Taxation & Estate Planning

Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on March 30, 2008
There is a bit of movement in this week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads, with a new paper debuting on the list at #5: 1. [298 Downloads] Tax Avoidance as a Legitimate Business Purpose, by Karen...

Should Profs Pay for Late Grades?

Posted on March 30, 2008
Late Grades? Pay Up, Professor (Inside Higher Ed), by Doug Lederman: Many professors hate grading, and like most human beings, they often put off what they don?t like. So at many colleges, the end of a term results in some...

Buckley Publishes Woodworth Memorial Lecture: Tax Changes Since Woodworth's Time: Implications for Future Tax Reform

Posted on March 30, 2008
John L. Buckley (Democratic Chief Tax Counsel, House Ways & Means Committee) has published the 2007 Woodworth Memorial Lecture: Tax Changes Since Woodworth's Time: Implications for Future Tax Reform, 34 Ohio N.U. L. Rev. 1 (2008). Here is part of...

All Saints Church and the Argument for a Goal-Driven Application of IRS Rules for Tax-Exempt Organizations

Posted on March 30, 2008
Kara Backus (J.D. 2008, USC) has published Note, All Saints Church and the Argument for a Goal-Driven Application of IRS Rules for Tax-Exempt Organizations, 17 S. Cal. Interdisc. L.J. 301 (2008). Here is the Conclusion: From any perspective, it will....

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A Criticism of the Tax Treatment of Celebrity Gift Bags

Posted on March 29, 2008
Anosheh Azarmsa (J.D. 2008, Loyola-L.A.) has published Comment, Award Shows, Gifts, and Taxes: A Criticism of the Tax Treatment of Celebrity Gift Bags, 28 Loy. L.A. Ent. L. Rev. 27 (2008). Here is the Conclusion: Based on the present definitions...

Lisowsky: Empirically Modeling Tax Shelters and Examining Their Link to the Contingent Tax Liability Reserve

Posted on March 29, 2008
Petro Lisowsky (Boston University, Department of Accounting) has posted "Seeking Shelter": Empirically Modeling Tax Shelters and Examining Their Link to the Contingent Tax Liability Reserve on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Using confidential tax shelter data obtained from the IRS,...

CT 30% Tax Credit Lures Movies From NY (10% Tax Credit)

Posted on March 29, 2008
Gone With the Cash: Films Go for the Best Tax Breaks (New York Times), by Lisa W. Foderaro: With a proud film history dating back almost a century, to D. W. Griffith?s creation of a 28-acre production lot in Mamaroneck,...

TIGTA Praises Private Tax Collection Program

Posted on March 29, 2008
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has released Private Collection Agencies Adequately Protected Taxpayer Data (2008-20-078) (3/26/08): TIGTA reviewed the computer security controls over taxpayer data provided to the two current PCAs and determined that the controls were adequate...

Top 44 Law Schools by Peer Reputation

Posted on March 28, 2008
Richard Schmalbeck (Duke) passed along the Top 44 law schools by peer reputation in the just-released 2009 U.S. News Law School Rankings: 1. (4.8) Harvard Yale 3. (4.7) Columbia Stanford 5. (4.6) Chicago 6. (4.5) UC-Berkeley Michigan NYU 9. (4.4)...

Barry Bonds: My 2007 Tax Return Is NOT Tainted!

Posted on March 28, 2008
The parody news site New Groper has created the Barry Bonds Blog, which talks taxes in My 2007 Tax Return Is NOT Tainted!

CB&PP: New Data Show More Income Inequality

Posted on March 28, 2008
The Center on Budget & Policy Priorities yesterday released: New Data Show Income Concentration Rose Again in 2006: Average Income Rose by $73,000 for Households in the Top 1%, Only $20 for Those in Bottom 90%, by Aviva Aron-Dine: Capital...

Vanderbilt Law Review Saves 40% of Slots for Fall

Posted on March 28, 2008
An editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review asked me to post this: It is the policy of the Vanderbilt Law Review to maintain approximately forty percent (five to seven articles) of our book space available for the fall 2008 submissions...

New 2009 U.S. News Tax Rankings

Posted on March 28, 2008
The new 2009 U.S. News Law School Tax Rankings were released today: 1. NYU (#1 last year) 2. Florida (#2) 3. Georgetown (#3) 4. Northwestern (#4) 5. UCLA (#7) 6. Harvard (#5) 6. Miami (#6) 8. Boston University (#8) 9....

Infanti Presents Deconstructing the Duty to the Tax System: Unfettering Zealous Advocacy on Behalf of Lesbian and Gay Taxpayers Today at UC-Berkeley

Posted on March 28, 2008
Anthony C. Infanti (Pittsburgh) presents Deconstructing the Duty to the Tax System: Unfettering Zealous Advocacy on Behalf of Lesbian and Gay Taxpayers at the Law, Culture, and Humanities Annual Conference, 61 Tax Law. ___ (2008), today at UC-Berkeley...

Oracle's Larry Ellison Gets Home Assessment Reduced by $100 Million; School District Suffers

Posted on March 28, 2008
Larry Ellison?s Tax Cut Breaks School?s Budget (WSJ Buisness Technology Blog), by Ben Worthen: The Portola Valley School District has to cut six positions?thanks in part to Larry Ellison. The Oracle chairman, who is the fourteenth richest person in the...

Buffalo, Iowa, Minnesota & UNC Deans React to Decline in U.S. News Rankings

Posted on March 28, 2008
David Lat collects school-wide emails sent by these deans in response to their school's decline in the just-released U.S. News rankings: Buffalo (#100, down from #77), Iowa (#27, down from #24), Minnesota (#22, down from #20), and North Carolina (#38,...

Jensen Presents Taxation and Doing Business in Indian Country Today at Chase

Posted on March 28, 2008
Erik M. Jensen (Case Western) presents Taxation and Doing Business in Indian Country, 60 Me. L. Rev. ___ (2008), at Northern Kentucky University -- Chase College of Law today as part of its Faculty Workshop Series. Here is the abstract:...

Casino Not Liable for Use Tax on Complimentary Meals to Patrons and Employees

Posted on March 28, 2008
The Nevada Supreme Court held yesterday that a casino is not liable for use tax on the value of food used to prepare complimentary meals to its customers and employees. Sparks Nugget v. State, Dep?t of Taxation, 124 Nev. Adv....

Wesley Snipes' New Tax City-Tax Return Advisors, Inc.

Posted on March 27, 2008
The parody news site New Groper has created the Wesley Snipes Blog, offering Some Helpful Tips for Filing Your 2007 Tax Returns: For many Americans, including some of my friends, colleagues and other ..., preparing tax returns can be a...

Atax Hosts 8th International Conference on Tax Administration

Posted on March 27, 2008
The Australian School of Taxation (Atax) hosts the 8th International Conference on Tax Administration today in Sydney, Australia. Nina Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate, will deliver one of the keynote addresses. For the program, see here.

Beale Presents The Crossroads of Tax and Patent Law Today at BC

Posted on March 27, 2008
Linda M. Beale (Wayne State) presents Tax Patents: At the Crossroads of Tax and Patent Law at Boston College today as part of its Tax Policy Workshop Series. Although the paper and abstract are not available, some of Linda's views...

Money Magazine: How to Pay Zero Taxes

Posted on March 27, 2008
How to Pay Zero Taxes: Nearly 50 Million Americans Do It; But Once You See How, You'll be Glad You're Not One of Them (Money Magazine), by Marlys Harris: Last year 49.2 million U.S. households filed returns that obligated them...

Campbell Presents How Americans Think About Taxes Today at NYU

Posted on March 27, 2008
Andrea Louise Campbell (MIT) presents How Americans Think About Taxes: Public Opinion and the American Fiscal State at NYU today as part of its Colloquium Series on Tax Policy and Public Finance. Here is the part of the Introduction: This...

IRS YouTube

Posted on March 27, 2008
The IRS has turned to YouTube to get the word out on the economic stimulus rebates: The IRS today also released, via traditional channels, Tips for Tax Filers on Economic Stimulus Payments (IR-2008-51). Press coverage of the IRS's embrace of...

CRS: Estate and Gift Tax Revenues

Posted on March 27, 2008
The Congressional Research Service has prepared Estate and Gift Tax Revenues: Past and Projected in 2008 (RL34418) (3/19/08). Here are two of the many interesting tables (click on tables to enlarge):

Why Didn't Obama Save for Retirement?

Posted on March 27, 2008
Several bloggers have note another curious fact about Barack Obama's tax returns: despite over $1.6 million in Schedule C income, most of it from royalties on his book, he did not take the elemental tax planning step of establishing a...

Moran Named American Council on Education Fellow for 2008-09

Posted on March 27, 2008
Tax Prof Beverly I. Moran (Vanderbilt) has been named an American Council on Education Fellow for the 2008-09 academic year: The ACE Fellows Program, established in 1965, is designed to strengthen institutions and leadership in American higher education by identifying...

Nominate a Tax Prof for "Best Law Teachers in America"

Posted on March 26, 2008
Michael Hunter Schwartz (Washburn) is soliciting nominations for inclusion in his forthcoming book, What the Best Law Teachers Do (Harvard University Press, 2011): I have three goals: Find the best law teachers in America Synthesize the principles by which they...

District Court Dismisses Challenge to Refund of Telephone Excise Tax

Posted on March 26, 2008
U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina yesterday dismissed the multi-district challenge to the IRS's procedures for issuing refunds of the long distance telephone excise tax. In re Long-Distance Telephone Service Federal Excise Tax Refund Litigation, MDL Docket No...

Tax Services v. Legal Services

Posted on March 26, 2008
On our sister Legal Profession Blog, Michael S. Frisch (Georgetown) quotes a Virginia state bar discipline matter in which the court distinguishes tax services from legal services: On March 19, 2008, a three-judge panel of the Fairfax County Circuit Court...

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