With 2 Guns, 53 Rounds of Ammunition
Posted on August 27, 2009ABA Journal Legal Blog Watch Louisville Courrer-Journal
AMT by State, 2007
Posted on August 27, 2009Carol Rosenberg, AMT Coverage by State, 2007 (Aug. 3, 2009): The map below shows the proportion of taxpayers paying AMT in each state in 2007. In two-thirds of the states, less than 3.5% of taxpayers were subject to the AMT, but in New Jersey 8.7% of taxpayers paid AMT, and...
Seattle Seeks to Hire Tax Prof
Posted on August 27, 2009Seattle University School of Law seeks to hire entry-level and lateral faculty members to begin in the 2010-11 academic year in a variety of fields, including trusts & estates/estate planning (elder law a plus), corporate law/securities, and taxation...
Buchanan Named Featured Columnist at FindLaw
Posted on August 27, 2009Tax Prof Neil Buchanan (George Washington) has joined FindLaw's Writ, the editorial page of the FindLaw website, as a featured columnist. His column appears every other Thursday, and today's inaugural column is Rationing Health Care: We Have Always Done It, We Do It Now, and We Always Will: As the...
Ted Kennedy's Tax Votes
Posted on August 27, 2009On the Issues lists these tax votes by Ted Kennedy: Voted YES on increasing tax rate for people earning over $1 million. (Mar 2008) Voted NO on allowing AMT reduction without budget offset. (Mar 2008) Voted NO on raising the Death Tax exemption to $5M from $1M...
Joe Francis to Use "Deductions Gone Wild" Defense in Tax Evasion Trial
Posted on August 27, 2009Following up on my earlier posts (below): The Smoking Gun reports that Joe Francis, founder of the Girls Gone Wild video series, is going to use a slide show to try to convince a jury in his upcoming tax evasion trial that various expenses are deductible as business expenses: As...
Rosser: On Becoming 'Professor' -- A Semi-Serious Look in the Mirror
Posted on August 27, 2009Ezra Rosser (American) has published On Becoming "Professor": A Semi-serious Look in the Mirror, 36 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 215 (2009). Here is the abstract: Brief parody article about law reviews, socio-economic class, cheese, and the legal professoriate.
Tax Man Uses MySpace to Nab Deadbeats
Posted on August 27, 2009In today's Wall Street Journal, Is "Friending" in Your Future? Better Pay Your Taxes First, by Laura Saunders: Tax deadbeats are finding someone actually reads their MySpace and Facebook postings: the taxman. State revenue agents have begun nabbing scofflaws by mining information posted on social-networking Web sites, from relocation announcements...
Aspiring Law Professors Conference
Posted on August 26, 2009Arizona State is hosting the Aspiring Law Professors Conference on October 17, 2009: Designed for Visiting Assistant Professors and Fellows who plan to go on the academic teaching market. Learn to succeed in the entry-level law teaching market Obtain an insider?s perspective on the appointments process from faculty who?ve been...
Summer 2009 SOI Bulletin
Posted on August 26, 2009The IRS's Statistics of Income Division yesterday released the Summer 2009 SOI Bulletin with these six articles: Sole Proprietorship Returns, 2007, by Adrian Dungan Individual Noncash Contributions, 2006, by Pearson Liddell & Janette Wilson S Corporation Returns, 2006, by Heather Duffy Parisi Foreign-Controlled Domestic Corporations, 2006, by James R...
ABA Journal Launches Legal Rebels Project
Posted on August 26, 2009The ABA Journal yesterday launched a Legal Rebels Project, which will profile fifty of the legal profession's leading innovators over the next three months. The first seven Legal Rebels includes Northwestern Dean David Van Zandt: The legal profession often has a guild mindset, he posits: Members value perceived intelligence and...
ABA Tax Section Offers Webcast Today on Hot Topics in Bad Debt
Posted on August 26, 2009The ABA Tax Section offers a teleconference and webcast today on Hot Topics in Bad Debt from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. EST: Please join our panelists as they cover a variety of character and timing considerations under § 166 (for bad debts) and § 165 (both worthless securities and losses...
Tax for Clunkers
Posted on August 26, 2009Following up on my previous post, Cash for Clunkers = Gross Income to Dealers (Not Customers), which explained that the statute expressly provides that the $3,500 and $4,500 rebates are not treated as income to car buyers for federal income tax purposes (as confirmed in the government's official clunker website's...
Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Releases Annual Report
Posted on August 26, 2009The IRS's Taxpayer Advocacy Panel today released its 2008 Annual Report: The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) has released its 2008 Annual Report. The report fulfills TAP?s responsibility under its charter to provide a written report describing TAP?s objectives and a self-assessment of TAP?s work relative to its objectives each year...
NY Times: Downturn Dims Prospects Even at Top Law Schools
Posted on August 26, 2009New York Times: Downturn Dims Prospects Even at Top Law Schools, by Gerry Shih: This fall, law students are competing for half as many openings at big firms as they were last year in what is shaping up to be the most wrenching job search season in over 50 years...
TEI Urges Moratorium on Taxing Employer-Provided Cell Phones
Posted on August 26, 2009Following up on June's post, IRS Bails on Proposal to Tax Employee Cell Phone Use: the Tax Executives Institute on Monday urged the IRS to temporarily suspend enforcement of the rules requiring the inclusion of employer-provided cell phones in employees' income: In light of the Treasury Department?s and Commissioner?s support...
Court: MA Cannot Force NH Vendor to Collect Use Tax From MA Purchaser
Posted on August 26, 2009Following up on last November's post on Town Fair Tire and the Silliness of the Physical Presence Rule for Use Tax Collection Nexus, 50 State Tax Notes 447 (Nov. 17, 2008): the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court yesterday issued its opinion in Town Fair Tire Centers v...
Tax Court Rejects Taxpayer's Attempt to Use Geithner's TurboTax Defense
Posted on August 26, 2009The Tax Court yesterday rejected a taxpayer's attempt to use the TurboTax defense successfully employed by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Hopson v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2009-130 (Aug. 25, 2009) (citations omitted): Petitioners have not met their burden of persuasion with respect to reasonable cause and good faith...
Divided Tax Court Refuses to Apply Check-the-Box Regs to Estate & Gift Tax
Posted on August 25, 2009A deeply divided Tax Court yesterday handed the IRS a significant setback in allowing the taxpayer to claim substantial discounts for lack of marketability and control on the transfer of cash and marketable securities to a single member LLC followed by transfers from the LLC to trusts established for the...
Patricia McClanahan Named Special Counsel to Clarissa Potter
Posted on August 25, 2009Patricia McClanahan (Managing Director, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association) has been named Special Counsel to Clarissa C. Potter, Deputy Chief Counsel (Technical) at the IRS. Ms. McClanahan previously was Tax Counsel on the Democratic staff of the Senate Finance Committee...
The Economic Cost of High Tax Rates
Posted on August 25, 2009The Tax Foundation has calculated the economic cost of higher tax rates and the health care surtax: The Excess Burden of Taxes and the Economic Cost of High Tax Rates Towards Understanding the Full Burden of High Tax Rates
Tax Penalties and the Health-Care Bill
Posted on August 25, 2009Op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal: Tax Penalties and the Health-Care Bill, by James M. Peaslee (Cleary Gottlieb, New York): Two tax provisions in the health-care bill voted on by the House Ways and Means Committee earlier this summer have gained significant attention...
Best Value Law Schools
Posted on August 25, 2009The National Jurist has released its ranking of the Best Value Law Schools in the September 2009 issue: The National Jurist identified 65 law schools that carry a low price tag and are able to prepare their students incredibly well for today's competitive job market...
Felix & Hines: Union Workers Bear Greater Share of High State Corporate Taxes
Posted on August 25, 2009R. Alison Felix (Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City) & James R. Hines, Jr. (Michigan) have posted Corporate Taxes and Union Wages in the United States on NBER. Here is the abstract: This paper evaluates the effect of U.S. state corporate income taxes on union wages...
Maid Owes IRS $80, Gets $122,783.51 Refund Check
Posted on August 25, 2009Laura Schultz, a Denver house cleaner with Sunshine Maids, owed the IRS $80 but instead received a refund check for $122,783.51. She contacted the IRS and was told to void the check. "The IRS says it cannot comment on what caused the error, but Schultz still has to pay the...
The Distribution of Federal Taxes, 2009-12
Posted on August 25, 2009The Tax Policy Center has published The Distribution of Federal Taxes, 2009-12, by Rachel M. Johnson & Jeff Rohaly: Overall, the federal tax system is progressive: on average, households with higher incomes pay taxes that are a larger share of their income...
Philadelphia Eagles
Posted on August 24, 2009From the Philadelphia Inquirer: The Mayor's Office for the Re-entry of Ex-Offenders (MORE) offers a $10,000 tax credit for employers who hire people who have been released from prison. Michael Vick, the dogfighting-disgraced quarterback signed by the Eagles this month, spent 18 months in federal prison for his crimes against...
IRSTube & i(rs)Tunes
Posted on August 24, 2009The IRS announced on Friday (IR-2009-76) that it has established YouTube (with twelve videos thus far) and iTunes (with six podcasts thus far; search "Artist: IRS") sites to educate taxpayers.
Tax Tip: If You're Gonna Sue the IRS for $1 Billion, Make Sure You've Filed Your Tax Returns
Posted on August 24, 2009From the Mississippi Clarion Ledger: A Pearl man has been convicted in federal court in Jackson for failing to file income taxes for four years. Wiley Randolph ?Randy? Kuyrkendall had been accused of not filing income tax returns for 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005...
Southwestern Publishes its First Issue of Journal of Legal Education
Posted on August 24, 2009Southwestern has announced the publication of the first issue of the Journal of Legal Education under its editorship, Vol. 59, No. 1 (Aug. 2009). From The Examiner: Previously hosted by the Georgetown University Law Center, August 2009 was the first issue of the journal hosted by Southwestern...
Former California Tax Official Indicted for Improperly Accessing IRS Information on 21 Taxpayers
Posted on August 24, 2009From the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration: Andrea Schreindl was charged in California with Unauthorized Access to a Computer and Unauthorized Inspection of Return or Return Information. Ms. Schreindl, while an employee of the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB), accessed and inspected, without authorization, the Federal tax information of...
TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup
Posted on August 24, 2009Saturday: NY Times: Rise of the Super-Rich Hits a Sobering Wall Shooting Blanks in the War on Tax Havens Symposium: The House That Taxpayers Built Sunday: Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads Unsuccessful Law Faculty Applicant Sues Iowa for Age Discrimination Deducting Gift Cards Donated to Charity
Death of Susan Kalinka
Posted on August 24, 2009Tax Prof Susan Kalinka, the Harriet S. Daggett-Frances Leggio Landry Professor of Law at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, died this morning. She was 60 years old. From LSU Chancellor Jack M. Weiss: Professor Kalinka was an exceptional teacher and scholar of tax law...
What's Wrong With Law School
Posted on August 24, 2009In a L.A. Times article on the opening of the new UC-Irvine Law School, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky pinpoints a problem afflicting many law schools: When he graduated from law school in 1978, Chemerinsky was confident that his diploma would open the door to nearly any opportunity...
Philadelphia Eagles Pass on $10k Tax Credit for Hiring Ex-Convict Michael Vick
Posted on August 24, 2009From the Philadelphia Inquirer: The Mayor's Office for the Re-entry of Ex-Offenders (MORE) offers a $10,000 tax credit for employers who hire people who have been released from prison. Michael Vick, the dogfighting-disgraced quarterback signed by the Eagles this month, spent 18 months in federal prison for his crimes against...
Charitable Life Insurance Gift Program Blows Up on University, Donors
Posted on August 24, 2009Joe Kristan (Roth & Co.) blogs a tax fiasco reported in the Des Moines Sunday Register: Nearly 1,700 contributors to a University of Northern Iowa athletic scholarship fund lost an estimated $6.8 million in accumulated insurance this year when school officials determined the benefit violated federal tax law, according to...
Barry Wins ABA's VITA Award
Posted on August 24, 2009For the fourth consecutive year, Barry University School of Law has received the ABA Tax Section's National Law Student Division Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program Award. From the Barry press release: Barry Law School?s VITA program has provided more than 2,000 hours of free tax preparation services to the...
Deducting Gift Cards Donated to Charity
Posted on August 23, 2009New York Times: An Easy Way to Donate Unwanted Gift Cards to Schools, by Jenna Wortham: Ever wonder what to do with that lingering $11.86 left on a gift card for Lowe?s or Bloomingdale?s? What about donating it to charity? On average, each household in the United States has around...
Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads
Posted on August 23, 2009There is a bit of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with a new paper debuting on the list at #4: 1. [371 Downloads] The Obama International Tax Plan: A Major Step Forward, by Reuven S. Avi-Yonah (Michigan) 2. [298 Downloads] Recent Developments...
Unsuccessful Law Faculty Applicant Sues Iowa for Age Discrimination
Posted on August 23, 2009Donald Dobkin, 56, a professor at Central Michigan University and a partner in a Troy Michigan immigration law boutique law firm, has sued the University of Iowa College of Law for age discrimination for refusing to even interview him after he responded to an ad in the AALS placement bulletin...
Shooting Blanks in the War on Tax Havens
Posted on August 22, 2009Timothy V. Addison (J.D 2009, Indiana) has published Note, Shooting Blanks: The War on Tax Havens, 16 Ind. J. Global Legal Stud. 703 (2009). Here is the abstract: The U.S. Treasury conservatively estimates that tax havens cost the United States over $100 billion annually in lost tax revenue...
Symposium: The House That Taxpayers Built
Posted on August 22, 2009Symposium, The House That Taxpayers Built: Stadiums, Speech and Public Funding, 16 Vill. Sports & Ent. L.J. 255-89 (2009) (webcast here): John C. Fuller, Introduction, 16 Vill. Sports & Ent. L.J. 255 (2009) Marc Edelman, The House That Taxpayers Built: Exploring the Rise in Publicly Funded Baseball Stadiums From 1953...
NY Times: Rise of the Super-Rich Hits a Sobering Wall
Posted on August 22, 2009New York Times: Rise of the Super-Rich Hits a Sobering Wall, by David Leonhardt & Geraldine Fabrikant: The rich have been getting richer for so long that the trend has come to seem almost permanent. They began to pull away from everyone else in the 1970s...
Peer Reputation & Overhead Expenditures Drive the U.S. News Law School Rankings
Posted on August 21, 2009Tom Bell (Chapman) has a great post, How Top-Ranked Law Schools Got That Way, Pt. 1: How do law schools make it to the top of the U.S. News & World Report rankings? ... The items on the left of the graph count for more of each school's overall score,...
Law & Zaring: The Use of Legislative History in Tax Cases
Posted on August 21, 2009David S. Law (Washington University) & David T. Zaring (Pennsylvania) have posted Why Supreme Court Justices Cite Legislative History: An Empirical Investigation on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Much of the social science literature on judicial behavior has focused on the impact of ideology on how judges vote...
College Rigor Rankings
Posted on August 21, 2009Following up on yesterday's post on the 2010 U.S. News & World Report College Rankings; the American Council of Trustees and Alumni has rated over 100 colleges according to the rigor of their course requirements for undergraduates based on seven core subjects: Composition, Literature, Foreign Language, U...
BNA Tax Management Meets on Foreign Income & Transfer Pricing
Posted on August 21, 2009The BNA Tax Management Advisory Board met yesterday and discussed three Foreign Income & Transfer Pricing papers: Check-the-Box Reform: Technical Issues Relating to Tax Residency Based Entity Classification, by Robert Stack, Danielle Rolfes & John Bates President Obama's Tax Enforcement Proposals -- An Analysis and Critique, by Edward Tanenbaum Xilinx...
TIGTA: IRS Needs to Better Evaluate Tax Research Programs
Posted on August 21, 2009The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has released An Improved Project Management Process Is Needed to Measure the Impact of Research Efforts on Tax Administration: The IRS does not have a systemic process to measure research outcomes against intended results...
No Accounting for the Holidays
Posted on August 21, 2009I previously blogged The Singing CPA CD by Steven Zelin. Check out these tracks from his latest CD, No Accounting for the Holidays: Deck the Halls (With Calculators) Most Deductible Time of the Year We Wish You a Great Big Refund Joy to the World (The Clients Paid) IRS Jingle...
2010 U.S. News College Rankings
Posted on August 20, 2009At 12:01 this morning, U.S. News & World Report released its 2010 College Rankings. Here are the Top 25 National Universities (along with their 2008 and 2009 rankings): 2010 Rank 2009 Rank 2008 Rank School 1 1 2 Harvard 1 2 1 Princeton 3 3 3 Yale 4 6 6...
Court Rejects $1.1b Tax Losses Claimed by Andrew Beal in DAD Tax Shelter
Posted on August 20, 2009In the first distressed asset/debt (DAD) tax shelter case to go to trial, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Tuesday rejected $1.1 billion in losses claimed by D. Andrew Beal, #329 on Forbes list of the 400 Richest Americans...
The Incentives for Tax Planning
Posted on August 20, 2009Chris Armstrong (University of Pennsylvania, Accounting Department), Jennifer L. Blouin (University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School) & David F. Larcker (Stanford University, Graduate School of Business) have posted The Incentives for Tax Planning on SSRN...
WSJ: Textron Work Papers
Posted on August 20, 2009Following up on last week's post, En Banc First Circuit Reverses Panel, Gives IRS Access to Textron's Work Papers: in today's Wall Street Journal, Ruling in Tax-Auditing Case Puts Corporations on Edge, by Amir Efrati:
Death and Taxes: A Visual Look at Where Your Tax Dollars Go (2010)
Posted on August 20, 2009Check out new edition of the cool 24" x 36" poster, Death and Taxes: A Visual Look at Where Your Tax Dollars Go: Death and Taxes is a large representational graph and poster of the federal budget. It contains over 500 programs and departments and almost every program that receives...
More Celebrity Tax Woes
Posted on August 20, 2009The Detroit News has two new additions to its list of celebrities with tax woes: Earl Cureton (former basktball player): IRS $217,776 tax lien, Michigan $2,212 tax lien Teri Polo (actress): IRS $341,988 tax lien, California $91,748 tax lien
Barker & O'Brien: Correcting § 409A Failures
Posted on August 20, 2009Rosina B. Barker & Kevin P. O?Brien (both of Ivins, Phillips & Barker, Washington, D.C.) have published 409A Failures: Correcting With and Without Notice 2008-113, 124 Tax Notes 557 (Aug. 10, 2009). Here is the abstract: Deferred compensation plans under § 409A are minefields of potential mistakes...
Tax Profs Criticize UBS Settlement
Posted on August 20, 2009Following up on yesterday's post, UBS Agrees to Release 4,450 Names to IRS in Tax Evasion Case: Chris Bergin, President and Publisher of Tax Analysts, characterizes the settlement as Justice for All ? Well, At Least for the Rich and the Swiss: Three law professors from American University?s law school...
Is Obama's Tax Reform Panel Fizzling Out?
Posted on August 19, 2009BNA, Lawmakers Dismiss Prospects for Obama's Tax Reform Panel: The Tax Reform Task Force President Obama created in March has yet to schedule any public meetings but does not plan on asking for an extension of its early-December deadline for filing a report, according to an administration official...
Vault Releases 2009 Law Firm Rankings
Posted on August 19, 2009Vault yesterday released its annual ranking of the Top 100 Law Firms, based on prestige as voted on by associates. Here are the Top 25: (Hat Tip: Above the Law and Legal Blog Watch.)
Common Corporate Tax Base (CCTB) and Effective Tax Burdens in the EU Member States
Posted on August 19, 2009Timo Reister (Centre for European Economic Research), Christoph Spengel (Centre for European Economic Research) & Andreas Oestreicher (University of Goettingen) have posted Common Corporate Tax Base (CCTB) and Effective Tax Burdens in the EU Member States on SSRN...
Death of
Posted on August 19, 2009Arent Fox (Washington, D.C.) today announced the death of Edwin L. Kahn, one of the founders of the firm, at the age of 91: Edwin L. Kahn joined the firm in 1955 after serving in high-level positions with the Internal Revenue Service, where he played a prominent role in drafting...
California Announces New $5k Penalty for "Frivolous Submissions"
Posted on August 19, 2009The California Franchise Tax Board has announced a new $5,000 penalty for "frivolous submissions." For more, see Web CPA.
Reputation Without Rigor
Posted on August 19, 2009In today's Inside Higher Ed, Reputation Without Rigor: The form submitted by the provost at the University of Wisconsin at Madison deemed 260 of its 262 peer institutions to be of ?adequate? quality. A survey from the University of Vermont?s president listed ?don?t know? for about half of the universities...
Golombek: Planning with Registered Disability Savings Plans
Posted on August 19, 2009Jamie Golombek (CIBC Private Wealth Management) has published Planning with Registered Disability Savings Plans, 57 Can Tax J. 338 (2009). Here is the abstract: The introduction of the registered disability savings plan (rdsp ) represents a significant development in facilitating the financial security of persons with disabilities...
UBS Agrees to Release 4,450 Names to IRS in Tax Evasion Case
Posted on August 19, 2009IRS Announcement IRS's UBS Web Page U.S.-Swiss Government Agreement U.S.-Swiss Government Declarations U.S.-UBS Agreement New York Times Wall Street Journal Washington Post
2009 Legal Educator Blog Census
Posted on August 19, 2009Colin Miller (John Marshall (Chicago)) of our sister EvidenceProf Blog has released 2009 Legal Educator Blog Census (A-M, N-Z) The purpose of this legal educator blog census is [to tell] us which legal educators are blogging and where the blogosphere is headed...
Are Young Lawyers Slackers?
Posted on August 18, 2009Legal Blog Watch asks Are Generation Y Lawyers a Bunch of Slackers?: Over at Idealawg, Stephanie West Allen plays host to a robust debate over whether Generation Y lawyers -- or "millennials," lawyers under 30 -- who seek work/life balance to the exclusion of focusing on client needs are unrealistic...
Kirsch: The Limits of Administrative Guidance in the Interpretation of Tax Treaties
Posted on August 18, 2009Michael S. Kirsch (Notre Dame) has published The Limits of Administrative Guidance in the Interpretation of Tax Treaties, 87 Tex. L. Rev. 1063 (2009). Here is the abstract: This Article addresses the increasingly important role of administrative guidance in interpreting the United States' international treaty obligations...
Peer Reputation: Size Matters
Posted on August 18, 2009Kyle Sweitzer (Michigan State) & J. Fredericks Volkwein (Penn State) have published Prestige Among Graduate and Professional Schools: Comparing the U.S. News? Graduate School Reputation Ratings Between Disciplines, Res. Higher Educ. (July 2009). Here is the abstract: Using a conceptual model, this study examines the variables associated with the U...
A Structural Critique of Trader Taxation
Posted on August 18, 2009Shu-Yi Oei (Bingham McCutchen, Boston) has published A Structural Critique of Trader Taxation, 8 Fla. Tax Rev. 1013 (2008). Here is the abstract: This article scrutinizes the structural elements underlying the unusual tax treatment of securities traders under current law...
Treasury Department Seeks to Hire International Tax Counsel
Posted on August 18, 2009The Treasury Department is looking to fill the International Tax Counsel position: The International Tax Counsel serves as the principal legal adviser to the Assistant Secretary (Tax Policy) and the Secretary of the Treasury with regard to all aspects of international taxation, including legislation, the development and promulgation of administrative...
Deducting the Cost of an M.B.A. Degree
Posted on August 18, 2009John J. DeBoy (J.D. 2010, Georgetown) has published Solving the B-School Tax Riddle: A Proposal to Clarify the Confusion Surrounding Deductions for MBA-Related Educational Expenditures Under Section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code, 97 Geo. L.J. 1689 (2009)...
NY Uncovers Fraud at 30% of Tax Preparers
Posted on August 18, 2009From an Albany Times Union profile of William Comiskey, Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement in the New York State Tax Department: [W]e've done a little project on tax preparers. We go out pretending to be tax payers ... we've done it at 170 different tax preparers...
IRS Commissioner Named Chair of OECD Tax Forum
Posted on August 17, 2009IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman has been named Chair of the OECD Tax Forum. From the OECD press release: The Forum, or FTA, allows Tax Commissioners from 41 advanced economies to confer and develop new ideas to enhance tax administration around the world...
A Bittersweet Day
Posted on August 17, 2009My excitement today in teaching our Introduction to Law course to a section of our eager and talented 1Ls is tempered at having to bid farewell to my son Reed, who has left home for his freshman year of college. Reed, it was a gut-wrenching and poignant weekend, as we...
Levinson: The Vanishing Book Review in Student-Edited Law Reviews
Posted on August 17, 2009Sanford Levinson (Texas) has published The Vanishing Book Review in Student-Edited Law Reviews and Potential Responses, 87 Tex. L. Rev. 1205 (2009): [T]he truly dismaying shrinkage of the book review issue published at the University of Michigan?which is ostensibly, almost ostentatiously, committed to the importance of the book-review enterprise?is symptomatic...
University Earmark Rankings
Posted on August 17, 2009Inside Higher Ed: Universities Lead the Way in Earmark/Lobbying Rankings: There are some rankings colleges love to rate highly in -- like the various magazine rankings that claim to assess quality -- and others they'd rather be left out of, like those of party schools or worst colleges...
TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup
Posted on August 17, 2009Saturday: Saez: New Income Concentration Data Deadline Extended for AALS Junior Law Prof Call for Papers The Structured Settlement Tax Subsidy A Critique of the Proposed § 987 Currency Regs Sunday: Oscar Mayer Heir Seeks 1,000 Rich People to Sign Petition to Increase Taxes on the Wealthy Top 5 Tax...
Morse: Qualified Intermediaries
Posted on August 17, 2009Susan C. Morse (Santa Clara) has posted Qualified Intermediary or Bust?, 124 Tax Notes 471 (Aug. 3, 2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In reaction to news about wealthy U.S. individuals hiding assets in non-U.S. bank accounts, the Obama administration has proposed statutes that would make non-qualified intermediary (NQI)...
IRS: The New Health Care Enforcer
Posted on August 17, 2009William A. Jacobson (Cornell), IRS: The New Health Care Enforcer: People often joke that government-run health care will have the efficiency of the motor vehicle department, and the compassion of the IRS. This joke will become reality if present Democratic health restructuring proposals are enacted...
Infanti: Bringing Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity into the Tax Classroom
Posted on August 17, 2009Anthony C. Infanti (Pittsburgh) has published Bringing Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity into the Tax Classroom, 59 J. Legal Educ. 3 (2009). Here is the abstract: A recent piece in the Journal of Legal Education analyzing student surveys by the Law School Admission Council reports that, despite improvement in the...
UBS Tax Crackdown Widens to Hong Kong
Posted on August 17, 2009Front-page story in today's Wall Street Journal: UBS Tax Crackdown Widens to Hong Kong, by Carrick Mollenkamp: The U.S. crackdown on clients of UBS AG is widening into a global hunt, with the government detailing in court documents how the Swiss bank and outside advisers helped Americans hide money using...
Welcome (Back) to the Legal Blogosphere: CrimProf Blog
Posted on August 17, 2009We are delighted to announce the re-launch of CrimProf Blog, edited by University of San Diego School of Law Dean Kevin Cole. With San Diego's other criminal law faculty (Larry Alexander, Donald Dripps, Yale Kamisar, Adam Kolber, and Jean Ramirez) serving as Contributing Editors, the blog promises to continue to...
Taxation and Entrepreneurship in a Welfare State
Posted on August 16, 2009Mikael Stenkula (Research Institute of Industrial Economics) has posted Taxation and Entrepreneurship in a Welfare State on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Does tax policy affect the rate of self-employment in a modern welfare state? This question is analyzed empirically based on Swedish data for the entire post-war period...
U.S. Taxation of Foreign Athletes and Entertainers
Posted on August 16, 2009Stephen Taylor (J.D. 2010, Villanova) has published Comment, "Are You Not Entertained? Is This Not Why You Are Here?" U.S. Taxation of Foreign Athletes and Entertainers, 16 Vill. Sports & Ent. L.J. 375 (2009). Here is the Conclusion: The IRS's compliance initiative is a ?wake-up call? to foreign artists and...
Oscar Mayer Heir Seeks 1,000 Rich People to Sign Petition to Increase Taxes on the Wealthy
Posted on August 16, 2009Chuck Collins, heir to the Oscar Mayer fortune, is looking for 1,000 rich people to sign his online petition seeking to raise immediately reverse the Bush tax cuts and increase the top tax marginal income tax rate to 39.6% from 35% on household incomes of more than $235,000...
Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads
Posted on August 16, 2009This week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads is the same as last week's list: 1. [357 Downloads] The Obama International Tax Plan: A Major Step Forward, by Reuven S. Avi-Yonah (Michigan) 2. [285 Downloads] Recent Developments in Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2008, by Martin J...
A Critique of the Proposed § 987 Currency Regs
Posted on August 15, 2009Joseph Tobin (Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, New York) has published Going From the Frying Pan Into the Fire? A Critique of the U.S. Treasury's Newly Proposed Section 987 Currency Regulations, 17 U. Miami Bus. L. Rev. 211 (2008). Here is the Conclusion: The 1991 Proposed Regulations may have had some...
The Structured Settlement Tax Subsidy
Posted on August 15, 2009Jeremy Babener (J.D. 2010, NYU) has posted Justifying the Structured Settlement Tax Subsidy: The Use of Lump Sum Settlements on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Structured settlements have been subsidized by federal, state, and local taxes for nearly three decades...
Saez: New Income Concentration Data
Posted on August 15, 2009Emmanuel Saez (UC-Berkeley, Department of Economics) has updated his income concentration data to reflect the latest statistics from the IRS's Statistics of Income Division on August 3, 2009: Striking it Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States (Update with 2007 Estimate): From 2006 to 2007, average real...
Deadline Extended for AALS Junior Law Prof Call for Papers
Posted on August 15, 2009The August 15 deadline for the call for papers from the AALS New Law Professor Section for new law professors (full-time law profs for five years or less) has been extended to August 31: Four top quality papers will be selected from those submitted. The author of each of those...
Call for Tax Papers: AALS Junior Scholars Competition
Posted on August 14, 2009Today is the deadline for the AALS's 25th Annual Call for Scholarly Papers: Those who will have been full-time law teachers at an AALS member or fee-paid school for five years or fewer on July 1, 2009 are invited to submit a paper on a topic related to or concerning...
Azam: Couples Taxation in Israel
Posted on August 14, 2009Rifat Azam (Radzyner School of Law, Herzliya) has posted Couples Taxation in Israel: A Call for Separate Taxation on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The Article examines the joint taxation of couples in Israeli tax law and its consequences on women's rights and participation in the market field...
Livingston: A (Losing) Candidate's Perspective on Electoral Reform
Posted on August 14, 2009Michael A. Livingston (Rutgers-Camden) has posted We Won't Vote for You If You Haven't Already Won: A (Losing) Candidate's Perspective on the Prospects for Meaningful Reform of the American Electoral System on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This essay considers the status of the American electoral system from the perspective...
From Frank Stipe (Virtual Worlds
Posted on August 14, 2009From Frank Stipe (Virtual Worlds & Social Networking Project Manager, IRS Centralized Recruitment Office), IRS Saves Millions by Using Second Life to Market Its Employment Opportunities: In 2008, the IRS project team established a presence in the Second Life virtual world with the goal of exploring the potential use of...
The 49 Religiously-Affiliated U.S. Law Schools
Posted on August 14, 2009Interesting article in the Back to School issue (Vol. 13, No. 1) of Pre-Law Magazine: Fostering Faith, by Karen Dybis: The nation's 49 religiously-affiliated law schools represent a spectrum of denominations and shades of belief. Some faculty incorporate this into curriculum, others do not...
WSJ: Tax-Cheat Showdown: Fess Up or Stay Quiet?
Posted on August 14, 2009In today's Wall Street Journal: Tax-Cheat Showdown: Fess Up or Stay Quiet?, by Aura Saunders: The IRS is staging a massive poker game. It has invited 52,000 UBS AG account holders to the table. Now that the U.S. and Swiss governments have resolved a longstanding dispute about disclosing the identities...
Florida Responds to Former Law Prof's Racial and Sexual Discrimination Lawsuit Against School
Posted on August 14, 2009I previously blogged (here, here, here, and here) the racial and sexual discrimination lawsuit filed against the University of Florida Levin College of Law and its dean,lawsuit by Sherrie L. Russell-Brown, a law professor at UF from 2001-2007, who alleges that she was forced out of her faculty position and...
Giving to Government: Voluntary Taxation
Posted on August 14, 2009Sherry Xin Li (University of Texas, Dallas), Catherine C. Eckel (University of Texas, Dallas), Philip J. Grossman (St. Cloud State University) & Tara Larson (University of Texas, Dallas) have posted Giving to Government: Voluntary Taxation in the Lab on SSRN...
Jerry O'Connell's New Role: 1L
Posted on August 14, 200935-year old actor Jerry O'Connell (Crossing Jordan, Kangaroo Jack, Obsessed, Sliders, Stand by Me), husband of actress Rebecca Romijn (X-Men, Ugly Betty), has a new role: 1L at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. E! Online Examiner Just Jared Law School Headlines United Press International
IRS Uses Second Life in Recruitment
Posted on August 14, 2009From Frank Stipe (Virtual Worlds & Social Networking Project Manager, IRS Centralized Recruitment Office), IRS Saves Millions by Using Second Life to Market Its Employment Opportunities: In 2008, the IRS project team established a presence in the Second Life virtual world with the goal of exploring the potential use of...
Tax Court: Overstatement of Basis Is Not Omission of Income Triggering 6-Year SOL
Posted on August 13, 2009In Beard v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2009-184 (Aug. 11, 2009), the Tax Court held that a taxpayer's overstatement of basis is not an omission of income and thus does not trigger the § 6501(e)(1)(A) six-year statute of limitations. For more, see Roth & Co...
House Eyes One-Year Stop-Gap to Prevent Estate Tax Repeal in 2010
Posted on August 13, 2009Wall Street Journal: House Eyes Temporary Measure To Prevent Estate Tax Repeal, by Martin Vaughan: The House of Representatives is likely to propose a temporary, one-year measure to prevent repeal of the estate tax, as time is running short for a bipartisan group of senators to agree on a permanent...
Tax Tables in Statistical Abstract
Posted on August 13, 2009Ann Murphy (Gonzaga) shared on the TaxProf Discussion Group some cool tax tables in the 2009 Statistical Abstract of the United States, including:
Avi-Yonah: Designing a Federal VAT
Posted on August 13, 2009Reuven S. Avi-Yonah (Michigan) has posted Designing a Federal VAT: Summary and Recommendations on SSRN. Here is the abstract: For the past thirty-five years, the debate on fundamental tax reform in the United States has centered on whether some type of consumption tax would replace all or part of the...
Livingston: The Future of Progressive Taxation in an Asian-Led World
Posted on August 13, 2009Michael A. Livingston (Rutgers-Camden) has posted From Mumbai to Shanghai, with a Side Trip to Hong Kong: China, India, and the Future of Progressive Taxation in an Asian-Led World on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Progressive taxation has historically been discussed primarily in the context of developed, Western nations...
Fold Payroll Tax Into Income Tax, End Tax Withholding
Posted on August 13, 2009Op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal: Tax Withholding Is Bad for Democracy; So Is the Payroll Tax. End Them Both and Voters Will Have a Healthier Understanding of the Government Burden: Fold payroll taxes into the personal tax code, adjusting the rules so that everyone still pays the same total,...
Georgia State Seeks to Hire Tax Prof
Posted on August 13, 2009Georgia State University College of Law seeks to hire a tenure-track Tax Prof to begin in the 2010-11 academic year: The College of Law is located in the heart of Atlanta with approximately 650 students, nearly one-third of whom attend the part-time program...
India Tax Reform
Posted on August 13, 2009Wall Street Journal: India Unveils Draft Code to Replace Tax Laws: India Wednesday unveiled a new code for direct taxes that proposes sweeping changes in existing personal and corporate tax structures. The code aims at consolidating under a single system laws - some of which were framed more than 50...
Canadian Tax Reform
Posted on August 13, 2009Canadian tax reform news from Arthur Cockfield (Queen's University): In 2007, the Canadian Department of Finance formed the Advisory Panel on Canada's System of International Taxation to consider comprehensive reforms. In December 2008, the Advisory Panel issued its Final Report...
En Banc First Circuit Reverses Panel, Gives IRS Access to Textron's Work Papers
Posted on August 13, 2009The First Circuit today, in a 3-2 en banc decision, reversed the 2-1 panel and held that Textron's tax accrual work papers were not protected under the work product doctrine and thus had to be turned over to the IRS in its tax shelter investigation. United States v...
The Most Heavily-Cited Tax Cases
Posted on August 12, 2009I previously blogged my friend and colleague Adam Steinman's work on the most frequently cited cases (The Irrepressible Myth of Celotex: Reconsidering Summary Judgment Burdens Twenty Years after the Trilogy, 63 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 81, 143-45 (2006)). Adam published fascinating charts of the 15 most-cited cases by federal...
Call for Tax Papers: Northeast People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference
Posted on August 12, 2009The Northeast People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference has issued a call for papers: The annual Northeast People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference is an important community for law faculty of color as a support network, as a place for safe commentary on scholarship and as an insightful discussion of...
Judge Bars Microsoft From Selling Word
Posted on August 12, 2009Injunction CNet News Seattle Post-Intelligencer USA Today Wall Street Journal WSJ Law Blog (Hat Tip: Tim Armstrong.)
UBS, IRS Settle Tax Evasion Case
Posted on August 12, 2009Associated Press Bloomberg New York Times NPR Reuters Wall Street Journal
Man Sentenced for Sending Fake Anthrax to IRS
Posted on August 12, 2009From the Kansas City Star: A federal judge on Monday sentenced an Overland Park man to a year and a day in prison for sending the IRS white powder he claimed was anthrax. John P. Barker, 47, was caught after investigators traced his letter to an automated postal center where...
Retired IRS Agent Sentenced to 46 Months for Tax Fraud
Posted on August 12, 2009From the U.S. Attorney in Kansas City: Thomas W. Steelman, 72, Blue Springs, Mo., has been sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for his part in a tax fraud scheme by a defunct Topeka firm called Renaissance, the Tax People. Steelman also was ordered to pay more than $10...
Beale: Is Bilski Likely the Final Word on Tax Strategy Patents?
Posted on August 12, 2009Linda M. Beale (Wayne State) has posted Is Bilski Likely the Final Word on Tax Strategy Patents? Coherence Matters, 9 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. ___ (2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The explosion of business method patents after the Federal Circuit?s State Street decision -- in particular,...
Who Should Get Jack Abramoff's Tax Refund?
Posted on August 12, 2009In today's Blog of the Legal Times: Dividing Up Abramoff's Tax Refund: Imprisoned former lobbyist Jack Abramoff is hoping for another big refund from the Internal Revenue Service. This time, though, his family wouldn't get to decide alone how to spend it...
Bill Henderson Named Director of Indiana's Center on the Global Legal Profession
Posted on August 12, 2009Kudos to my co-blogger and friend Bill Henderson, who will direct Indiana's new Center on the Global Legal Profession: [T]he center will focus on the unprecedented challenges lawyers are facing around the world and develop research and training materials to assist current and future attorneys in their understanding of international...
Foundation Press Publishes Constitutional Law Stories, 2d ed.
Posted on August 11, 2009Foundation Press has published Constitutional Law Stories (2d ed. 2009), by Michael C. Dorf (Cornell): This publication provides a student with an understanding of 15 leading U.S. constitutional law cases, focusing on how the litigation was shaped by lawyers, judges and socioeconomic factors, and why the cases have attained landmark...
Law School Rankings iPhone App
Posted on August 11, 2009Following up on yesterday's post: the Law School 100 rankings are now available as an app for your iPhone (at a cost of 99 cents). From the iTunes description: Since the year 2000, LawTV has compiled the list of the best law schools in the United States, based on qualitative...
Iowa Seeks to Hire Tax Prof
Posted on August 11, 2009The University of Iowa College of Law seeks to hire several new lateral, visiting, or entry-level faculty members over the coming year: We are interested in all persons of high academic achievement and promise, and wish to enhance the diversity of our faculty by including among our candidates persons of...
Law School 4.0, Part Two
Posted on August 11, 2009Following up on my prior post, Law School 4.0: in today's American Lawyer, Welcome to the Future: Law School 4.0, Part Two, by Paul Lippe (Founder, Legal OnRamp): When I wrote Law School 4.0 in June about the likely direction of change for law schools, I wasn?t purporting to be...
The Relationship Between Tax Rates, Taxable Income, and Tax Revenue
Posted on August 11, 2009The Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation (CF&P) today released The Laffer Curve: Understanding the Relationship Between Tax Rates, Taxable Income, and Tax Revenue: The Laffer Curve shows the relationship between tax rates, taxable income and tax revenues: at a certain point, higher tax rates fail to produce more revenue...
Faux IRS Agents Burglarize House
Posted on August 11, 2009From today's Web CPA: Two thieves claiming to be IRS agents stole property from a North Carolina home and then encouraged the neighbors to rip off the house too. This interesting tidbit came from the Statesville Record & Landmark over the weekend, and quite a prank it must have been...
Taxing Higher Ed
Posted on August 11, 2009Last week, I blogged the 66 tax raising options circulated by the Congressional Budget Office. Today's Inside Higher Ed blogs the items affecting higher education: One, ending the federal government's practice of subsidizing the interest on loans for graduate students while they are in school, would save more than $10...
Deadline for Paper Proposals for 2010 Critical Tax Conference
Posted on August 11, 2009Next Monday (August 17) is the deadline to submit paper proposals on comparative and international tax law for the 2010 Critical Tax Conference to be held on April 9-10, 2010, at Saint Louis University School of Law (with papers to be published in the Saint Louis University Law Journal): Saint...
Lewis Begins Term as Chair of ABA Tax Section
Posted on August 10, 2009Stuart M. Lewis (Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, Washington, D.C.) (right) began his one-year term as Chair of the ABA Tax Section at the close of the ABA's annual meeting in Chicago on August 4. Charles H. Egerton (Dean, Mead, Egerton, Bloodworth, Capouano & Bozarth, Orlando) was chosen as the Chair-Elect...
Richmond Seeks to Fill Distinguished Chair in Law
Posted on August 10, 2009The University of Richmond School of Law is seeking to fill the E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Chair in Law: The Robins Chair recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in his or her field, and is not limited by subject matter...
TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup
Posted on August 10, 2009Saturday: Hickman: D.C. Circuit Delivers a Doozy Tax Prof Vegan Revising § 2702 to Apply to Same-Sex Couples Tax Delinquency and Blight in Pennsylvania Sunday: Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads ABA Approves 19th Law School in California IRS Issues FBAR Notice U...
CBPP Releases Tax Reports
Posted on August 10, 2009The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has released two tax reports: Expanding Sales Taxation of Services: Options and Issues Excise Tax On Insurers Offering High-Cost Plans Can Help Pay For Health Reform
Five iPhone Apps for Lawyers
Posted on August 10, 2009Five Apps for the Lawyer, by Lauren Hirsch: It's official. The iPhone has come into its own in the legal world. It took a little time, and lawyers are notorious Luddites (you can pry the WordPerfect out of their cold, dead hands) but they do like Bright Shiny Objects, and...
19 Year Old Northwestern 1L
Posted on August 10, 200919-year-old Kate McLaughlin will be a 1L at Northwestern this Fall (she describes it on her blog (EvilProdigy) as an "ill-fated journey into Hades"). She scored a 174 on the LSAT (after scoring 780/700 on the SATs at age 11) and graduated from UC-San Diego at age 17...
Chicago-Kent to Host Symposium on Law of Philanthropy in the 21st Century
Posted on August 10, 2009Chicago-Kent is hosting a symposium on Law of Philanthropy in the 21st Century on October 23, 2009. For a list of the speakers and their topics, and to register (free of charge), see here.
The Precarious Promise of Post-Employment Health Benefits
Posted on August 10, 2009Richard L. Kaplan (Illinois), Jordan Zucker (DLA Piper) & Nicholas J. Powers have posted Retirees at Risk: The Precarious Promise of Post-Employment Health Benefits, 9 Yale J. Health Pol'y, L. & Ethics ___ (2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article examines the increasingly troubled state of employer-provided health...
ABA Tax Section Publishes Summer 2009 Issue of News Quarterly
Posted on August 10, 2009The ABA Tax Section has published 28 News Quarterly No. 4 (Summer 2009): Point & Counterpoint: Equity, Cost of Living, and the Internal Revenue Code Improving the Equity of the Federal Income Tax, by James P. Angelini (Suffolk University) & Tracy Noga (Bentley University) (pp...
Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads
Posted on August 09, 2009There is a lot of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with new papers debuting on the list at #3 and #4: 1. [339 Downloads] The Obama International Tax Plan: A Major Step Forward, by Reuven S. Avi-Yonah (Michigan) 2. [260 Downloads] Recent...
ABA Approves 19th Law School in California
Posted on August 09, 2009With the ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar's granting of full approval to Western State University College of Law, there are now 19 accredited law schools in California.
IRS Issues FBAR Notice
Posted on August 09, 2009The IRS on Friday issued Notice 2009-62, 2009-35 I.R.B. ___ (Aug. 31, 2009), which provides information on the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) for government agencies to use in criminal, tax, or regulatory investigations or proceedings.
U.S. Corporate Tax Rate Is 2nd Highest in Industrialized World
Posted on August 09, 2009The Tax Foundation has released U.S. Lags While Competitors Accelerate Corporate Income Tax Reform: New data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows that the U.S. corporate tax rate has fallen even further out of step with the rest of the industrialized world as countries such as...
Tax Delinquency and Blight in Pennsylvania
Posted on August 08, 2009Kate Murray Diersen (J.D. 2010, Pittsburgh) has published Note, Tax Delinquency and Blight in Pennsylvania, 6 Pitt. Tax Rev. 131 (2009). Here is the abstract: Blight and tax delinquency are both issues that municipalities in Pennsylvania currently face and both are issues that can be addressed using the tax sale...
Revising § 2702 to Apply to Same-Sex Couples
Posted on August 08, 2009Matthew Fry (J.D. 2010, Temple) has published Comment, One Small Step for Federal Taxation, One Giant Leap for Same-Sex Equality: Revising Section 2702 of the Internal Revenue Code to Apply Equally to All Marriages, 81 Temp. L. Rev. 545 (2008). Here is the Conclusion: This Comment suggests the revision of...
Hickman: D.C. Circuit Delivers a Doozy
Posted on August 08, 2009Following up on yesterday's post on the D.C. Circuit's remarkable opinion in Cohen v. Commissioner, No. 08-5088 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 7, 2009): Kristin E. Hickman (Minnesota), who is cited four times in the opinion (and whom the dissent calls "the leading academic on this issue) has agreed to share her...
Tax Prof Vegan
Posted on August 08, 2009As the father of a new vegan, I enjoyed the posts by Tax Prof Neil Buchanan (George Washington) on the one-year anniversary of joining the 1% of Americans who are vegans, especially his concluding thoughts: I have always loved animals. I now express that love by refusing to contribute to...
CBO Releases
Posted on August 07, 2009The Congressional Budget Office yesterday released the Budget Options, Second Volume. The document discusses tax options: Increase Individual Income Tax Rates Permanently Extend the Individual Income Tax Provisions of EGTRRA Permanently Extend the Zero and 15% Tax Rates for Capital Gains and Dividends Replace Multiple Tax Rates on Long-Term Capital...
Fleming, Peroni & Shay: A U.S. Perspective on the Worldwide Taxation vs. Territorial Taxation Debate
Posted on August 07, 2009J. Clifton Fleming, Jr. (BYU), Robert J. Peroni (Texas) & Stephen E. Shay (Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs) have posted Some Perspectives from the United States on the Worldwide Taxation vs. Territorial Taxation Debate, 3 J. Australasian Tax Teachers Ass'n 35 (2008), on SSRN...
Gupta: Who's at Risk? Abbot and Costello Take on Section 465
Posted on August 07, 2009Ajay Gupta has published Who's at Risk? Abbot and Costello Take on Section 465, 17 U. Miami Bus. L. Rev. 47 (2008). Here is the abstract: Hello again, everybody. It's a "bee-yooo-tiful" day for baseball. The setting is the unlikely state of Wyoming. Taking the field is a local outfit...
More Celebrity Tax Woes
Posted on August 07, 2009The Detroit News has several new additions to its list of celebrities with tax woes: Val Kilmer (actor): IRS $538,858 tax lien M.C. Hammer (rapper): IRS $625,792 tax lien, California $45,390 tax lien Robert Huizenga (celebrity weight loss doctor (The Biggest Loser, Dance Your Ass Off)): California $1,080,660 lien Conrad..