Taxation & Estate Planning

More iPad Tax Adventures

Posted on June 29, 2010
Following up on last week's post, How to Get Your Dean to Buy You an iPad: Forbes, A Financial Advice Wonk's Further iPad Adventures: A New iPad User Finds Glitches and Gleans Solace and Enlightenment from Unlikely Sources, by Deborah L. Jacobs: Just a week ago, in "A Financial Advice...

NY Times: Student Evaluations, Part Two

Posted on June 29, 2010
Following up on last week's post, NY Times Debate on Student Evaluations: New York Times, Student Evaluations, Part Two, by Stanley Fish: The deleterious effects of student evaluations extend beyond the personal injuries these comments rehearse; they infect the entire system of higher education...

Georgetown Names Fordham Dean William Treanor as VP & Dean

Posted on June 29, 2010
Georgetown today named Fordham Dean William Treanor as its new Executive Vice President and Dean of the Law Center, effective Aug. 16: Treanor joins the Law Center from Fordham University, where he has served as dean of Fordham Law School since 2002. ...

Cummings: Making Tax Litigation Complex

Posted on June 28, 2010
Jasper L. Cummings, Jr. (Alston & Bird, Raleigh, NC), has published Making Litigation Complex, 127 Tax Notes 1483 (June 28, 2010). Here is the abstract: A primary cause of the length and complexity of recent tax litigation is the government?s assertion of the economic substance doctrine...

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NY Times: Valedictorian Inflation

Posted on June 28, 2010
New York Times, How Many Graduates Does It Take to Be No. 1?: In top suburban schools across the country, the valedictorian, a beloved tradition, is rapidly losing its singular meaning as administrators dispense the title to every straight-A student rather than try to choose the best among them...

Kristan: State Taxes for the Traveling Employee

Posted on June 28, 2010
Joe Kristan has a great post on Franken?s Monster: State Taxes for the Traveling Employee: [Al] Franken has a lot of company in going from state to state without paying all of his taxes (he also has a lot of company in dumping on his accountant to weasel out of...

BP Spills Coffee

Posted on June 28, 2010
(Hat Tip: Greg Mankiw.)

TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup

Posted on June 28, 2010
Saturday: CBPP: Concentration of Income Among Top 1% Is Greatest Since 1928 Tax Avoidance and Wal-Mart Stores New York's Unconstitutional Amazon Tax Sunday: Death of Marty Ginsburg Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads Closing the Tax Gap Via 'Understanding' Knight and the 2% Floor

The Costs of Estate Tax Dithering Just Went Up

Posted on June 28, 2010
I previously blogged my Creighton lecture on The Costs of Estate Tax DIthering, in which I speculated that the estate of Texas energy tycoon Dan Duncan (#30 of Forbes 400 Richest Americans), who died on March 28, was well-positioned to challenge any retroactive re-imposition of the estate tax...

Supreme Court: UC-Hastings

Posted on June 28, 2010
The Supreme Court today ruled, 5-4, that the UC-Hastings could constitutionally require the law school's Christian Legal Society to accept as members students who do not share CLS's religious views on sexual orientation. Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, No...

Washburn: Elena Kagan and the Miracle at Harvard

Posted on June 28, 2010
Just in time for today's opening of the Elena Kagan confirmation hearings: Kevin Washburn (Dean New Mexico) has posted Elena Kagan and the Miracle at Harvard on SSRN. Here is the abstract: For most of the past fifty years, attending Harvard Law School was a miserable experience...

Bloink: Cancellation of Indebtedness Income and Financed Life Insurance

Posted on June 28, 2010
Robert S. Bloink (Thomas Jefferson) has posted Premium Financed Surprises: Cancellation of Indebtedness Income and Financed Life Insurance, 63 Tax Law. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The last decade saw a tremendous expansion in the use of premium financed life insurance for high net worth individuals...

Biden Calls Custard Shop Manager a 'Smartass' for Asking VP to 'Lower Our Taxes'

Posted on June 28, 2010
Biden: What do we owe you? Manager: Don't worry. It's on us. ... Lower our taxes and we'll call it even. Biden (a few minutes later): Why don't you say something nice instead of being a smartass all the time? Say something nice. FOX News L.A. Times New York Daily...

Aprill: The Impact of Bilski on Tax Strategy Patents

Posted on June 28, 2010
Ellen P. Aprill (Loyola-L.A.) offers her views on the impact of today's Supreme Court decision in Bilski v. Kappos, No. 08-964 (June 28, 2010), on tax strategy patents: Bilski is at best a mixed bag for those who think tax strategies should be patentable...

Closing the Tax Gap Via 'Understanding'

Posted on June 27, 2010
Susan Striz (J.D. 2010, West Virginia; LL.M. (Tax) 2011, NYU) has published The Key to Closing the Tax Gap: Understanding, 112 W. Va. L. Rev. 1053 (2010). Here is part of the Introduction: Part II of this Note will explain the tax gap and its effects...

Knight and the 2% Floor

Posted on June 27, 2010
Nathan R. O?Tool (J.D. 2011, William Mitchell) has published Comment, Knight and the Two Percent Floor: Still in Search of a Workable Standard to Evaluate the Tax Deductability of Fiduciary Expenses, 36 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 1333 (2010). Here is the Conclusion: The estate planning and wealth management community had...

Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on June 27, 2010
This week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads is the same as last week's list: 1. [604 Downloads] Pursuing a Tax LLM Degree: Where?, by Paul L. Caron (Cincinnati), Jennifer M. Kowal (Loyola-L.A.), Katherine Pratt (Loyola-L.A.) & Theodore P...

Death of Marty Ginsburg

Posted on June 27, 2010
Renowned tax professor (Georgetown) and tax lawyer (Fried Frank) Martin D. Ginsburg, husband of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, died today (June 27, 2010) at his home in Washington, D.C., due to complications of metastatic cancer. From the Supreme Court's press release: Martin Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn, New...

Tax Avoidance and Wal-Mart Stores

Posted on June 26, 2010
Jeremy M. Wilson (J.D. 2010, North Carolina) has published Recent Development, Statutory Interpretation in Wal-Mart Stores East, Inc. v. Hinton and Why North Carolina Courts Should Apply Anti-Tax Avoidance Judicial Doctrines in Future Cases, 88 N.C. L...

New York's Unconstitutional Amazon Tax

Posted on June 26, 2010
Daniel Cowan (J.D. 2010, North Carolina) has published Recent Development, New York?s Unconstitutional Tax on the Internet: Amazon.com v. New York State Department of Taxation & Finance and the Dormant Commerce Clause, 88 N.C. L. Rev. 1423 (2010). Here is the abstract: As the current economic downturn continues to ripple...

CBPP: Concentration of Income Among Top 1% Is Greatest Since 1928

Posted on June 26, 2010
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities yesterday released Income Gaps Between Very Rich and Everyone Else More Than Tripled In Last Three Decades, New Data Show, by Arloc Sherman & Chad Stone: The gaps in after-tax income between the richest 1% of Americans and the middle and poorest fifths...

Tax Prof Visits, 2010-2011

Posted on June 25, 2010
The Faculty Lounge has updated its list of Law School Visitors 2010-2011. My annual April post on Tax Prof Moves lists all of the Tax Prof visits for 2010-2011 (as well as tax-related VAP hires, entry-level hires, lateral moves, promotions, tenures, chairs, and professorships, administrative appointments, and retirements and departures):...

Sen. Landrieu Seeks IRS Guidance on Tax Treament of BP Payments

Posted on June 25, 2010
Following up on Tuesday's post, $20b Gulf Coast Disaster Payments: Income to Victims, Deductible by BP: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) on Wednesday sent this letter to the Treasury Department and the IRS seeking public written guidance by July 2 on the tax treatment of BP oil spill claims payments to...

Tax Analysts Hosts Roundtable Discussion Today on Tax Expenditures

Posted on June 25, 2010
Tax Analysts hosts a roundtable discussion today from 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Tax Expenditures: Are They Worth the Cost?: Please join us for a roundtable discussion on federal tax expenditures in which we will ask whether all the deductions, credits,...

Shanske: An Agenda for a California Constitutional Convention?

Posted on June 25, 2010
Tax Prof Darien Shanske (UC-Hastings) has published What Would the Delegates Talk About? A Rough Agenda for a Constitutional Convention, 37 Hastings Const. L.Q. 641 (2010). Here is the abstract: This short article outlines a possible agenda for a California Constitutional Convention...

IRS Provides Guidance to Gulf Oil Spill Victims

Posted on June 25, 2010
The IRS today released IRS Provides Tax Help, Guidance to Gulf Oil Spill Victims; Special Assistance Day Planned for July 17 (IR-2010-78): The IRS today provided guidance [Information Center; Q&A] to individuals and businesses affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and announced a number of new...

Wesley Snipes Seeks Dismissal or New Trial in Tax Fraud Case in Light of Kenneth Starr's Arrest

Posted on June 25, 2010
Wesley Snipes' attorneys have filed a motion requesting that the 11th Circuit suspend consideration of his appeal to allow him time to request the district court to either dismiss his conviction on three misdemeanor tax fraud counts or order a new trial in light of the arrest on securities fraud...

The Forthcoming U.S. News & World Report Law Firm Rankings

Posted on June 25, 2010
Robert Morse, Director of Data Research at U.S. News, Some News About the New, Upcoming Best Law Firms Rankings: Here is an update on the highly anticipated U.S. News-Best Lawyers Best Law Firms rankings, which are scheduled to be released in the October 2010 issue of U...

NY Times Debate on Student Evaluations

Posted on June 25, 2010
New York Times, Deep in the Heart of Texas, by Stanley Fish: If a waiter asks me, ?Was everything to your taste, sir??, I am in a position to answer him authoritatively (if I choose to). When I pick up my shirt from the dry cleaner, I immediately know whether...

Law Student Sues North Carolina, Fears She Won't Get a Job if Her Online Purchase of Obama Zombies Is Disclosed in Sales Tax Dispute

Posted on June 25, 2010
National Law Journal, ACLU Intervenes in Privacy Dispute Between Amazon and State Tax Collector, by Karen Sloan: Two lawyers and a law student were among seven plaintiffs who filed suit on Wednesday to block the North Carolina Department of Revenue from collecting detailed information about purchases state residents made through...

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