Taxation & Estate Planning

Johnson: An IRS Duty of Consistency

Posted on April 23, 2010
Steve R. Johnson (UNLV) has published An IRS Duty of Consistency: The Failure of Common Law Making and a Proposed Legislative Solution , 77 Tenn L. Rev. (2010). Here is the abstract: The IRS should endeavor to treat similarly situated taxpayers similarly...

Reynolds: Small is the New Biglaw -- Technology, Economics, and the Practice of Law

Posted on April 23, 2010
Glenn Harlan Reynolds (Tennessee) has posted Small is the New Biglaw: Some Thoughts on Technology, Economics, and the Practice of Law, 39 Hofstra L. Rev. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This paper looks at technological and economic changes affecting lawyers, and their effect on the competitiveness of...

UC-Hastings Hosts Northern California Tax Roundtable Today

Posted on April 23, 2010
UC-Hastings hosts the Spring 2010 Northern California Tax Roundtable today with these papers and commentary: David S. Gamage (UC-Berkeley), Experimental Evidence of Framing Effects in Work-Leisure Decisions (with Andrew Hayashi (Davis Polk & Wardwell, New York) & Brent K...

Motro Presents Preglimony at Washington University

Posted on April 23, 2010
Shari Motro (Richmond) presented Preglimony at Washington University (St. Louis) as part of its Faculty Colloquia Series. Here is the abstract: Unmarried lovers who conceive are strangers in the eyes of the law. If the woman terminates the pregnancy, the man owes her nothing...

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Washburn Hosts Tax Law Colloquium Today

Posted on April 23, 2010
Washburn hosts its annual Tax Law Colloquium today: Each year the Business and Transactional Law Center at Washburn University School of Law hosts a tax law colloquium. The colloquium provides the opportunity for tax scholars from around the country to meet and discuss scholarly projects on which they are working...

Lewis & Clark Issues Call for Participants: Taxation and the Environment Symposium

Posted on April 23, 2010
Lewis & Clark has issued a Call for Participants for its symposium on Taxation and the Environment to be held on October 8, 2010: The symposium will provide scholarly perspectives on many aspects of the interaction of taxes with the environment. Topics will include the effects of current and proposed...

Avi-Yonah: The Case Against Taxing Citizens

Posted on April 23, 2010
Reuven S. Avi-Yonah (Michigan) has posted The Case Against Taxing Citizens on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The US is the only developed country to tax citizens living permanently overseas on their worldwide income. This rule was created at a time when the income tax applied only to the rich...

SSRN Tax Professor Rankings

Posted on April 22, 2010
SSRN has updated its monthly rankings of 646 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 April 18, 2010) of the Top 25 U...

McMahon, Shepard & Simmons: Recent Developments in Federal Income Taxation (2009)

Posted on April 22, 2010
Martin J. McMahon, Jr. (Florida), Ira B. Shepard (Houston) & Daniel L. Simmons (UC-Davis) have published Recent Developments in Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2009, 10 Fla. Tax Rev. 79 (2010). Here is the abstract: This article discusses, and provides context to understand the significance of, the most important judicial...

Cohen: § 67(e)(1), Textualism, and the Jurisprudence of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Sotomayor

Posted on April 22, 2010
Following up on my prior posts on the debate between Stephen B. Cohen (Georgetown) and Douglas A. Kahn (Michigan): Cohen, Judge Sonia Sotomayor's Tax Opinions, 124 Tax Notes 474 (Aug. 3, 2009) Kahn, Rudkin Testamentary Trust -- A Response to Prof. Cohen, 124 Tax Notes 1263 (Sept...

Call for Papers: North Carolina Tax Symposium

Posted on April 22, 2010
The University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler School of Business has issued a call for papers for its Fourteenth Annual Tax Symposium to be held January 28-29, 2011. The symposium "is designed to bring together leading tax scholars from economics, accounting, finance, law, political science, and related fields...

Burman: The Myth of Income Tax Freeloading

Posted on April 22, 2010
Leonard E. Burman (Syracuse University, Maxwell School), The Myth of Income Tax Freeloading (Forbes): This year's tax season controversy surrounds the Tax Policy Center's estimate that 47% of households do not owe income tax. The estimate has raised concerns about equity (nearly half of families free-riding on the rest of...

Hines & McCaffery Present The Last Best Hope for Progressivity in Tax Today at NYU

Posted on April 22, 2010
James R. Hines (Michigan) (left) & Edward McCaffrey (USC) (right) present The Last Best Hope for Progressivity in Tax at NYU today as part of its Colloquium Series on Tax Policy and Public Finance. The co-convenors of the colloquium are Daniel Shaviro (NYU) & Mihir Desai (Harvard Business School)...

Forbes: Family Swindled By Madoff Fights $61 Million IRS Estate Tax Bill

Posted on April 22, 2010
Forbes, Family Swindled By Madoff Fights $61 Million IRS Bill, by William P. Barrett: First the family of Norman F. Levy, the late New York City real estate tycoon, was swindled out of hundreds of millions of dollars by close friend Bernard L. Madoff, forcing the closing of two Levy...

The Price of Admission: How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges

Posted on April 22, 2010
Since I am touring colleges with my daughter this week in advance of the May 1 acceptance deadline, I was particularly struck by the law prof blogosphere discussion (here and here) of The Price of Admission : How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges--and Who Gets Left...

Senate Finance Committee Denies It Engages in Tax 'Root Canals' of Nominees' Returns

Posted on April 22, 2010
Nicole Duartel, Finance Committee Denies Allegation of Invasive Vetting of Brainard's Tax Returns, 2010 TNT 7 (Apr. 22, 2010): Senate Finance Committee spokespersons have denied a long-circulating allegation that Lael Brainard, recently confirmed as Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, was subject to unusually invasive practices by the committee staffers who...

Berman Presents Debating Tax Cuts in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1962-1981 Today at Indiana

Posted on April 22, 2010
Elizabeth Popp Berman (SUNY-Albany, Department of Sociology) presents Economic Ideas and the Political Process: Debating Tax Cuts in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1962-1981 at Indiana-Bloomington today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series organized by Ajay K...

DuPont: VAT Would Doom America

Posted on April 22, 2010
Wall Street Journal op-ed, Will the VAT Lady Sing? If So, It's Over For America, by Pete DuPont (Chairman of the Board, National Center for Policy Analysis): A cultural battle is under way in America, a battle between, in columnist Michael Barone's, words, "the culture of dependence and the culture...

U.S. News Tax Rankings, 2008-2011

Posted on April 21, 2010
Following up on yesterday's post, New 2011 U.S. News Tax Rankings: here are the overall and graduate tax rankings over the past four years: Overall Tax Rankings (2008-2011): Ave. Rank Tax Program 2011 Rank 2010 Rank 2009 Rank 2008 Rank 1.00 NYU 1 1 1 1 2...

Cowen: With 60% Marginal Tax Rate in 2011, The Time Has Come for Spending Cuts

Posted on April 21, 2010
New York Times op-ed, Can?t Cut Spending? Look Around the Globe, by Tyler Cowen (George Mason): America's long-run fiscal outlook is bleak, mostly because of an aging population and rising health care costs. To close the gap between expenditures and revenue, we?ll likely see a combination of revenue increases and...

Cain: DOMA and the Internal Revenue Code

Posted on April 21, 2010
Patricia Cain (Santa Clara) has published DOMA and the Internal Revenue Code, 84 Chi-Kent L. Rev. 481 (2009). Here is the abstract: The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prohibits the recognition of same-sex marriages for any purpose under federal tax law...

Vanderbilt 2Ls Push for Better Employment Data

Posted on April 21, 2010
Vanderbilt 2Ls Patrick J. Lynch and Kyle P. McEntee have posted A Way Forward: Improving Transparency in Employment Reporting at American Law Schools on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The decision to attend law school in the 21st century requires an increasingly significant financial investment, yet very little information about...

Online LL.M. Programs

Posted on April 21, 2010
National Law Journal, Get That Master of Laws Degree Online: Earning a LL.M. degree no longer requires showing up on campus. A growing number of traditional law schools are offering master of laws degrees entirely or primarily through online classes. Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Southwestern University School of...

Taxes and Financial Aid

Posted on April 21, 2010
Micahel A. Olivas (Houston) passed on these pieces on taxes and college financial aid (which particuarly struck me as I am on a college tour with my high school senior): Birmingham News, Alabama's Prepaid College Tuition Program Running Out of Money Houston Chronicle, 7,000 Drop Texas Prepaid Tuition Plan Since...

Friedman Presents Adjustment Costs, Firm Responses, and Labor Supply Elasticities Today at Penn

Posted on April 21, 2010
John Friedman (Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government) presents Adjustment Costs, Firm Responses, and Labor Supply Elasticities: Evidence from Danish Tax Records (with Raj Chetty (Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government), Tore Olsen (Harvard University, Department of Economics) & Luigi Pistaferri (Stanford University, Department of Economics)) at Pennsylvania today as...

San Diego Honors Les Snyder Today

Posted on April 21, 2010
The University of San Diego School of Law Tax Law Society is hosting a Spring Mixer today in honor of Lester B. Snyder for his contributions USD and its tax program. Karen C. Burke, M. Carr Ferguson, and Richard C. Pugh will deliver remarks. From Les's faculty web page: A...

Tax Court: IRS Agent Liable for Taxes (and Penalties) on Unreported Income From Thousands of eBay Sales

Posted on April 21, 2010
The Tax Court yesterday held that an IRS agent was liable for taxes (and penalties) on her unreported income from thousands of eBay sales. Orellana v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2010-51 (Apr. 20, 2010): Petitioner has been employed by the IRS since 2001...

Cunningham: The FLP, the Transfer Taxes, and the Income Tax

Posted on April 21, 2010
Laura Cunningham (Cardozo) has posted The FLP, the Transfer Taxes, and the Income Tax, 127 Tax Notes ___ (May 2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Despite repeated calls for reform, Congress has declined to act to curb transfer tax avoidance through the use of family limited partnerships (?FLP?s")...

Burman: Health Mandate -- It's Just a Tax Break in Disguise

Posted on April 21, 2010
Leonard E. Burman (Syracuse University, Maxwell School), Health Mandate: It's Just a Tax Break in Disguise (CNN Money): I'm doing my taxes and thinking about mandates. That is natural because health reform passed during tax season. Critics argue that the new law's requirement to purchase insurance or pay a fine...

New 2011 U.S. News Tax Rankings

Posted on April 20, 2010
Here are the new 2011 U.S. News Tax Rankings, along with last year's rankings: 2011 Rank Tax Program 2010 Rank 1 NYU 1 2 Georgetown 2 3 Florida 3 4 Northwestern 4 5 Miami 6 6 Boston University 6 6 San Diego 11 8 Harvard 5 9 Loyola-L.A. 16 10...

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