Taxation & Estate Planning

CCH Summary of Tax Provisions of Senate Health Care Bill

Posted on December 22, 2009
CCH has published a 9-page special briefing on the Tax Provisions of the Senate's Health Care Bill: Required Individual Coverage Affordability Credits Enhanced Employer Responsibility Small Business Tax Credits Medicare Payroll Surtax Tax On High-Cost Insurance New Caps On FSAs

Frank Wu Named Chancellor and Dean at UC-Hastings

Posted on December 22, 2009
The Board of Directors of UC-Hastings College of the Law today named Frank H. Wu (Howard) Chancellor and Dean (from among five finalists). From the UC-Hastings press release: Frank H. Wu [is] the former dean at Wayne State University Law School, where he was the nation's youngest law school Dean...

Johnson Posts Tax Papers on SSRN

Posted on December 22, 2009
Calvin H. Johnson (Texas) has posted a number of his tax papers on SSRN: Fixing Capital Gains at the Core, 125 Tax Notes 1221 (Dec. 14, 2009) Timber!, 125 Tax Notes 801 (Nov. 16, 2009) Accurate and Honest Tax Accounting for Oil and Gas, 125 Tax Notes 573 (Nov...

Johnson: Fixing Capital Gains

Posted on December 21, 2009
Calvin H. Johnson (Texas) has posted Fixing Capital Gains at the Core, 125 Tax Notes 1221 (Dec. 14, 2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The income tax brackets, with rates up to 35%, attempt to adjust the tax rate to the standard of living that the income supports...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

Posted on December 21, 2009
Geithner Tax Services Long Sleeve Tee Shirts. Other Geithner products: Baseball Jerseys Caps Hooded Sweatshirt Mug Short Sleeve Tee Shirts Travel Mug Women's Cap Sleeve Tee Shirts Women's Hooded Sweathshirts Women's Spaghetti Tank Tops Women's Tee Shirts

IRS Files $8.15 million in Tax Liens Against Sinbad

Posted on December 21, 2009
The IRS has filed $8.15 million in tax liens against comedian/actor Sinbad (David Adkins) and is seeking to force the sale of his house to partially satisfy the tax debt. From the Detroit News: On Dec. 11, the day after the government filed the case, Sinbad filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy...

ERISA and the Rise of the Faculty Free Agent

Posted on December 21, 2009
Gail Heriot (San Diego), Did ERISA Contribute to the Decline of Faculty Governance on Campus?: The traditional system ... has broken down in the last few decades in part, I believe, because academics have become more mobile. Today?s academic is a free agent who may work at a half dozen...

TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup

Posted on December 21, 2009
Saturday: Reid Adds "BoehTax" to Health Reform Bill 1L Exam Fiasco at NYU How § 195 Can Jump-Start the American Economy The Madness of State Film Tax Incentives Sunday: Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads CTJ: Tax Justice Digest UC-Hastings Dean Finalists New York's 'Convenience of the Employer Test'

WSJ: On Congress, the Estate Tax and the Constitution

Posted on December 21, 2009
Wall Street Journal, On Congress, the Estate Tax and the Constitution, by Ashby Jones: The health care debate is one thing, but the current situation involving the federal estate tax really makes you question if the good folks in Congress have any idea what they?re doing...

Kahn: Justifying the Tax Exclusion for Insurance

Posted on December 21, 2009
Jeffrey H. Kahn (Washington & Lee) has posted Justifying the Exclusion of Insurance, 125 Tax Notes 1216 (Dec. 14, 2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Using § 123 (exclusion for casualty insurance proceeds for excess living expenses) as an example, this article provides a tax policy justification for the...

2000-2009: The Worst Decade for Stocks. Ever.

Posted on December 21, 2009
Wall Street Journal, Investors Hope the '10s Beat the '00s: Since End of 1999, U.S. Stocks' Performance Has Been the All-Time Clunker; Even 1930s Beat It: The U.S. stock market is wrapping up what is likely to be its worst decade ever. In nearly 200 years of recorded stock-market history,...

Journal of the American Taxation Association Publishes New Issue

Posted on December 21, 2009
The Journal of the American Taxation Association has published its Spring 2009 issue: William Moser & Andy Puckett, Dividend Tax Clienteles: Evidence from Tax Law Changes, 31 J. Am. Tax'n Ass'n 1 (Spring 2009): We investigate institutional investors? preference for dividend-paying stocks following changes in the dividend tax penalty during...

Martin: Reconfiguring Estate Settlement

Posted on December 21, 2009
John H. Martin (Ohio Northern) has published Reconfiguring Estate Settlement, 94 Minn. L. Rev. 42 (2009). Here is the abstract: Probate, the judicial process for settling a decedent?s estate, has been vilified and shunned for nearly five decades. Its cost, delay, and lack of privacy motivate the public and their...

CTJ: Tax Justice Digest

Posted on December 20, 2009
Citizens for Tax Justice, Tax Justice Digest (Dec. 18, 2009): Major Federal Tax Issues Left to Be Resolved as 2009 Ends Does IRS Notice Allowing TARP Recipients to Save Billions in Taxes Cost Ordinary Americans?

UC-Hastings Dean Finalists

Posted on December 20, 2009
David L. Faigman (Professor, UC-Hastings Law School) Jamienne S. Studley (President, Public Advocates, Inc.; former President, Skidmore College; former Associate Dean, Yale Law School) Mary A. Crossley (Dean, Pittsburgh Law School) Symeon C. Symeonides (Dean, Willamette) Frank H...

New York's 'Convenience of the Employer Test'

Posted on December 20, 2009
Brian C. Borie (J.D. 2009, Albany) has published Comment, The Convenience of the Employer Test: Why We Should Reconsider the Critique of New York's Tax Apportionment Scheme, 72 Alb. L. Rev. 789 (2009). Here is part of the Conclusion: As the courts and the legislature have recognized, the convenience test...

Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on December 20, 2009
There is a bit of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with a new paper debuting on the list at #5: 1. [423 Downloads] 2009 Federal Tax Update, by Samuel A. Donaldson (U. Washington) 2. [259 Downloads] The Accidental Deduction: A History and...

Reid Adds "BoehTax" to Health Reform Bill

Posted on December 19, 2009
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid this morning unveiled his 383-page Manager's Amendment to the health care reform bill (H.R. 3590), which includes a variety of tax-related changes. Sen. Reid replaced the controversial BoTax -- a 5% tax on elective cosmetic surgery -- with a 10% tax on indoor tanning services,...

1L Exam Fiasco at NYU

Posted on December 19, 2009
Following up on Tuesday's post, Exam Fiasco at Oregon: Above the Law reprints this email from NYU Vice Dean Liam Murphy in Visiting Professor at NYU Makes a Mess of 1L Contracts Exam: Dear Members of 1L Section 2, I am writing to you about a serious issue that has...

How § 195 Can Jump-Start the American Economy

Posted on December 19, 2009
Andrea Marks (J.D. 2010, Houston) has published Comment, Living the Dream: How I.R.C. § 195 Can Jump-Start the American Economy, 46 Hous. L. Rev. 905 (2009). Here is part of the Introduction: This Comment discusses the history of § 195 and how it should be amended to encourage start-up businesses...

The Madness of State Film Tax Incentives

Posted on December 19, 2009
Adrian H. McDonald (J.D. 2007, South Texas) has posted Down the Rabbit Hole: The Madness of State Film Incentives as a 'Solution' to Runaway Production on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This working paper is a "sequel" to my first law review article [Through the Looking Glass: Runaway Productions and...

Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

Posted on December 18, 2009
Form 1040 Toilet Paper ($3.49 per roll): Does it pain you to fill out a tax form each year? Does knowing that the IRS takes a large chunk of your salary give you the runs? This product isn't deductible, but it'll sure make you feel better. A collage of the...

Estate Tax News

Posted on December 18, 2009
Following up on recent estate tax posts (here, here, and here): Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Contrary to Claims, Allowing Estate Tax to Expire Would Make Family Farms and Small Businesses Worse off Overall Don't Mess With Taxes, Senate Pulls the Estate Tax Plug Forbes, Congress Throws Estate Plans...

Aprill: The Ballot, the Bimah, and the Tax Code

Posted on December 18, 2009
Ellen P. Aprill (Loyola-L.A.) has posted The Ballot, the Bimah, and the Tax Code on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Under the Internal Revenue Code, synagogues, like other organizations exempt under § 501(c)(3), are prohibited from political campaign intervention, may engage in some lobbying, and are free to take positions...

State Courts Should Not Give Chevron Deference to State Tax Administrative Rulings

Posted on December 18, 2009
D. Zachary Hudson (J.D. 2010, Yale) has published Comment, A Case for Varying Interpretive Deference at the State Level, 119 Yale L.J. 373 (2009). Here is part of the Introduction: In Chevron, the Supreme Court mandated that a federal agency?s interpretation of a statute be shown judicial deference when Congress...

Live Webcast of Today's Volcker Tax Reform Panel Meeting

Posted on December 18, 2009
The President's Tax Reform Panel (President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB)) holds a meeting today at 2:00 p.m. EST to examine "the pros and cons of a spectrum of reform ideas relating to tax simplification, enforcement of existing tax laws and reform the corporate tax system without considering policies that...

CBO Releases Estate & Gift Tax Data

Posted on December 18, 2009
The CBO today released Federal Estate and Gift Taxes:

E&Y Mines IRS Data on Colleges & Universities

Posted on December 18, 2009
Ernst & Young has released a report prepared for the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges and National Association of College and University Business Officers: The IRS, as part of its focused effort to study key areas in the tax-exempt community, has undertaken a compliance project for colleges...

New Issue of Atax's eJournal of Tax Research

Posted on December 18, 2009
Volume 7, Issue 2 (Dec. 2009) of the eJournal of Tax Research, published by Atax (Australian Taxation Studies Program), University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, and edited by Binh Tran-Nam & Michael Walpole, is available on its web site: Philip Lignier, The Managerial Benefits of Tax Compliance: Perception by...

WaPo on W&L's 3L Curricular Reform

Posted on December 18, 2009
Washington Post, Washington and Lee Takes Law Students from Class to Court: [The 3L year] at the Washington and Lee University law school [is] an experiment that breaks with 140 years of tradition on how law should be taught. Success could set the Virginia institution apart among an intensely competitive...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.