Taxation & Estate Planning

Conway: Money for Nothing and the Stocks for Free: Taxing Executive Compensation

Posted on May 19, 2008
Meredith R. Conway (Texas Wesleyan; moving to Suffolk) has published Money for Nothing and the Stocks for Free: Taxing Executive Compensation, 18 Cornell J. L. & Pub. Pol'y 383 (2008). Here is the abstract: In the 1980s and 1990s, the...

Massachusetts Should Tax Harvard

Posted on May 19, 2008
Earlier this month, I blogged a pending proposal in Massachusetts to impose a 2.5% excise tax on college endowments in excess of $1 billion. Although much of the commentary opposed the proposal, an op-ed in today's Inside Higher Ed by...

Mirkay: Reevaluating the 501(C)(3) Exemption of Religious Organizations that Discriminate

Posted on May 18, 2008
Nicholas A. Mirkay (Widener) has posted Losing Our Religion: Reevaluating the 501(C)(3) Exemption of Religious Organizations that Discriminate on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Religious organizations occupy an enviable legal stature in American society, receiving over 200 exemptions and other...

Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on May 18, 2008
There is a bit of movement on this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with a new paper debuting on the list at #5: 1. [413 Downloads] Deduction Ad Absurdum: CEOs Donating Their Own Stock to...

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Tate: Marilyn Monroe's Legacy: Taxation of Postmortem Publicity Rights

Posted on May 18, 2008
Joshua C. Tate (SMU) responds to Mitchell M. Gans (Hofstra), Bridget J. Crawford (Pace) & Jonathan G. Blattmachr (Milbank, New York), Postmortem Rights of Publicity: The Federal Estate Tax Consequences of New State-Law Property Rights, 117 Yale L.J. Pocket Part...

Law School Commencement Speakers (Updated)

Posted on May 18, 2008
Akron: Bedford Biles Albany: Jeanine Pirro (TV legal analyst; former District Attorney, Westchester County, New York) American: Stephen Breyer (Justice, U.S. Supreme Court) Baltimore: Ted Turner (media mogul) Boston College: Michael Mukasey (Attorney General, United States) Boston University: Niki Tsongas...

Blogging as a Feminist Legal Method

Posted on May 17, 2008
From a University of Pennsylania Law School press release: Alison I. Stein, a student at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, ... will present her paper ? Women Lawyers Blog for Workplace Equality: Blogging as a Feminist Legal Method ?...

The Great Tax Cut Delusion and the Decline of Good Government in America

Posted on May 17, 2008
Bryan D. Jones (University of Washington, Center for American Politics and Public Policy) & Walter Williams (George Mason University, Department of Economics) have published The Politics of Bad Ideas: The Great Tax Cut Delusion and the Decline of Good Government...

Goodbye, Class of 2008

Posted on May 17, 2008
The University of Cincinnati College of Law sent off the Class of 2008 into the world today at our graduation ceremony. They are our 175th graduating class, making us the fourth-oldest conitnuously operating law school in the country. It is...

NTA Spring Symposium

Posted on May 17, 2008
The National Tax Symposium has concluded its two-day Annual Spring Symposium and State-Local Tax Program in Washington, D.C. Tax Prof speakers included: James R. Hines Jr. (Michigan), Reconsidering the Taxation of Foreign Income Daniel Shaviro (NYU), The Optimal Relationship Between...

Gupta: Who's at Risk? Abbot and Costello Take on Section 465

Posted on May 16, 2008
Ajay Gupta has posted Who's at Risk? Abbot and Costello Take on Section 465 on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Hello again, everybody. It's a "bee-yooo-tiful" day for baseball. The setting is the unlikely state of Wyoming. Taking the field...

Denver Post & Sen. Salazar Don't Understand AGI

Posted on May 16, 2008
Denver Post: Plowing Into the Farm Bill, by Anne C. Mulkern: Sen. Ken Salazar, a Denver Democrat who supports the bill, disputed the idea that it pays rich farmers. The bill allows payments to farmers with adjusted gross incomes of...

Pressure Builds on Cindy McCain to Release Her Tax Returns

Posted on May 16, 2008
Last week, I blogged Cindy McCain's refusal to release her separate tax returns, even if her husband is elected President. Media and blogosphere pressure is building on Mrs. McCain to release her returns: Huffington Post L.A. Times New York Observer....

Ayers Applauds Chicago's Ban on Laptops in the Classroom

Posted on May 16, 2008
I previously blogged Dean Saul Levmore's decision to pull Internet access out of the University of Chicago's law school classrooms (as well as Doonesbury's great take on the issue). Ian Ayres (Yale), who launched the anti-laptops in the classroom movement...

Brunner & Pech: Optimum Taxation of Inheritances

Posted on May 16, 2008
Johann K. Brunner & Susanne Pech (both of University of Linz, Department of Economics) have posted Optimum Taxation of Inheritances on SSRN. Here is the abstract: We incorporate the fact that inheritances create a second distinguishing characteristic of individuals, in...

Tax Court Refuses to Reconsider § 6015(f) Ruling in Ewing

Posted on May 16, 2008
A fractured Tax Court yesterday refused to reconsider its holding in Ewing v. Commissioner, 122 T.C. 32 (2004), holding that the determination of whether a taxpayer is entitled to innocent spouse relief under § 6015(f) is made in a trial...

Dexter: Shock, Awe, & Expropriation: The Act of State Doctrine and Loss Deductions Under § 165

Posted on May 16, 2008
Bobby L. Dexter (Chapman) has published Shock, Awe, & Expropriation: The Act of State Doctrine and Loss Deductions Under Section 165 of the Internal Revenue Code, 82 Tul. L. Rev. 849 (2008). Here is the abstract: The Act of State...

Repetti: Corporate Governance and Stockholder Abdication: Missing Factors in Tax Policy Analysis

Posted on May 15, 2008
James R. Repetti (Boston College) has posted Corporate Governance and Stockholder Abdication: Missing Factors in Tax Policy Analysis, 67 Nore Dame L. Rev. 971 (1992), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Policymakers recognize that management's ability to control publicly held...

ABA Threatens to Withhold Accreditation for Florida A&M Law School

Posted on May 15, 2008
The St. Petersburg Times has obtained a copy of the report issued by the ABA team after its October 28-31, 2007 site visit to Florida A&M University College of Law questioning whether the school will be able to obtain accreditation....

EU to Crack Down on Tax Havens

Posted on May 15, 2008
International Herald Tribune: EU Considers Toughening Offensive on Tax Havens, by Stephen Castle: Under pressure from Germany, the European Union on Wednesday agreed to consider a new clampdown on tax havens, despite the opposition of one country, Luxembourg, which said...

Ways & Means Committee Approves Energy and Tax Extenders Act

Posted on May 15, 2008
The House Ways & Means Committee voted 25-12 today to approve The Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008 (H.R. 6049) and send the bill to the House floor. Press Release Legislative Documents Associated Press

Brokeback Will: Heath Ledger's 2-Year Old Daughter, Omitted From Will, Should Inherit 100% of Estate

Posted on May 15, 2008
FindLaw: Heath Ledger's Estate: Why Daughter Matilda, Who Was Left Nothing in Her Father's Will, Might Have a Claim to Everything (Part 1, Part 2), by Joanna Grossman (Hofstra) & Mitchell Gans (Hofstra): [Heath Ledger and Brokeback Mountain] co-star Michelle...

Former Senate Chief Tax Counsel Heck Joins K&L Gates

Posted on May 15, 2008
Patrick G. Heck, former Chief Tax Counsel to the Senate Finance Committee, has become a partner in the public policy and law practice of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. From the press release:...

Greenhouse Gas Auctions and Taxes

Posted on May 15, 2008
Robert W. Hahn (AEI Reg-Markets Center) has posted Greenhouse Gas Auctions and Taxes: Some Practical Considerations on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Many scholars assert that "cap and trade" is an appropriate strategy for addressing climate change. Some economists have...

Say It Ain't So, Jim

Posted on May 15, 2008
Jim Maule noted on his blog yesterday that "retirement is around the corner if I have my way." That took me by surprise, since Jim is one of the most active Tax Profs I know, and he's only 57! I...

Law School Student Evaluations Work Well

Posted on May 15, 2008
Arthur Best (Denver) has posted Student Evaluations of Law Teaching Work Well: Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree, 38 Sw. U. L. Rev. ___ (2008). Here is the abstract: Academics in the fields of psychology and education generally describe...

Non-partisan Group Chides McCain for Tax "Exaggerations and Distortions"

Posted on May 15, 2008
The non-partisan FactCheck.org chides Republican presidential candidate John McCain's for "exaggerations and distortions" on taxes: McCain says that eliminating the AMT will save "more than 25 million middle-class families more than $2,000 every year...

House to Mark Up Energy and Tax Extenders Act

Posted on May 15, 2008
The House Ways & Means Committee will mark up The Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008 today: Press Release Summary of Bill Legislative Text Joint Committee on Taxation Explanation Joint Committee on Taxation Revenue Estimate Update: Updated Joint Committee...

Poll: Increasing Capital Gains Tax From 15% to 20% Won't Trigger Sales

Posted on May 14, 2008
Bloomberg: Investors Say Tax Increase Wouldn't Alter Strategy, by Matthew Benjamin: Affluent investors say a small increase in the capital gains tax, as suggested by Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, wouldn't affect their investment decisions...

"The Moral Heart of Higher Education: Motivating Senior Faculty to Write"

Posted on May 14, 2008
Following up on Monday's post, Why Don't Some Faculty Write? It's the Law Reviews' Fault: Louisville Dean Jim Chen offers four possible alternative ways of dealing with law faculty that do not write: Do nothing. At the very least, do...

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