Taxation & Estate Planning

Jensen: Prepositions in the Constitution -- 'Taxes on Incomes'

Posted on January 18, 2011
Erik M. Jensen (Case Western) has posted Prepositions in the Constitution: Duties of Tonnage and Taxes on Incomes, 14 Green Bag 2d ___ (2011), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: To defend the proposition that prepositions matter, this article examines the "of" in the phrase "duties of tonnage" and the...

Are Our Students Academically Adrift?

Posted on January 18, 2011
Richard Arum (NYU) & Josipa Roksa (University of Virginia), Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses (University of Chicago Press, Jan. 18, 2011): Almost everyone strives to go [to college], but almost no one asks the fundamental question posed by Academically Adrift: are undergraduates really learning anything once they get...

Educational Tax Benefits

Posted on January 18, 2011
Bridget J. Crawford (Pace), Shamik Trivedi (Tax Analysts) & Kimberly Bliss (J.D. 2011, Pace) have posted Educational Tax Benefits: More Please, 129 Tax Notes 1323 (Dec. 20, 2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In this Special Report for Tax Notes, the authors explain the variety of income and gift...

GAO: IRS Telephone Help Wait-Time at 6-Year High

Posted on January 18, 2011
The Government Accountability Office today released 2010 Tax Filing Season: IRS's Performance Improved in Some Key Areas, but Efficiency Gains Are Possible in Others (GAO-11-111): Compared to 2009, the percentage of callers seeking live assistance who received it improved in 2010 and the accuracy of answers remained high, at over...

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Motro: The Price of Pleasure

Posted on January 17, 2011
Tax Prof Shari Motro (Richmond; Visiting Georgetown) has published The Price of Pleasure, 104 Nw. U. L. Rev. 917 (2010). Here is the abstract: Condoms break. Diaphragms malfunction. Even hormonal contraceptives aren?t 100% effective. Three million American women become pregnant unintentionally every year, and the rate of unintended pregnancies is...

Reforming Intercollegiate Athletics

Posted on January 17, 2011
Matt Mitten (Marquette), Jim Musselman (South Texas) & Bruce Burton (Charlotte) have published Targeted Reform of Commercialized Intercollegiate Athletics, 47 San Diego L. Rev. 779 (2010). Here is the abstract: This article observes that American society?s passion for intercollegiate sports competition is an extremely powerful, naturally evolved cultural force...

Johnston: Making Tax Simple

Posted on January 17, 2011
David Cay Johnston has published Making Tax Simple,130 Tax Notes 347 (Jan. 17, 2011): Johnston examines the reforms proposed by National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson in her latest report to Congress. All Tax Analysts content is available through the LexisNexis® services.

Soccer Stars Sell 'Image Rights' Rather Than Services to Avoid Tax

Posted on January 17, 2011
The Guardian, Top Footballers' Tax Avoidance Scheme Costs Treasury £100m in Lost Revenues: Some of the Premier League's highest-paid footballers are being targeted by tax inspectors over controversial tax arrangements that could be costing the Treasury more than £100m in vanishing tax liabilities...

Swiss Tax Whistleblower Gives Banking Records of Tax Evaders to WikiLeaks

Posted on January 17, 2011
Former Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer handed over banking records of over 2,000 wealthy individuals and corporations engaged in offshore tax evasion today to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. ABC News Associated Press BBC CNN Financial Times Globe and Mail MSNBC New York Times Reuters Telegraph

TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup

Posted on January 17, 2011
Saturday: NY Times: A Pyrrhic Same-Sex Tax Victory CTJ: Tax Justice Digest Tax-Exempt Status of Microfinance Hybrid Entities The Mind/Body Dualism of § 104(a)(2) Sunday: Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads Penn Law Prof Reuses Exam Questions From His Georgetown Days Illinois Corporate Tax Hike Inches U...

Galle: The Affordable Care Act's Insurance Mandate and the Taxing Power

Posted on January 17, 2011
Brian D. Galle (Boston College) has posted The Taxing Power, the Affordable Care Act, and the Limits of Constitutional Compromise, 121 Yale L.J. Online __ (2011), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This brief essay responds to recent court decisions and scholarly commentary questioning the constitutionality of the Affordable Care...

Illinois Corporate Tax Hike Inches U.S. Closer to #1 Global Tax Ranking

Posted on January 16, 2011
Tax Foundation, Illinois Corporate Tax Hike Inches U.S. Closer to #1 Ranking Globally: The recent move by Illinois lawmakers to increase the state's corporate tax rate from 7.3% to 9.5% is further evidence that no tax change is made in a vacuum. Not only did the rate hike move Illinois...

The Constitutionality of the Texas 'Margin' Tax

Posted on January 16, 2011
Nikki Laing (J.D. 2011, Baylor) has published An Income Tax by Any Other Name Is Still an Income Tax: The Constitutionality of the Texas 'Margin' Tax as Applied to Partnerships and Other Unincorporated Associations, 62 Baylor L. Rev. 573 (2010). Here is part of the Conclusion: In 2006, the Texas...

Penn Law Prof Reuses Exam Questions From His Georgetown Days

Posted on January 16, 2011
Above the Law, Penn Law Professor Too Lazy To Come Up With New Multiple Choice Questions Causes Exam SNAFU: [I]f you do your job with minimal diligence, you won?t end up like Penn Law professor William Wilson Bratton ... The exam issue erupted at Penn Law over winter break...

Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on January 16, 2011
There is quite a bit of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with new papers joining the list at #3, #4, and #5: 1. [637 Downloads] 2010 Federal Tax Update, by Samuel A. Donaldson (U. Washington) 2. [319 Downloads] High Volatility, Negative Correlation,...

Tax-Exempt Status of Microfinance Hybrid Entities

Posted on January 15, 2011
Michelle Scholastica Paul (J.D. 2011, NYU), has published Bridging the Gap to the Microfinance Promise: A Proposal for a Tax-Exempt Microfinance Hybrid Entity, 42 N.Y.U. J. Int'l L. & Pol. 1383 (2010). Here is the abstract: Over three decades after its inception, microfinance continues to hold great promise as a...

The Mind/Body Dualism of § 104(a)(2)

Posted on January 15, 2011
G. Christopher Wright (J.D. 2011, Catholic) has published Comment, Taxation of Personal Injury Awards: Addressing the Mind/Body Dualism That Plagues § 104(a)(2) of the Tax Code, 60 Cath. U. L. Rev. 211 (2010). Here is part of the Introduction: This Comment provides courts with a definition of and a distinction...

NY Times: A Pyrrhic Same-Sex Tax Victory

Posted on January 15, 2011
New York Times, For Same-Sex Couples, a Tax Victory That Doesn?t Feel Like One: A decision in May by the IRS that was hailed as a step toward equality for same-sex couples has instead become a headache for tens of thousands of gay and lesbian families in California...

CTJ: Tax Justice Digest

Posted on January 15, 2011
Citizens for Tax Justice, Tax Justice Digest (Jan. 14, 2011): Flood of Bad Tax Ideas Coming from the States Governor Jerry Brown Enters California's Budget Battle ITEP Releases New Report on Capital Gains Tax Breaks in the States New Project to Focus on Fiscal Issues in Kentucky New Resource on...

Loyola-L.A. Hosts Conference Today on Tax Expenditure Reform

Posted on January 14, 2011
Loyola-L.A. and the Tax Policy Center host a conference today on Starving the Hidden Beast: New Approaches to Tax Expenditure Reform (live webcast here): The United States faces serious fiscal issues. There is consensus among tax policy and public finance experts that any successful budgetary solution must tackle the problem...

IRS to Offer Tax Refunds on Visa Debit Cards

Posted on January 14, 2011
The Treasury Department announced yesterday that it would give 600,000 low- and moderate-income taxpayers the opportunity to receive their 2010 tax refund in the form of a MyAccountCard Visa® Prepaid Debit Card (FAQ). Bloomberg CNN The Hill L.A. Times NPR Wall Street Journal

'Hasta la Vista, LSAT?'

Posted on January 14, 2011
Following up on yesterday's post, ABA May Make LSAT Optional: ABA Journal, LSAT Would Be Optional Under Possible ABA Accreditation Change Above the Law, ABA Considers Dropping LSAT Requirement for Admission to Law School American Lawyer, The Last Days of the LSAT? The Careerist, Kill the LSAT? Are You Nuts?...

Avi-Yonah: Reflections on Auerbach's Modern Corporate Tax

Posted on January 14, 2011
Reuven S. Avi-Yonah (Michigan) has posted Deja Vu All Over Again? Reflections on Auerbach's 'Modern Corporate Tax' on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This paper comments on Alan Auerbach's A Modern Corporate Tax (Hamilton Project/CAP, December 2010) and argues that it is not a significant improvement over previous proposals to...

Ohio Supreme Court Denies Ohio State Grad's Application to Sit for Bar Because of $170k Student Loan Debt

Posted on January 14, 2011
The Ohio Supreme Court has denied an Ohio State graduate's application to sit for the Ohio Bar on character on fitness grounds because he had no "feasible plan" to pay off his $170,000 in student loan debt (as well as $16,500 in credit-card debt) in light of his part time...

U.S. News Challenges ABA, NALP to Clean Up Law School Employment Data

Posted on January 14, 2011
Robert Morse (Director of Data Research, U.S. News & World Report), U.S. News Challenges ABA on Law School Employment Data Standards: A recent story in The New York Times, "Is Law School a Losing Game?" is creating a great deal of buzz in the legal community, at law schools, and...

Law Schools Need to Leave the Ivory Tower and Teach Practical Lawyering

Posted on January 14, 2011
Bruce Antkowiak (Duquesne), Law Schools Must Reform: They Need to Leave the Ivory Tower and Teach Practical Lawyering: [T]he job market for recent law school graduates may be charitably described as dismal. The graduates, however, are not the only ones facing a crisis...

Montel Williams Hit With $1 Million IRS Tax Lien

Posted on January 14, 2011
The Smoking Gun, IRS Socks TV Personality Montel Williams, Wife With $1 Million Tax Lien: TV personality Montel Williams has been hit with a $1 million federal tax lien, according to IRS documents recorded this week in New York City. Williams, who hosted his eponymous talk show for nearly twenty...

IRS Begins Accepting e-Filed Tax Returns

Posted on January 14, 2011
The IRS today began accepting e-filed 2010 tax returns: IRS, Everyone Can e-File, and Everyone Can e-File for Free IRS (IR-2011-4), IRS e-File Launches Today; Most Taxpayers Can File Immediately IRS (IR-2011-5), Free File Brand-Name Software and Online Forms Available Today Accounting Today, IRS Begins Accepting E-file Returns Associated Press,...

Geithner Kicks Off Obama Administration's Corporate Tax Reform Effort

Posted on January 14, 2011
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today kicked off the Obama administration's efforts at corporate tax reform by meeting with executives of more than a dozen major U.S. companies. Accounting Today, Geithner Mulls Corporate Tax Reform Bloomberg, Tax Reform Is in the Eye of the Beholder CNN, Corporate Tax Reform: Talk Grows...

Yale Gives Gay & Lesbian Employees a New Year's Tax Surprise

Posted on January 13, 2011
Following up on my prior posts (links below) on employers who gross up the pay of gay and lesbian employees to compensate them for the additional federal taxes owed on benefits provided to their partners: New York Times, Yale Payroll Error Gives Gay Employees a New Year Surprise: Imagine that...

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