Taxation & Estate Planning

In Hoc Anno Domini

Posted on December 25, 2009
The Wall Street Journal has published this wonderful editorial each Christmas since 1949, In Hoc Anno Domini: When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for...

Our Christmas Dog

Posted on December 25, 2009
Long-time readers of this blog will recall the family trauma we endured 3 1/2 years ago when we had to put down our beloved family dog Sandy: Sandy soon became enmeshed in the daily rhythms of our family life. She came with me when I coached my kids' sports teams...

Pratt: What I Want for Christmas Is . . .

Posted on December 25, 2009
Tax Prof Katherine Pratt (Loyola-L.A.), What I Want for Christmas Is . . . , L.A. Daily Journal, Dec. 24, 2009: Nothing. Well, not exactly nothing -- just nothing for me. What I really want for Christmas is for more holiday gift-givers to honor their family, friends and business contacts...

'Twas the Night Before Christmas, Legal Version

Posted on December 24, 2009
Check out the original and legal versions of the classic poem, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas [click on chart to enlarge]:

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WSJ: Four Treasury Dept Nominees Left Hanging As Senate Leaves Town

Posted on December 24, 2009
Wall Street Journal, Four Treasury Dept Nominees Left Hanging As Senate Leaves Town: The U.S. Senate adjourned Thursday, leaving four Treasury Dept. nominees that have been awaiting confirmation in limbo until at least Jan. 20. Those nominees include Lael Brainard, the White House's pick for Treasury under-secretary for international affairs,...

Faherty Student Tax Writing Competition -- $3,000 First Prize

Posted on December 24, 2009
The Center for Tax Law and Employee Benefits at The John Marshall Law School Chicago sponsors the Paul Faherty Tax Law Writing Competition: Scope: The scope of permissible topics for the writing competition is broad -- any aspect of Tax Law is acceptable: ...

Exam Fiasco at Minnesota

Posted on December 24, 2009
Following up on exam fiascos at NYU and Oregon, Above the Law reports on the problems with Stephen J. Cribari's Evidence exam at Minnesota: Evidence Students - It seems that thirty of the seventy short answer questions on the Evidence exam are, through no student?s fault, compromised...

Manns: The Estate Tax Treatment of Reversions

Posted on December 24, 2009
F. Philip Manns Jr. (Liberty) has published New Reasons to Remember the Estate Taxation of Reversions, 44 Real Prop. Tr. & Est. L.J. 323 (2009). Here is the abstract: Multiple law reform efforts are underway to reverse the no-implied-conditions-of-survivorship rule historically applying to future interests...

Sen. Grassley Releases Hold on Treasury Nominations After IRS Suspends Small Business Tax Penalty

Posted on December 24, 2009
Washington Post, Grassley Puts Pressure on Treasury in Tax Dispute: Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) on Wednesday criticized a Treasury Department ruling that let Citigroup keep billions of dollars in tax breaks and threatened to prevent the confirmation of several nominees for senior Treasury posts until the department suspended efforts...

Senate Health Vote Sets Clash With House Over Taxes

Posted on December 24, 2009
Bloomberg, Senate Health Vote Sets Clash With House Over Taxes: Senate Democrats, fresh off their victory on health-care legislation, now face the prospect of an even bigger fight with the U.S. House over how to pay for it. The two chambers took different paths toward covering tens of millions of...

Senate Finance Committee Approves Brainard, Mundaca Nominations for Treasury Posts

Posted on December 24, 2009
The Senate Finance Committee yesterday approved the nominations of Michael Mundaca (Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy) and Lael Brainard (Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs). Prior TaxProf Blog coverage: More on Brainard Nomination (Nov...

Black: Same-Sex Marriage and Taxes

Posted on December 24, 2009
Stephen T. Black (Franklin Pierce) has posted Same-Sex Marriage and Taxes, 22 BYU J. Pub. L. 327 (2008), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Our tax system, while frequently criticized for its complexity, has the flexibility to encourage or influence behavior...

IRS Has 70% Error Rate in Issuance of Taxpayer ID Numbers, Resulting in Fraudulent Tax Refunds

Posted on December 23, 2009
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration yesterday released Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers Are Being Issued Without Sufficient Supporting Documentation (2010-40-005): The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) today publicly released its review of the IRS's processing of applications for Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs)...

Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

Posted on December 23, 2009
Available on eBay: Mortimer Caplin IRS Commissioner Signed Autograph: This is an authentic hand signed item and is NOT a preprint. Buy It Now price: $9.99. From Wikipedia: First in his class at University of Virginia School of Law, and Editor-in-Chief of Virginia Law Review, Caplin served as a law...

Jimmy Dore on the Estate Tax

Posted on December 23, 2009

Bogdanski: Pierre and Gifts of Interests in Single-Member LLCs

Posted on December 23, 2009
John A. Bogdanski (Lewis & Clark) has published Much Ado About (a Tax) Nothing: Pierre v. Commissioner, 36 Est. Plan. 38 (Dec. 2009): A divided Tax Court has held that gifts of interests in a single-member LLC are eligible for entity-related valuation discounts, such as minority and lack-of-marketability discounts, under...

Single Member LLCs in Federal Court

Posted on December 23, 2009
Carter G. Bishop (Suffolk) & Daniel S. Kleinberger (William Mitchell) have posted An SMLLC Paradox: Disregarded for Federal Tax Purposes But Not in Federal Court on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In Federal Court, the only member of a SMLLC may not represent the SMLLC unless that owner is also...

The Impact of the Tiger Woods Scandal on His Charities

Posted on December 23, 2009
Today's Orange County Register has a great article on the impact of the Tiger Woods scandal on his three charities [click on the links for the latest Form 990 for each]: The Tiger Woods Charity Event Corp. The Tiger Woods Foundation The Tiger Woods Learning Center Foundation From Tiger Woods'...

Benko: The Regulatory Systems for Employee Benefits

Posted on December 23, 2009
Brian A. Benko (McDermott Will & Emery, Washington, D.C.) has posted The Regulatory Systems for Employee Benefits, 63 Tax Law. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Employee Benefits Law is complex and often misunderstood. This article explains the regulatory systems developed by Congress over nearly a century...

The Give Blog: The Perfect Last-Minute Christmas Gift

Posted on December 23, 2009
Following up on my post exactly one month ago on The Give Blog: in today's Chicago Tribune, Champaign Husband, Wife Are Ultra-Frugal So They Can Help Charities; They Aren't Giving Christmas Gift to One Another, but They Hope to Give Away $50,000: Suja Thomas, who wears socks with holes, isn't...

Schenk Posts Tax Papers on SSRN

Posted on December 23, 2009
Alan S. Schenk (Wayne State) has posted two tax papers on SSRN: Taxation of Financial Services (Including Insurance) Under a United States Value Added Tax, 63 Tax L. Rev. ___ (2010) Worldwide Versus Territorial Tax Systems: Comparison of Value Added Tax and Income Tax, in Value Added Tax and Direct...

Tax in the Trusts & Estates Course

Posted on December 22, 2009
From the AALS Section on Trusts and Estates Fall 2009 Newsletter (pp. 7-8): Thomas P. Gallanis, the N. William Hines Professor of Law at the University of Iowa College of Law and a past chair of the Section on Trusts and Estates, set out to compile answers to that question...

UC-Irvine to Provide 50% Scholarships to its Second Entering Class

Posted on December 22, 2009
Following up on the 100% scholarships given to its inaugural Class of 2012 (which resulted in a Top 20 entering class with 167 LSAT and 3.65 GPA medians, and the nation's best 4% acceptance rate), UC-Irvine announced yesterday that it woukd provide 50% scholarships to the incoming Class of 2013:...

Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

Posted on December 22, 2009
IRS Logo Plaque: This solid mahogany wall plaque shows the Internal Revenue Service seal. Great government gift, government retirement gift, or government recognition award. This hand carved and hand painted wooden plaque is perfect as a wall plaque or podium plaque...

Tax Prof Submissions to President Obama's Tax Reform Task Force

Posted on December 22, 2009
The President's Tax Reform Panel (President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB)) has released 384 tax reform suggestions it has received, including from these Tax Profs: William Barker (Penn State) Fred Brown (Baltimore) David Herzig (Valparaiso) Calvin Johnson (Texas) Theodore Seto (Loyola-L...

The Young Turks on the Estate Tax

Posted on December 22, 2009

Business Law Student Writing Competition

Posted on December 22, 2009
The Michigan State Journal of Business and Securities Law is now accepting submissions for its annual Elliott A. Spoon Business Law Writing Competition. Submit a journal style article on any current topic concerning business or securities law. The Elliot A...

IRS Cannot Verify Taxpayer Eligibility for 2/3 of $325 Billion of Stimulus Tax Benefits

Posted on December 22, 2009
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today released Evaluation of the Internal Revenue Service?s Capability to Ensure Proper Use of Recovery Act Funds (2010-41-011): The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today publicly released its review of the IRS?s ability to verify taxpayer eligibility for tax benefits and credits...

Senate Pledges to Retroactively Restore Expiring Tax Breaks in 2010

Posted on December 22, 2009
Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D., Mont.) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) today pledged to pass the tax extenders legislationearly in 2010, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010. Interestingly, Sens. Baucus and Grassley did not mention the retroactivity of any estate tax bill...

Pittsburgh Abandons 1% Tuition Tax for Larger "Voluntary" Contributions from Colleges

Posted on December 22, 2009
Following up on my prior posts (here and here): Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has abandoned his proposed 1% tuition tax in exchange for pledges by colleges and universities within the city to make larger voluntary donations to the city in lieu of property taxes on their tax-exempt property: Associated Press...

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