Taxation & Estate Planning

Financial Times: More Americans Are Forfeiting Citizenship to Escape U.S. Taxes

Posted on July 18, 2010
Financial Times, Americans Forfeit Citizenship to Avoid Tax: The number of wealthy Americans living in the UK who are renouncing their US citizenship is rising rapidly as more expatriates seek to escape paying tax to the US on their worldwide income and gains and shed their ?non-dom? status, accountants say...

Dividends and Capital Gains by Age Group: Seniors Rule

Posted on July 17, 2010
From the Tax Foundation (dividends, capital gains):

ABA Tax Section Submits Comment Letter on Contingent Fees in Circular 230

Posted on July 17, 2010
The ABA Tax Section has submitted a comment letter on Contingent Fees in Section 10.37 of Circular 230 (July 15, 2010): Section 10.27 of Circular 230 regulates fees charged by tax practitioners concerning matters before the IRS and restricts the use of unconscionable or contingent fees in tax-related representations...

Death of Paul McDaniel

Posted on July 17, 2010
Paul R. McDaniel, Emeritus James J. Freeland Eminent Scholar in Taxation and Professor of Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, died at his home in Gainesville on July 16 after a long illness. The University of Florida has prepared this wonderful tribute to Paul; please read...

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Boulder Roundtable on Tax and Distributive Justice

Posted on July 16, 2010
The 2010 Boulder Roundtable on Tax and Distributive Justice concludes today with these papers: Larry Zelenak (Duke), Book Proposal: Many Not-So-Unhappy Returns Discussant: David Hasen (Santa Clara) David Gamage (UC-Berkeley), On Tax Salience Discussant: Lee Fennell (Chicago)

'Sin Tax' Revenue Surges

Posted on July 16, 2010
The Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Trade and Tax Bureau has released its Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Report, detailing a 41% increase (to $20.6 billion) in the amount of "sin taxes" on alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and ammunition collected by the federal government...

TIGTA: IRS Wastes Millions Each Year by Sending Notices to Wrong Addresses

Posted on July 16, 2010
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration yesterday released Current Practices Are Preventing a Reduction in the Volume of Undeliverable Mail (2010-40-055): The IRS's current method of sending notices and letters is costing taxpayers millions of dollars because it results in a large amount of undeliverable mail...

Life, Death, and Taxes of St. Kilda

Posted on July 16, 2010
From The Life and Death of St. Kilda 33-34 (1988), by Tom Steel: The St. Kildans never paid income tax because the Inland Revenue did not bother send them forms to fill in, and they never paid rates. .... "If this island," wrote Macculloch, "is not the Eutopia so long...

11th Circuit Affirms Wesley Snipes' Tax Fraud Conviction and Sentence

Posted on July 16, 2010
United States v. Snipes, No. 08-12402 (11th Cir. July 16, 2010): Defendant Wesley Trent Snipes appeals from his criminal convictions, after a jury trial, on three counts of willful failure to file individual federal income tax returns for calendar years 1999, 2000, and 2001, in violation of 26 U...

007's 1040 Problem: 'Goldfinger' Raid Implicates Sean Connery in Tax Fraud

Posted on July 16, 2010
ABA Journal, ?Goldfinger? Raid Conducted on Law Firm in Possible Tax Case Against James Bond Star Sean Connery: Authorities have conducted a raid, under the code name Goldfinger, on a Spanish law firm as part of an ongoing tax probe of Sean Connery and his wife...

Zelinsky: Seven Lessons for the U.S. From the Greek Fiscal Crisis

Posted on July 16, 2010
Tax Prof Edward A. Zelinsky (Cardozo), Is Greece Relevant? Seven Lessons for the U.S. From the Greek Fiscal Crisis: Are Greece?s fiscal woes relevant to the United States? Responding to the simmering national debate on this issue, Paul Krugman, writing in the New York Times, answers with an emphatic ?no...

CRS: International Tax Avoidance and Evasion

Posted on July 16, 2010
Open CRS has posted Tax Havens: International Tax Avoidance and Evasion (R40623) (June 4, 2010), by Jane G. Gravelle (Senior Specialist in Economic Policy). Here is the Summary: The federal government loses both individual and corporate income tax revenue from the shifting of profits and income into low-tax countries, often...

Goldman Sachs Agrees to Forgo Tax Deduction for $550m Settlement With SEC

Posted on July 16, 2010
Bloomberg, Goldman Waives Tax Deduction on SEC Settlement, by Ryan J. Donmoyer: Goldman Sachs Group Inc. agreed to waive tax deductions it could have claimed after paying a $550 million penalty in a settlement with U.S. regulators, giving up as much as $187...

Law Firm Tax Rankings: Skadden Is #1

Posted on July 15, 2010
This week, I have blogged the separate law firm tax rankings in the corporate tax and tax controversy areas developed by Chambers as part of its rankings of the top U.S. law firms by various specialities. The rankings are based on 30-minute interviews with lawyers and clients (greater weight is...

John Prebble Posts 194 Tax Papers on SSRN

Posted on July 15, 2010
John Prebble (Victoria University of Wellington, Faculty of Law) has posted 194 (!) of his tax papers on SSRN. You can see the complete list (with links to each paper) here.

Glen: Harvard & Yale Ascendant: The Legal Education of the Justices from Holmes to Kagan

Posted on July 15, 2010
Patrick J. Glen (Georgetown) has posted Harvard and Yale Ascendant: The Legal Education of the Justices from Holmes to Kagan on SSRN. Here is the abstract: With the nomination of Elena Kagan to be a justice of the United States Supreme Court, it is quite possible that eight of the...

Forbes: From Jail, Conrad Black Fights $71 Million Tax Bill

Posted on July 15, 2010
Forbes, From Jail, Conrad Black Fights $71 Million Tax Bill: Imprisoned former media baron Conrad M. Black is fighting a $71 million bill from the IRS, which says from 1998 to 2003 he filed no tax returns and paid absolutely nothing on $120 million in taxable income...

U.S. News Criticizes Students for Choosing Law Schools Based on ... Rankings

Posted on July 15, 2010
U.S. News & World Report, As Law School Tuitions Climb, So Does Demand, by Katy Hopkins: Demand for a legal education remains high, despite odds stacking against it. Tuition has risen for the 2010-2011 school year at law schools across the country, even as industry jobs disappear by the month...

Boulder Roundtable on Tax and Distributive Justice

Posted on July 15, 2010
The 2010 Boulder Roundtable on Tax and Distributive Justice kicks off today with these papers: Jim Repetti (Boston College), What Is the Appropriate Role for Economic Efficiency in Formulating Tax Policy? Discussant: Eric Zolt (UCLA) Miranda Fleischer (Colorado), Equality of Opportunity and Charitable Giving Discussant: Jim Repetti Linda Sugin (Fordham),...

Fleischer: KKR's Tax Motivation in Going Public

Posted on July 15, 2010
KKR began trading on the NYSE today, and Vic Fleischer (Colorado) blogs the tax motivations behind the decision to take the firm public: [T]he senior principals (Kravis et al) will be able to sell their shares to the public or redeem their shares with the newly-public holding company...

Sam Donaldson, Wikipedia, and 'The 2% Haircut'

Posted on July 15, 2010
Check out this Wikipedia entry on § 67(a), the 2% floor on miscellaneous itemized deductions: The Two-Percent Haircut: The Two-Percent Haircut[1], otherwise known as the two-percent floor, is a limitation on miscellaneous itemized income tax deductions and is codified under Internal Revenue Code...

Staudt: How Courts Fund National Defense in Times of Crisis

Posted on July 15, 2010
Tax Prof Nancy Staudt (Northwestern) has posted The Judicial Power of the Purse: How Courts Fund National Defense in Times of Crisis (An Introduction) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This introduction to a forthcoming book (University of Chicago Press, 2011) briefly describes judges' hidden purse powers along with a...

WSJ: A Lerach Tax Cut

Posted on July 15, 2010
Following up on my prior post, $1.6b Tax Break for Trial Lawyers: Wall Street Journal editorial, A Bill Lerach Tax Cut: Treasury Mulls a Break for Contingency Fees: Taxes are going up in January for millions of Americans, but that means it's even more important to have friends in Washington...

WSJ: As Tax Cuts' Expiration Date Nears, Little Consensus

Posted on July 15, 2010
Wall Street Journal, As Tax Cuts' Expiration Date Nears, Little Consensus, by John McKinnon: President Barack Obama wants to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class only. Many House Democrats want to extend them for that group, too, but perhaps only for a year or two...

Law Firm Tax Controversy Rankings

Posted on July 14, 2010
Chambers has updated its rankings of the top U.S. law firms by various specialities. The rankings are based on 30-minute interviews with lawyers and clients (greater weight is given to the views of clients) (methodology). Here are the top Top 17 U.S. law firms in the area of Tax Controversy,...

University of Cincinnati Seeks to Fill Two Faculty Positions

Posted on July 14, 2010
I 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...

Senate Holds Hearing Today on The Future of Individual Tax Rates

Posted on July 14, 2010
The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing today on The Future of Individual Tax Rates: Effects on Economic Growth and Distribution. Here are the witnesses scheduled to testify: Carol Markman (CPA, Feldman, Meinberg & Co.) David Marzahl (President, Center for Economic Progress) Donald Marron (Director, Tax Policy Center) Douglas Holtz-Eakin...

NY Times Forum: The College Cheating 'Epidemic'

Posted on July 14, 2010
Following up on last week's post, NY Times: Colleges Deploy Tech Tools to Combat 61% of Students Who Cheat: the New York Times has a Room for Debate forum on When Did Cheating Become an Epidemic?: For as long as exams and term papers have existed, cheating has been a...

Howard Symposium on Wealth Redistribution and the U.S. Tax System

Posted on July 14, 2010
The Howard University Law Review has published the third annual Vinson & Elkins symposium, Wealth Redistribution and the United States Tax System (53 How. L.J. 245-366 (2010)): Alice Gresham Bullock (Howard), Introduction, 53 How. L.J. 245 (2010) Alice Gresham Bullock (Howard), The Tax Code, the Tax Gap, and Income Inequality:...

Kyl-Lincoln Estate Tax Fix: $5m Exemption, 35% Rate, Election for Decedents Dying in 2010

Posted on July 14, 2010
Senators Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) issued a press release today on their estate tax reform proposal: a 35% rate; a $5 million exemption phased in over ten years and indexed for inflation; and an elction for estates of decedents dying in 2010 (either to retain this year's...

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