Taxation & Estate Planning

Accounting Degrees at All-Time High

Posted on July 29, 2009
The AICPA yesterday released 2009 Trends in the Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits. From the press release: The number of students who graduated with accounting degrees in the 2007-08 school year surpassed the previous year's record level, according to a new report by the...

UBS Tax Shelter Case Update

Posted on July 29, 2009
Associated Press: Deal Far From Done in UBS Tax Evasion Case Bloomberg: UBS Client Chernick Admits Filing False Tax Return Reuters: U.S. Government Says No Deal Yet in UBS Tax Case WSJ Law Blog: In UBS Tax Case, U.S. Continues To Wage War, While Talking Peace

Taxing Abortion

Posted on July 29, 2009
In response to my post yesterday, Congress Considers "Botax" -- 10% Tax on Plastic Surgery to Fund Health Care Reform, Glenn Reynolds asks: "If Congress can tax plastic surgery, can it tax abortion?" Although there have been various suggestions to tax abortion, a colleague tells me that such a tax...

NY Times: Taxing Face Lifts and Abortions to Pay for Health Reform

Posted on July 29, 2009
New York Times: Taxing Face Lifts and Abortions to Pay for Health Reform, by Catherine Rampell: Forget taxing the rich, the obese or your employer?s health benefits. Here?s an even better way to turn health reform financing into a wedge issue. Some members of Congress are reportedly considering a cosmetic...

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2010 Princeton Review's Best 371 Colleges

Posted on July 28, 2009
The Princeton Review yesterday released The Best 371 Colleges ? 2010 Edition. According to the press release, the book contains 62 rankings based on surveys completed by 122,000 students at the 371 schools (325 per school), including these ten categories Best (Pomona) classroom experience Best (Davidson) and worst (U...

Markel & Polsky: Taxing Punitive Damages

Posted on July 28, 2009
Dan Markel (Florida State) & Gregg Polsky (Florida State) are working on a new paper, Taxing Punitive Damages. Here is the abstract: In this article, we address the important but astonishingly under-examined issues associated with the taxation law and policy related to punitive damages...

Tennessee Supreme Court Holds "Crack Tax" Unconstitutional

Posted on July 28, 2009
I previously blogged the Tennessee Court of Appeals' decision invalidating the state's "Crack Tax" (an excise tax on marijuana and cocaine dealers, not on plumbers). A divided (3-2) Tennessee Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed the decision, thus holding the law unconstitutional as applied to Steven Waters who was found with...

Senate Committee Unanimously Approves Wilkins Nomination to be IRS Chief Counsel

Posted on July 28, 2009
The Senate Finance Committee last Friday confirmed by unanimous consent the nomination of William J. Wilkins to be IRS Chief Counsel From the White House press release: William J. Wilkins of Washington, DC has been a partner in the Tax Practice Group of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP...

More Celebrity Tax Woes

Posted on July 28, 2009
The Detroit News recounts current tax troubles of various celebrities: Steve Austin (former wrestler): California $22k tax lien David Brenner (comedian): IRS $68k tax lien P. Diddy (rapper): IRS $7k tax lien Anna Kournikova (tennis player): California $6k tax lien Chris Rock (actor): California $3...

Congress Considers "Botax" -- 10% Tax on Plastic Surgery to Fund Health Care Reform

Posted on July 28, 2009
Don't Mess With Taxes Drudge Report The Guardian L.A. Times Tax Lawyer's Blog Tax Policy Blog

ABA Dismisses Complaints Over DePaul's Funding of Law School, Firing of Dean

Posted on July 28, 2009
In today's Chicago Tribune: DePaul Law School Complaints Fall Flat With ABA; Tiff Over Dean's Firing, Funding Goes Nowhere: Concerns over the financial affairs at DePaul University's law school -- first raised by the law-school dean who was later fired -- will not affect its status as an accredited institution...

Cooper: Ghosts of 1932 -- The Lost History of Estate and Gift Taxation

Posted on July 28, 2009
Jeffrey A. Cooper (Quinnipiac) has posted Ghosts of 1932: The Lost History of Estate and Gift Taxation on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In 1932, the United States confronted a bleak economic landscape. Amid the financial carnage caused by the 1929 stock market crash and the ensuing Great Depression, economic...

The Political Economy of Sin Taxes

Posted on July 28, 2009
Markus Haavio (University of Helsinki, Department of Economics) & Kaisa Kotakorpi (University of Tampere, Department of Economics) have posted The Political Economy of Sin Taxes on SSRN. Here is the abstract: We analyse the determination of taxes on harmful goods when consumers have self-control problems...

Henry Louis Gates' Tax Problem

Posted on July 28, 2009
From Inside Higher Ed: A foundation created and led by Henry Louis Gates Jr. is amending its federal tax form after questions were raised about $11,000 paid to foundation officers -- funds that the original tax form called research grants, but that should have been classified as compensation, ProPublica reported...

Maule: Student Focus

Posted on July 27, 2009
Jim Maule (Villanova) -- the "Yoda of Tax Teachers" -- has just completed a marvelous 12-part series on "Student Focus": I am going to share the portion of my first-day overview in all of the courses I teach that I call "student focus." In short, it is my explanation to...

Rosenzweig: Imperfect Financial Markets and the Hidden Costs of a Modern Income Tax

Posted on July 27, 2009
Adam H. Rosenzweig (Washington University) has published Imperfect Financial Markets and the Hidden Costs of a Modern Income Tax, 62 SMU L. Rev. 239 (2009). Here is the abstract: The news has been filled with stories of meltdowns in the financial world, with the government, independent agencies, and politicians all...

TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup

Posted on July 27, 2009
Saturday: Back Home in Cincinnati IRS Agent Indicted for Steering Delinquent Taxpayers to Mortgage Company for Refinancing Costanza and the Tax Treatment of SCINs Canceled by Death Sunday: Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads Going Concern: A New Accounting/Finance Blog How Tax Abuse Threatens Land Conservation

$2m Tax Malpractice

Posted on July 27, 2009
ABA Journal National Law Journal

Bainbridge: Kill UC-Irvine Law School

Posted on July 27, 2009
From Stephen Bainbridge (UCLA): The University of California's budget problems are well documented. The system has to cut $813 million. The administration and Regents have decided to do so by a draconian combination of faculty and staff furloughs, programs cuts ...

CRS: Tax Havens

Posted on July 27, 2009
Open CRS has released a new Congressional Research Service report, Tax Havens: International Tax Avoidance and Evasion (R40623) (July 9, 2009). Here is the summary: The federal government loses both individual and corporate income tax revenue from the shifting of profits and income into low-tax countries, often referred to as...

Morality and Charlie Rangel?s Taxes: It?s Much Easier to Raise Taxes If You Don?t Pay Them

Posted on July 27, 2009
Editorial in today's Wall Street Journal: Morality and Charlie Rangel?s Taxes: It?s Much Easier to Raise Taxes If You Don?t Pay Them: Ever notice that those who endorse high taxes and those who actually pay them aren?t the same people? Consider the curious case of Ways and Means Chairman Charlie...

Call for Tax Papers: Central States Law Schools Association

Posted on July 27, 2009
The Central States Law Schools Association has issued a call for papers for its Annual Conference on October 23-24, 2009 at Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio: The purpose of CSLSA is to foster scholarly exchanges among law faculty across legal disciplines...

Livingston: Rahm Emanuel and the Future of Law Schools

Posted on July 27, 2009
Tax Prof Michael A. Livingston (Rutgers-Camden) blogs on The Future of Law Schools: Rahm Emanuel has said that one should never waste a crisis, and the powers that be in American law schools appear to be taking this to heart. Every day or two, there is a new comment to...

How Tax Abuse Threatens Land Conservation

Posted on July 26, 2009
Erin B. Gisler (J.D. 2009, Santa Clara) has published Comment, Land Trusts in the Twenty-First Century: How Tax Abuse and Corporate Governance Threaten the Integrity of Charitable Land Preservation, 49 Santa Clara L. Rev. 1123 (2009). Here is part of the Introduction: This comment explores the pivotal role of land...

Going Concern: A New Accounting/Finance Blog

Posted on July 26, 2009
Welcome to the blogosphere: Going Concern, "A Tabloid for Accountants, CFOs & Fiance Execs" published by Breaking Media. From its About Us page: Going Concern is an online tabloid covering the worlds of accounting and business finance. The site provides original news and insider analysis of the culture, people, and...

Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on July 26, 2009
There is a bit of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with a new #1 paper and a new paper debuting on the list at #5: 1. [297 Downloads] The Obama International Tax Plan: A Major Step Forward, by Reuven S. Avi-Yonah (Michigan)...

Costanza and the Tax Treatment of SCINs Canceled by Death

Posted on July 25, 2009
Gadi Zohar (J.D. 2010, Santa Clara) has posted Got Premium? Costanza v. C.I.R. and the Tax Treatment of Intrafamily SCINs Canceled by Death on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In 2003, the Sixth Circuit overturned a Tax Court determination that the self-canceling installment note (SCIN) created by Duilio Costanza and...

IRS Agent Indicted for Steering Delinquent Taxpayers to Mortgage Company for Refinancing

Posted on July 25, 2009
Mark Claybrooks, 41, an IRS agent in Walnut Creek, California, has been indicted on charges that he urged delinquent taxpayers to get the money needed to pay their tax bills by refinancing their home mortgages with a mortgage company. Mr. Claybooks is alleged to have received $20,000 from the mortgage...

Back Home in Cincinnati

Posted on July 25, 2009
Although I loved my seven weeks in San Diego, it's wonderful to be back home with my family in Cincinnati. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to teach at two great law schools -- the University of Cincinnati and the University of San Diego are very different (small, public,...

IRS Burns Kirk Herbstreit's Donation of Home to Fire Department

Posted on July 24, 2009
It is increasingly common for wealthy people to buy an existing home in a desirable neighborhood and immediately tear it down and build a larger "McMansion" on the property. But did you know that it may be possible to get a tax deduction for the value of the existing home...

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