Taxation & Estate Planning

Law Firm Tax Controversy Rankings

Posted on July 07, 2008
Last Thursday, I blogged the Law Firm Corporate Tax Rankings developed by Chambers as part of its ranking of the top U.S. law firms by various specialities. The rankings are based on over 14,000 one-hour interviews with lawyers and clients...

Loyola-Chicago Seeks to Hire Tax Prof

Posted on July 07, 2008
Loyola-Chicago is looking to make an entry level or lateral tenure-track appointment focused primarily on income tax and corporate/commercial law. The person will be expected to teach the Income Tax and Corporate Law courses. To apply, send a cover letter...

6,000 MBA Students Who Used Website to Cheat on GMAT Face Uncertain Futures

Posted on July 06, 2008
Business Week: GMAT Scandal Has MBA Students Sweating, by Francesca Levy & Matthew Lawyue: In the week since cheating allegations emerged surrounding Scoretop.com, a now-shuttered preparation site for the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), applicants who used the site have...

James: Have American Churches Failed to Satisfy the Requirements for the Religious Tax Exemption?

Posted on July 06, 2008
Vaughn E. James (Texas Tech) has posted Reaping Where They Have Not Sowed: Have American Churches Failed to Satisfy the Requirements for the Religious Tax Exemption? 43 Catholic law. 29 (2004), on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

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Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on July 06, 2008
There is a lot of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with a new #1 paper and new papers debuting on the list at #4 and #5: 1. [202 Downloads] Tax Shelters and...

A Feminist Perspective on the Proposed U.S. News Rankings Change

Posted on July 06, 2008
I previously blogged (here, here, and here) the announcement (here and here) by Robert Morse, Director of Data Research at U.S. News & World Report, that the magazine is "seriously studying" two changes to its law school rankings methodology that...

James: 21st Century Pirates of the Caribbean: How the OECD Robbed 14 CARICOM Countries of Their Tax & Economic Sovereignty

Posted on July 05, 2008
Vaughn E. James (Texas Tech) has posted Twenty-First Century Pirates of the Caribbean: How the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Robbed Fourteen CARICOM Countries of Their Tax and Economic Policy Sovereignty, 34 U. Miami Inter-Am. L...

Paul Hogan to Tax Man: "Come and Get Me, You Miserable Bastards"

Posted on July 05, 2008
The Australian: Paul Hogan Battles Tax Office "Bastards," by Robert Lusetich & Susannah Moran: A defiant Paul Hogan had a typically plain-spoken and blunt message for the Australian Taxation Office yesterday: "Come and get me, you miserable bastards." As the...

More on Northwestern's Curriculum Reforms

Posted on July 05, 2008
I previously blogged (here, here, and here) Northwestern's new two-year J.D. program and other curriculum reforms. Two more developments on this front: Northwestern Dean David Van Zandt and consultant Michelle Greene have an op-ed in next week's National Law Journal:...

Judge: Pringles Are Not Potato Chips, So Are Exempt From U.K. 17.5% Potato Chip Tax

Posted on July 04, 2008
What better fodder for the 4th of July than Pringles and a British tax decision: Procter & Gamble UK v. Revenue & Customs, [2008] EWHC 1558 (Ch) (7/4/08). As reported in Bloomberg: Pringles Are Not Potato Chips, Judge Says in...

7th Circuit Chides IRS For "Clearly Erroneous Proposition of Law" in Form Letter

Posted on July 04, 2008
The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a district court's dismissal of a suit seeking a refund of corporate income taxes but chided the IRS for including "a clearly erroneous proposition of law" in its form letter sent to the taxpayer...

SOI Releases Updated Individual Income Tax Return Statistics

Posted on July 04, 2008
The IRS's Statistics of Income Division has released: Individual Income Tax Returns, 2006 (Publication 1304) Updated Individual Income Tax Return Statistics

NLJ: IRS Clarifies Rule on Taxing Forgiven Law Student Loans

Posted on July 04, 2008
Last month, I blogged the IRS's issuance of Rev. Rul. 2008-34, which clarifies that law school public interest loan forgiveness programs qualify for the § 108(f) exception (and, as a result, students need not report the forgiven interest as discharge...

Nonpartisan Group Assails McCain for Making Misleading Tax Charges Against Obama

Posted on July 03, 2008
The nonpartisan FactCheck.org accuses John McCain and the Republican National Committee of engaging in Tax Tally Trickery in claiming that Barack Obama "voted 94 times for higher taxes." The group calls the charge "inflated and misleading": After looking at every...

Should There Be More Empirical International Tax Scholarship?

Posted on July 03, 2008
There is a fascinating blogosphere discussion on the importance of empirical scholarship in international law, including international tax law, sparked by Susan D. Franck (Washington & Lee), Empiricism and International Law: Insights for Investment Treaty Dispute Resolution, 48 Va...

Bloomberg: IRS Taps Audit Firms to Probe Foreign Bank Role in Tax Cases

Posted on July 03, 2008
Bloomberg: IRS Taps Audit Firms to Probe Foreign Bank Role in Tax Cases, by Ryan J. Donmoyer: The IRS summoned six of the biggest accounting firms [BDO Seidman, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, Grant Thornton, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers] to...

Judge Grants Wesley Snipes' Request to Travel Overseas to Work on Movies Pending Appeal of Tax Evasion Conviction

Posted on July 03, 2008
A federal district judge in Florida has granted actor Wesley Snipes' motion to travel overseas while the appeal of his conviction on three misdemeanor tax fraud counts is pending in the Eleventh Circuit. Snipes will be travelling to (1) London...

Correlation Between Scholarly Productivity & Teaching Loads

Posted on July 03, 2008
Larry Cunningham (George Washington) compiles data on the teaching loads at various schools and notes that there is "a non-trivial positive correlation between scholarly productivity and reasonable teaching burdens."

Law Firm Corporate Tax Rankings

Posted on July 03, 2008
Chambers has ranked the top U.S. law firms by various specialities. The rankings are based on over 14,000 one-hour interviews with lawyers and clients (greater weight is given to the views of clients). Here are the top Top 28 law...

WSJ: McCain & Obama's Estate Tax Plans

Posted on July 03, 2008
Wall Street Journal: Stayin' Alive: How to Cheat The Estate Tax, by Tom Herman: The Obama Plan. Sen. Obama proposes a $3.5 million exclusion in 2009 and thereafter, with a top rate at 45%. His plan will "fully repeal the...

Ave Maria Retains ABA Accreditation

Posted on July 03, 2008
I previously chronicled the turmoil at Ave Maria Law School. In the latest chapter, the ABA has dismissed a proceeding to determine the school's compliance with accreditation standard 405(a), which provides that "[a] law school shall establish and maintain conditions...

GAO Releases Audit and Management Recommendations for IRS

Posted on July 03, 2008
The Government Accountability Office yesterday released IRS: Status of GAO Financial Audit and Related Financial Management Report Recommendations (GAO-08-693). Here is the Conclusion: Increased budgetary pressures and an increased public awareness of the importance of internal control require IRS to...

Atkinson: Cy Pres Reform: Removing Dead Hand Control of Charitable Assets

Posted on July 02, 2008
Rob Atkinson (Florida State) has published The Low Road to Cy Pres Reform: Principled Practice to Remove Dead Hand Control of Charitable Assets, 58 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 97 (2007). Here is the abstract: This paper deals with practical,...

IRS Invites Applications for New VITA Grant

Posted on July 02, 2008
The IRS today announced (IR-2008-85) that it is now accepting applications for the first-ever Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) matching grant program. The application period for 2009 is from July 1 through Sept. 2, 2008. In December 2007, Congress appropriated...

U.S. News Reacts to Criticism of Proposal to Include Part Time Students in Selectivity Data

Posted on July 02, 2008
I previously blogged the announcement of, and critical reaction to, the proposal by Robert Morse, Director of Data Research at U.S. News & World Report, that the magazine is "seriously studying" two changes to its law school rankings methodology that...

"Throwing a Dean Under the Bus"

Posted on July 02, 2008
Inside Higher Ed: Throwing a Dean Under the Bus, by Jack Stripling: A recent faculty no-confidence vote at the University of Toledo was designed to oust an unpopular dean, but a subsequent student-led investigation is shifting criticism all the way...

IRS Defuses Faculty Tax Time Bomb

Posted on July 02, 2008
Last month I blogged the Tax Time Bomb for Faculty Paid Over 12 Months, which explains how § 409A might adversely affect faculty on 10-month contracts who elect to be paid over a 12-month period. The IRS has issued Notice...

TaxProf Blog Named "Top 100 Law and Lawyer Blog"

Posted on July 02, 2008
TaxProf Blog has been named one of the The Top 100 Law and Lawyer Blogs by Criminal Justice Degrees Guide. In particular, TaxProf Blog is one of the fifteen blogs named in the Law Professors category along with über blogs...

Barzuza: Delaware's Compensation

Posted on July 02, 2008
Michal Barzuza (Virginia) has published Delaware's Compensation, 94 Va. L. Rev. 521 (2008). Here is the abstract: This Article illuminates the interdependence between the structure of Delaware's franchise tax and Delaware's corporate law. It makes three major arguments...

State Tax Revenues Up 1.7% in First Quarter of 2008

Posted on July 02, 2008
Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York has issued State Taxes Slow Yet Again, and Further Weakening Appears Likely, reporting a 1.7% increase in state tax revenues in the first quarter of 2008 compared...

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