Taxation & Estate Planning

The ABA Blawg 100 -- Legal Theory

Posted on December 08, 2009
Here is the first week's voting for the 2009 ABA Blawg 100, in the Legal Theory category: 1 Volokh Conspiracy 103 2 TaxProf Blog 50 3 Leiter's Law School Reports 17 4 Concurring Opinions 17 5 Feminist Law Professors 17 6 Legal Ethics Forum 15 7 PrawfsBlawg 14 8 Becker-Posner...

Jerry Springer & Chesty Love Discuss Tax Court Decision Allowing Depreciation of Her Breast Implants

Posted on December 08, 2009
Ann Murphy (Gonzaga) passed along this celebrity tax tip: Jerry Springer and exotic dancer Chesty Love discussing the Tax Court's decision allowing her to depreciate the cost of her silicone breast implants in Hess v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 1994-79 (May 4, 1994)...

Tax Consequences of Tiger Woods' Marital Troubles

Posted on December 07, 2009
Don't Mess With Taxes, Tiger Tales, Taxes and Divorce Tax Girl, Taking Tiger by the Tax Tale Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog, More on Tiger Woods' New Marital Agreement Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog, Price for Cheating -- $5,000,000

NY Times: Is it OK for Law Firms to Discriminate Against Conservative Law Students?

Posted on December 07, 2009
New York Times, The Ethicist: Taking on the Unlikables: While interviewing law students for jobs as paid summer interns and full-time associates for my firm, I noticed several had résumés listing their activities in the Federalist Society. Some of my partners have conservative views similar to those of the society,...

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Why Does the IRS Audit the Poor?

Posted on December 07, 2009
Seattle Times, $10 an Hour With 2 kids? IRS Pounces, by Danny Westneat: Rachel Porcaro knows she's hardly rich. When you're a single mom making 10 bucks an hour, you don't need government experts to tell you how broke you are. But that's what happened...

Supreme Court Grants Cert. in UC-Hastings Christian Legal Society Case

Posted on December 07, 2009
The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to hear an appeal from a 9th Circuit decision upholding UC-Hastings College of Law's decision to deny student-activities funds and official recognition to a Christian Legal Society student group on the ground that the group's refusal to allow gay and lesbian members and officers...

The Declining Tax Rate on Millionaires

Posted on December 07, 2009
Following up on my post last month on the Fall 2009 Statistics of Income Bulletin, which included the article, Individual Income Tax Returns, 2007: Martin Sullivan today tracks the declining U.S. tax rate on millionaires:

Ralph Nader Disses Law Schools

Posted on December 07, 2009
Ralph Nader Calls Out Legal Profession, Law Schools (The Connecticut Law Tribune): A University of Connecticut School of Law moot courtroom was a fitting setting last month, as consumer activist, politician and lawyer Ralph Nader sought to put the legal profession on trial...

Do Law Schools Average LSAT Scores or Take the Highest Score?

Posted on December 06, 2009
Do Law Schools Average LSAT Scores?: [I]n June of 2006, the ABA replaced their longstanding requirement that schools report their students? average scores with a new requirement that schools report only their students? highest scores. Mind you, strictly speaking, this change had nothing to do with law school admissions, but...

IRS Sells Indian Tribe's Land to Pay $3.1m in Employment Taxes

Posted on December 06, 2009
The IRS on Thursday auctioned off 7,100 acres (11 square miles) owned by an impoverished Indian tribe to help pay off more than $3 million in back employment taxes, penalties and interest. The tribe has sued to block the sale, claiming that it was told by a Bureau of Indian...

Horses and Hobby Losses

Posted on December 06, 2009
Anna I. Garcia (J.D. 2010, Kentucky) has published Comment. Topping v. Commissioner: An Example of How an Equestrian Taxpayer Can Utilize "Single Activity" to Preclude the IRS "Hobby Loss" Challenge. (Topping v. Comm'r, 93 T.C.M. (CCH) 1120, 2007), 1 Ky...

1/3 of Tax Returns Filed Pay Zero Tax (and 1/2 of Those Get "Refunds")

Posted on December 05, 2009
The Tax Foundation reported yesterday that 46.6 million people who filed tax returns in 2007 had a zero or negative tax liability -- 32.6% of the 143.0 million tax returns filed. In about half of these cases, substantial additional money was "refunded" to the tax filer...

TIGTA Submits Semiannual Report to Congress

Posted on December 05, 2009
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration yesterday submitted its Semiannual Report to Congress: I am pleased to submit this Semiannual Report to Congress, highlighting the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration?s many accomplishments in promoting its mission to provide oversight of the IRS and protect the integrity of Federal...

Lahav: Why Did Israeli Law Faculties Come to Resemble Elite U.S. Law Schools?

Posted on December 05, 2009
Pnina Lahav (Boston University) has posted American Moment[s]: When, How, and Why Did Israeli Law Faculties Come to Resemble Elite U.S. Law Schools?, Theoretical Inquiries in Law, Vol. 10, No. 2, Art. 13, 2009. Here is the abstract: Following independence in 1948, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem founded a law...

Total Tax Ratio as Percentage of GDP, 2008

Posted on December 05, 2009
OECD, Revenue Statistics 1965-2008 (2009 ed.): The overall tax-to-GDP ratio in OECD countries was 35.8% in 2007, the latest year for which complete figures are available. ... Out of 26 OECD countries that have provided provisional figures for 2008, tax-to-GDP ratios fell in 17 and rose in 9...

Tax Practices Are Booming Because of UBS Tax Shelter Investigation

Posted on December 04, 2009
The Recorder, Amnesty's Allure: The Justice Department's success in cracking the secrecy of Swiss bank UBS has opened up a whole new arena for lawyers handling tax disputes. The lower-penalty voluntary disclosure program the IRS ran between March and October prompted thousands of U...

Buchanan: The Public and Higher Education

Posted on December 04, 2009
Tax Prof Neil H. Buchanan (George Washington): The Real Damage From Investing Too Little in Higher Education: State Budget Cuts and Federal Responsibilities (FindLaw) Public Skepticism About Higher Education (Dorf on Law)

Sen. Schumer's Bill Provides Tax Incentives to Kill Bambi

Posted on December 04, 2009
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has introduced S. 2794, which provides tax incentives for the charitable donation of wild game meat: Sen Schumer press release Albany Times Union, Chuck Schumer Courts Hunters (Since Deer Can?t Vote) Future of Capitalism, Senator Schumer Shoots for Bambi Newsday, Schumer Proposes Tax Break for Deer...

U.S. News to Expand Rankings of Part-Time J.D. Programs

Posted on December 04, 2009
Robert Morse, Director of Data Research at U.S. News & World Report, announced on his blog yesterday that the magazine will expand its ranking of part-time J.D. programs to include peer assessment scores: In addition to having a peer score on a 5.0 scale, U...

Democrats Propose .25% Stock Transaction Tax to Raise $150b/Year

Posted on December 04, 2009
Democrats in the House and Senate yesterday proposed a transaction tax to raise $150 billion per year to help close the federal budget deficit and fund infrastructure projects. H.R. 4191, the Let Wall Street Pay for the Restoration of Main Street Act, would impose a 0...

The Impact of a Law Review Article v. a Popular Press Book

Posted on December 04, 2009
Jay D. Wexler (Boston University) compares the impact of his article, Preparing for the Clothed Public Square: Teaching About Religion, Civic Education, and the Constitution, 43 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 1159 (2002), with the popular press book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't (Harper, 2007):

Rangel Identifies $30b of Tax Increases to Pay for 45 Tax Extenders

Posted on December 04, 2009
House Ways & Means Committee Chair Charles Rangel (D-NY) yesterday announced that Tax Extenders Act of 2009 (blogged here) would include two revenue-raising provisions to pay the $30 billion cost of extending 45 tax provisions that are scheduled to expire at the end of 2009: H...

Estate Planning Mishaps of the Rich and Famous

Posted on December 04, 2009
Forbes, Estate Mistakes: Where Heath Ledger And Princess Di Went Wrong; What You Can Learn From the Planning Failures of the Rich and Famous, reviewing Andrew W. Mayoras & Danielle B. Mayoras, Trial & Heirs (Wise Circle Books, 2009): What do Princess Di, Marlon Brando, Heath Ledger, Jimi Hendrix and...

Remembering Ward Hussey

Posted on December 04, 2009
Following up on my prior post, Death of Ward M. Hussey: today's Washington Post has a letter to the editor, A Legislative Master at Work: He was a master of his art, what the Japanese call a living national treasure, an inspiration to others who strive to achieve excellence...

IRS & California Slap $1.9m Tax Liens Against Pamela Anderson

Posted on December 04, 2009
The IRS ($1.7 million) and California ($250,000) have slapped tax liens on actress Pamela Anderson.

House Approves Permanent Estate Tax Fix, 225-200

Posted on December 03, 2009
The House voted 225-200 today to approve H.R. 4154, the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009, which permanently extends the estate tax with a $3.5 million exemption ($7 million for married couples) and 45% top rate...

Mason Presents Rethinking Tax Expenditures Today at Columbia

Posted on December 03, 2009
Ruth Mason (UConn) presents Rethinking Tax Expenditures at Columbia today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. Here is the abstract: Critics have prematurely dismissed tax expenditures as a policy device based on the flawed assumption that the most likely alternative to tax expenditures are federally-administered programs that provide...

Tax Court Allows Nurse to Deduct Cost of University of Phoenix MBA

Posted on December 03, 2009
The Tax Court yesterday allowed a nurse to deduct the cost of an M.B.A. degree from the University of Phoenix. Singleton-Clarke v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2009-182 (Dec. 2, 2009) (citations omitted): Petitioner began taking courses at the University of Phoenix in March 2005, graduating in April 2008 with an...

NLJ: Law School Grades Matter More Than Ever; Harvard & Georgetown Ease Grade Curves

Posted on December 03, 2009
Grades: A Perspective -- Grades Matter, but Service Matters More, by William A. Chamberlain (Assistant Dean, Law Career Strategy and Advancement, Northwestern): Grades loom like Marley's ghost or the Spirit of Christmas Future in the minds of law students, particularly first-years, at this time of year...

IRS Releases 2010 Standard Mileage Rates

Posted on December 03, 2009
The IRS has released (IR-2009-111) the standard mileage rates for 2010 (Rev. Proc. 2009-54): Beginning on Jan. 1, 2010, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups, or panel trucks) will be: 50 cents per mile for business miles driven [down from 55 cents last...

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