Taxation & Estate Planning

IRS Commissioner Requests Additional $21m So IRS Will Not Answer Taxpayer Phone Calls 25% of the Time

Posted on February 25, 2010
In testimony yesterday before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman requested an additional $20.9 million to increase its level of telephone performance from 71% to 75%. From the National Taxpayer Advocate's 2009 Annual Report to Congress: [T]axpayers have found it increasingly difficult...

Mugel Tax Moot Begins Today at SUNY-Buffalo

Posted on February 25, 2010
The 2010 Albert R. Mugel National Tax Moot Court Competition (announcement) kicks off today at SUNY-Buffalo: The Mugel Competition is the oldest national tax moot court competition in the United States. Each year, the competition gives law students from across the nation an opportunity to demonstrate their proficiency in oral...

The B-School Glass Ceiling

Posted on February 25, 2010
Inside Higher Ed, The B-School Glass Ceiling: Female professors at business schools tend to remain in the mid-faculty ranks after earning tenure, while their male counterparts are more likely to continue onward to full professor, according to a new study...

IRS = ATM: Inmates Get $100k in Bogus Tax Refunds

Posted on February 25, 2010
The IRS has sent over $100,000 in bogus tax refund checks to fifty inmates in a South Florida jail. It could have been worse -- the requested over $1 million in tax refunds. Associated Press, Inmates at S. Fla. Jail Accused of Scamming IRS Going Concern, Latest IRS Snafu: Inmates...

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Walker Presents General Legal Advice Mem. 2009-010 and § 864 Today at NYU

Posted on February 25, 2010
Andrew R. Walker (Milbank, New York) presents The Submerged Logic of 'Doing Business' and Attribution: Diving Below the Surface of the Offshore Lending 'GLAM' 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...

1st Circuit Denies Sperm Donor's Claimed Medical Expense Deduction

Posted on February 25, 2010
Following up my prior post: the First Circuit has summarily affirmed the decision of the Tax Court (Magdalin v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2008-293 (Dec. 23, 2008)) denying a sperm donor's claimed medical expense deduction, even though the Service allows (per Priv...

Brennan Presents The Taxation of Risky Returns Today at Yale

Posted on February 25, 2010
Thomas Brennan (Northwestern) presents Certainty and Uncertainty in the Taxation of Risky Returns at Yale today as part of its Law, Economics & Organization Workshop Series. Here is the abstract: I extend the general equilibrium techniques that have been applied to proportionate taxes to analyze the economic impact of non-proportionate...

Likhovski Presents Is Tax Law Culturally Specific? Today at UCLA

Posted on February 25, 2010
Assaf Likhovski (Tel-Aviv University, Faculty of Law) presents Is Tax Law Culturally Specific? Lessons from the History of Income Tax Law in Mandatory Palestine at UCLA today as part of its Tax Policy and Public Finance Colloquium Series hosted by Steven Bank and Kirk Stark...

More Tax Return Data on the Richest 400 Americans

Posted on February 24, 2010
Following up on last week's post, IRS Releases 2007 Tax Return Data on Wealthiest 400 Americans: Income Soared 31% (to $345m), Tax Rate Fell 3.2% (to 16.6%): Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Tax Rate for Richest 400 Taxpayers Plummeted in Recent Decades, Even as Their Pre-Tax Incomes Skyrocketed: The...

Law School Rankings: NLJ, Super Lawyers & U.S. News

Posted on February 24, 2010
The Business Insider has constructed a law school ranking with these weights: 40%: National Law Journal Go-To Law Schools (Placement in BigLaw 250) 40%: Super Lawyers (Number of Graduates Who Are Super Lawyers) 20%: U.S. News & World Report Here are the Top 20: Rank School Score NLJ 40% Super...

WSJ: Obama's 'Sneaky' New Tax on Investments

Posted on February 24, 2010
Wall Street Journal editorial, Obama's New Investment Tax: A Sneaky Medicare Levy on Dividends and Capital Gains: The White House's new health-care proposal promises the "largest middle class tax cut for health care in history," which is a creative way of describing a vast taxpayer-subsidized insurance entitlement...

Schlunk & Green Debate State Tax Structures

Posted on February 24, 2010
In June, I blogged the article by Herwig J. Schlunk (Vanderbilt), Why Every State Should Have an Income Tax (and a Retail Sales Tax, Too), 78 Miss. L.J. 637 (2009): This paper examines the general relationship between state tax policy and state spending policy and concludes that states that rely...

Kleinberger: The Snare and Delusion of the L3C

Posted on February 24, 2010
Daniel S. Kleinberger (William Mitchell) has posted The Snare and Delusion of the L3C on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In 2008, the Vermont legislature enacted and Vermont?s governor signed into the law the first ?low profit limited liability company? statute...

Man Who Bulldozed His $245k Home in Dispute With IRS and Bank May Do the Same to His Carpet Business

Posted on February 24, 2010
The local newspaper reports today that the man who bulldozed his $245,000 home in a dispute with the IRS and a local bank holding a $160,000 mortgage is now considering renting the bulldozer again to demolish the $500,000 building in which he operates his carpet business.

Wood Posts Tax Papers on SSRN

Posted on February 24, 2010
Robert W. Wood (Wood & Porter, San Francisco) has posted several of his recent tax articles on SSRN: Ten Tax Protestor Claims to Avoid, Forbes (Feb. 19, 2010) Ten Rules for Deducting Career Education, Forbes (Feb. 16, 2010) Ten Things to Know About COD Income, Forbes (Feb...

Schenk Presents Salience and Tax Design Today at Penn

Posted on February 24, 2010
Deborah H. Schenk (NYU) presents Salience and Tax Design at Pennsylvania today as part of its Center for Tax Law and Policy Seminar Series hosted by Chris William Sanchirico and Reed Shuldiner. Here is the abstract: This paper develops an argument for taking into account the salience of taxes as...

Wyden, Gregg Bipartisan Tax Reform Bill

Posted on February 24, 2010
Following up on yesterday's post, Sens. Wyden, Gregg Introduce Bipartisan Tax Reform Bill: 3 Individual Rates (15%, 25%, 35%), 1 Corporate Rate (24%): Text of Bill (the Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010) Homepage Two-Page Summary New Form 1040 (right) Congressional Research Service Revenue Estimate Combined Corporate Tax...

Senate Approves Jobs Bill, 70-28

Posted on February 24, 2010
The Senate yesterday voted 70-28 to approve the Jobs Bill (the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act of 2010): Text of Bill Joint Committee on Taxation, Technical Explanation (JCX-4-10) Joint Committee on Taxation, Revenue Estimate (JCX-5-10) Los Angeles Times Washington Post

President Obama's Health Care Tax Increases

Posted on February 23, 2010
The tax centerpiece of President Obama's $950 billion health care plan are (1) increasing the Medicare tax by 0.9% for those with incomes over $200,000 (single) and $250,000 (joint), and (2) extending the 2.9% Medicare tax on wages to investment income (interest, dividends, capital gains, etc...

The Curse of the 180 LSAT

Posted on February 23, 2010
The Curse of the LSAT 180: [] asked me to write a guest post about what it?s like to get a 180 on the LSAT ? likely expecting a feel-good piece, full of wisdom and wit, which would inspire others to excel on the test. This, however, is not my...

Woman Shoots at Husband for Not Sharing Tax Refund

Posted on February 23, 2010
Woman Shoots at Husband Who Won't Share Tax Money: A fight over tax money will lead to charges of attempted murder in Pine Lawn. Police say a woman followed her husband to work at a barber shop on Natural Bridge Saturday morning. She wanted him to give her some of...

Call for Speakers: CALI Conference -- Reboot Legal Education

Posted on February 23, 2010
The 20th Annual Conference for Law School Computing will be held Thursday, June 24 through Saturday June 26 at the Rutgers-Camden School of Law. The theme of this year's conference is "Reboot Legal Education." CALI has issued a Call for Speakers to law faculty, librarians, and IT staff...

State Tax Revenues

Posted on February 23, 2010
The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government reported today that state tax revenues fell for the fifth consecutive quarter, down 4.1% for the final quarter of 2009: Corporate income tax: -5.8% Personal income tax: -4.5% Sales tax: -4.2% The decline was biggest in the Southwest (-18...

Law School Rankings and Diversity

Posted on February 23, 2010
Wendy Nelson Espeland (Northwestern University, Department of Sociology) & Michael Sauder (University of Iowa, Department of Sociology) have published Rankings and Diversity, 18 S. Cal. Rev. L. & Soc. Just. 587 (2009). Here is part of the Introduction: We begin with a brief overview of the meanings of ?diversity? and...

IRS Slaps Snoop Dogg With $600k Tax Lien

Posted on February 23, 2010
The IRS has slapped rapper Snoop Dogg with a $598,309 tax lien: The IRS filed a $598,309 lien against Snoop Dogg (real name Cordozar Calvin Broadus) and his wife on Jan. 19 with the Los Angeles County Recorder of Deeds. Detroit News Web CPA

WSJ: IRS Plane Bomber in a Long Line of Tax Haters

Posted on February 23, 2010
Wall Street Journal, IRS Plane Bomber in a Long Line of Haters, by Arden Dale: Tax rage, like road rage, can be deadly. Oliver Wendell Holmes said that ?Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.? They are the source of many uncivilized acts, too...

Law School Buys Stadium Naming Rights

Posted on February 23, 2010
Thomas M. Cooley Law School has agreed to pay $1.5 million for an 11-year contract for the naming rights to the Lansing Lugnuts (Class A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays) baseball stadium. The ballpark now will be called Cooley Law School Stadium. Before its bankruptcy, GM paid $1...

Christians Presents Taxation in a Time of Crisis Today at Michigan

Posted on February 23, 2010
Allison Christians (Wisconsin) presents Taxation in a Time of Crisis: Policy Leadership from the OECD to the G-20, 5 Nw. J. L. & Soc. Pol'y ___ (2010), at Michigan today as part of its Tax Policy Workshop Series coordinated by Reuven S. Avi-Yonah. Here is the abstract: After decades of...

Sens. Wyden, Gregg Introduce Bipartisan Tax Reform Bill: 3 Individual Rates (15%, 25%, 35%), 1 Corporate Rate (24%)

Posted on February 23, 2010
Following up on last week's post, Sens. Wyden, Gregg to Introduce Bipartisan Tax Reform Bill: Sens. Wyden and Gregg have published an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal, A Bipartisan Plan for Tax Fairness: The U.S. Shouldn't Have One of the Highest Corporate Rates in the World: There is an...

NLJ's Law School Report

Posted on February 22, 2010
Following up this morning's post, Law School Rankings by Placement in 250 Largest Law Firms: here are all of the articles in the National Law Journal's annual Law Schools Report: Holding Schools Accountable: ABA Is Pushing Educators to Prove Their Law Graduates Can Cut It: "When 3,500 legal educators convened...

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