Taxation & Estate Planning

Where Do People Spend Their Tax Refunds?

Posted on May 11, 2008
Shawn Allen Cole (Harvard Business School), John Thompson (H&R Block) & Peter Tufano (Harvard Business School) have posted Where Does it Go? Spending by the Financially Constrained on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In this paper, we analyze the spending...

Student Notes in ABA Tax Lawyer

Posted on May 10, 2008
There are three student notes in the latest issue of the ABA Tax Lawyer: Natanyah Ganz, Note, Please Hang Up and Try Again: The Missouri Supreme Court Speed Dials Telephone Services into the Manufacturing Exemption Too Quickly in Southwestern Bell...

New Issue of Real Property, Probate & Trust Journal

Posted on May 10, 2008
The ABA Section on Real Property, Trust & Estate Law has published the Winter 2008 issue of the Real Property, Probate & Trust Journal (Vol. 42, No. 4), with these articles: Christopher P. Cline, The Uniform Prudent Investor and Principal...

AP: Al Sharpton Owes $1.5 Million in Taxes

Posted on May 10, 2008
The Associated Press is reporting that Al Sharpton and his business and nonprofit entities owe nearly $1.5 million in taxes, interest, and penalties: [T]he U.S. attorney is investigating his nonprofit group, a probe that an undeterred Sharpton brushes off as...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

ABA Tax Section May Meeting

Posted on May 10, 2008
The ABA Tax Section's three-day May Meeting concludes today at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C. A list of Tax Profs with speaking roles today, and their topics, is below the fold.

Burns: ANR Pipeline: Beware of the Relief Sought

Posted on May 09, 2008
John B. Burns (Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, Memphis) has published ANR Pipeline: Beware of the Relief Sought, 60 Tax Law. 1087 (2007). Here is the Introduction: Recently, Louisiana?s courts were called upon to address the state?s disparate methods...

Skadden's Tax Work Helps Firm Become D.C. Behemoth

Posted on May 09, 2008
Legal Times: Skadden Posts Huge Capital Gains, by Marisa McQuilken: It's the highest-grossing firm in New York, and for that matter, in the United States. Could Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom be on the verge of becoming D.C.'s top...

WSJ: Obama's Faulty Tax Argument

Posted on May 09, 2008
Op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal: Obama's Faulty Argument, by Andrew G. Biggs (American Enterprise Institute): As the presidential campaign heats up, a key issue is whether to extend the 2001 and 2003 income tax cuts, which expire in 2011....

Ohio Supreme Court: Beneficiaries Cannot Sue Decedent's Attorney For Estate Tax Negligence

Posted on May 09, 2008
The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously held that children could not sue their deceased mother's attorney for negligence in the preparation of a deed during her life that resulted in adverse etsate tax conseqences under § 2036. Shoemaker v....

Zelinsky: New York's "Convenience of the Employer" Rule Is Unconstitutional

Posted on May 09, 2008
Edward A. Zelinsky (Cardozo) has posted New York's "Convenience of the Employer" Rule Is Unconstitutional, 48 State Tax Notes ___ (2008), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article argues that New York's convenience of the employer doctrine is unconstitutional...

McIntyre: UN Code of Conduct on Cooperation in Combating International Tax Evasion

Posted on May 09, 2008
Michael J. McIntyre (Wayne State) has posted United Nations Code of Conduct on Cooperation in Combating International Tax Evasion, Tax Justice Focus, Vol. 4, No. 1, p. 1 (April 2008), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Stopping international tax evasion....

Mass. Considers 2.5% Excise Tax on College Endowments > $1 Billion

Posted on May 09, 2008
From yesterday's Boston Globe: Lawmakers Target $1b Endowments; Exempt Status of Schools Debated, by Peter Schworm & Matt Viser: Massachusetts lawmakers desperate for additional revenue are eyeing the endowments of deep-pocketed private colleges to bolster the state's coffers by more...

Cindy McCain Refuses to Release Her Tax Returns, Even If Her Husband Is Elected President

Posted on May 09, 2008
Cindy McCain announced on the Today show yesterday that she will never release her tax returns, even if her husband is elected President: Press and blogosphere coverage: Associated Press Chicago Tribune Democratic National Committee press release USA Today

House Passes Housing Tax Bill

Posted on May 09, 2008
The House yesterday approved The Housing Assistance Tax Act (H.R. 5720), as an amendment to the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act (H.R. 3221), .by a 322-94 vote, setting up a conflict with the Senate (which passed an earlier...

ABA Tax Section May Meeting

Posted on May 09, 2008
The ABA Tax Section's three-day May Meeting continues today at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C. A list of Tax Profs with speaking roles today, and their topics, is below the fold.

Drennan: The Patent Office Is Promoting Shocking New Tax Loopholes--Should the Empire Strike Back?

Posted on May 09, 2008
William A. Drennan (Southern Illinois) has published The Patent Office Is Promoting Shocking New Tax Loopholes--Should the Empire Strike Back?, 60 Okla. L. Rev. 491 (2007). Here is the Conclusion: Although congressional hearings in July 2006 considered various consequences from...

McKim: The Sometimes Dubious Efficacy of Michigan Department of Treasury Guidance

Posted on May 08, 2008
Samuel J., McKim, III (Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, Detroit; Adjunct Professor, Wayne State) has published The Sometimes Dubious Efficacy of Michigan Department of Treasury "Rules," "Revenue Administrative Bulletins," "Letter Rulings," "Questions and Answers," and Other Publications, 60 Tax Law...

Graetz Delivers Woodworth Lecture on Tax Policy Today in D.C.

Posted on May 08, 2008
In keeping with tradition, the annual Laurence Neal Woodworth Lecture on Federal Tax Law and Policy will be given today at 5:00 p.m. at the first day of the May Meeting of the ABA Tax Section at the Grand Hyatt...

Motro: Why I Left Israel, and Why I'm Going Home

Posted on May 08, 2008
Tax Prof Shari Motro (Richmond) has published an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal: Why I Left Israel, and Why I'm Going Home: Now I live in Virginia, where Israel's birthday is invisible, and this year I mark it by...

Tax Treatment of Credit Default Swaps

Posted on May 08, 2008
Ari Joshua Brandes (Georgetown) has posted Toward a New Framework and a Better Understanding of Credit Default Swaps on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Derivative contracts with contingent payments have been the subject of a great deal of financial commentary...

ABA Tax Section May Meeting

Posted on May 08, 2008
The ABA Tax Section's three-day May Meeting kicks off today at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C. Today's highlight is the Laurence Neal Woodworth Lecture on Federal Tax Law and Policy at 5:00 p.m. (I will have more to say...

Hartman: "137 Pages of Utter Scandal"

Posted on May 08, 2008
Last week, I blogged the 137-page opinion in Hartman v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2008-124 (5/1/08), in which Tax Court Judge Beghe held that IRS attorneys committed fraud on the court. Next week's National Law journal has an article on the...

O'Connor to Advise McCain on Judicial Nominations

Posted on May 08, 2008
Republican Presidential candidate John McCain yesterday released the names of his Judicial Advisory Committee, which will advise him on judicial nominations. Among the lawyers and law professors on the list is Eileen J. O'Connor, a tax partner at Pillsbury Winthrop...

Harvard Becomes First Law School to Commit to Universal Open Access to its Faculty's Scholarship

Posted on May 08, 2008
Harvard announced yesterday that the law school faculty has unanimously voted to make each faculty member's scholarship available available online for free, becomming the first law school to commit to universal open access: Each Faculty member grants to the President...

Call for Tax Papers: Environmental Tax Policy

Posted on May 08, 2008
The Vermont Law School Environmental Tax Policy Institute is sponsoring the Ninth Annual Global Conference on Environmental Taxation in Singapore on November 6-7, 2008. The conference host, the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law at the National University of Singapore, has...

Herman: Options for Allocating Stock Option Income: New York's New Allocation Rules

Posted on May 07, 2008
Debra Silverman Herman (Roberts & Holland, New York) has published Options for Allocating Stock Option Income: New York's New Allocation Rules and Their Effect on Taxpayers, Multistate Employers, and Other States, 60 Tax Law. 991 (2007). Here is the Introduction:...

War on Greed: The Tax Treatment of Private Equity and Hedge Funds

Posted on May 07, 2008
Check out the War on Greed's take on the tax treatment of private equity: For a more scholarly treatment, see ataxingmatter.

NLJ: Ave Maria Law School Has Lost 12 Faculty in 18 Months

Posted on May 07, 2008
Law School's Move Opens Door for Exiting Faculty, by Julie Kay: More than a dozen faculty members at troubled Ave Maria Law School have left either temporarily or permanently since the school announced a year-and-a-half ago it was moving to...

IRS Updates FAQ on Economic Stimulus Payments

Posted on May 07, 2008
The IRS today announced (IR-2008-70) that it has updated its FAQ (most popular questions; complete set of questions) on the economic stimulus payments. Among the questions answered are: Q. When will I get my payment? A. Payments are going out...

Tax Angle on Bones

Posted on May 07, 2008
From last week's episode of Bones, Baby in the Bough: Dr. Brennan: What do you know about the Cayman Islands? Agent Booth: Great diving, you know lots of sea turtles. Why, are you going? Brennan: No, my accountant wants me...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.