Taxation & Estate Planning

Court Awards Florida $130k in Fees in Former Law Prof's Discrimination Lawsuit

Posted on November 11, 2010
Following up on my prior posts (links below) on Sherrie L. Russell-Brown, a law professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law from 2001-2007, who filed a racial and sexual discrimination lawsuit against the school and its dean, as well as the University of Oxford, alleging that she...

IRS Office of Chief Counsel Seeks 2011-12 Professor in Residence

Posted on November 11, 2010
IRS Chief Counsel William J. WIlkins seeks applications from full, associate, or assistant law professors at ABA-accredited law schools to serve as the 2011-12 Professor in Residence (September 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012): The Professor in Residence Program...

Luttmer Presents Valuing State Tax-and-Transfer Programs Today at Columbia

Posted on November 11, 2010
Erzo F.P. Luttmer (Dartmouth College, Department of Economics) presents The Insurance Value of State Tax-and-Transfer Programs at Columbia today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. Here is the abstract: This paper estimates the effective total value that individuals derive from their state?s tax-and-transfer program, and shows how this...

Foundation Press Publishes Women and the Law Stories

Posted on November 10, 2010
Foundation Press has published Women and the Law Stories, by Elizabeth M. Schneider (Brooklyn) & Stephanie M. Wildman (Santa Clara): This book examines landmark cases establishing women?s legal rights, offering accounts of the litigants, history, parties, strategies, and theoretical implications...

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Can Pro Athletes Deduct League Fines, Training Expenses?

Posted on November 10, 2010
Forbes, Lamar Odom Seeks Tax Deduction For NBA Fines and Fitness Fees, by William P. Barrett: Los Angeles Lakers basketball forward Lamar Odom has sued the IRS, which said he couldn?t take tax deductions for $12,000 in sports fines and another $178,000 spent getting himself in shape...

IRS Announces 2011 VITA Grant Recipients

Posted on November 10, 2010
The IRS yesterday released (IR-2010-111) a list of the 177 organizations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that received $11 million in matching grants to support their Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Programs for the 2011 filing season...

ABA Tax Section Hosts Webcast Today on The Impact of Schedule UTP

Posted on November 10, 2010
The ABA Tax Section offers a teleconference and webcast today on The Rubber Meets the Road: Understanding the Impact of Schedule UTP from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. EST: The IRS has finalized Schedule UTP for the 2010 tax year and set forth procedures for implementation, but there are still lurking...

A Dog's Loyalty

Posted on November 10, 2010

Obama's Debt Panel Releases Three Tax Reform Options

Posted on November 10, 2010
The co-chairmen of President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform today released a discussion draft in advance of its final report to be issued on December 1. The report presents three tax reform options: Option 1: The Zero Plan Consolidate the tax code into three individual rates and...

Estate of Edith Windsor Challenges Denial of Marital Deduction to Gay/Lesbian Couples

Posted on November 10, 2010
The estate of the late lesbian rights activist Edith Windsor filed a refund claim in U.S. District Court on the ground that the IRS unconstitutionally failed to allow her an unlimted marital deduction even though she had married Thea Spyer in Canada in 2007 after 41 years togerther...

Panayi Presents Reverse Subsidiarity and EU Tax Law Today at Boston College

Posted on November 10, 2010
Christiana Panayi (Queen Mary University of London) presents Reverse Subsidiarity and EU Tax Law: Can Member States be Left to their Own Devices?, 3 British Tax Rev. 261 (2010), at Boston College today as part of its Tax Policy Workshop Series. Here is the abstract: This article examines cross-border loss...

Charitable Giving Fell 35% in 2009 Among Affluent

Posted on November 10, 2010
Merrill Lynch and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University have released the 2010 Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy: This study reflects the attitudes and behaviors of more than 800 respondents throughout the United States with household income greater than $200,000 and/or net worth (excluding the value of their...

Henderson: Why the Legal Job Market Is Changing

Posted on November 10, 2010
William D. Henderson (Indiana-Bloomington), Why the Job Market Is Changing, National Law Journal (Nov. 2010): The traditional law firm hiring model (pedigree and grades) doesn't do a very good job of selecting candidates who are likely to succeed as large firm litigators or corporate lawyers...

Markel & Polsky: Taxing Punitive Damages

Posted on November 10, 2010
Dan Markel (Florida State) & Gregg Polsky (North Carolina) have published Taxing Punitive Damages, 96 Va. L. Rev. 1295 (2010). Here is the abstract: There is a curious anomaly in the law of punitive damages. Jurors assess punitive damages in an amount that they believe will best ?punish? the defendant...

Bill James: 'I Made Baseball As Much Fun As Doing Your Taxes'

Posted on November 09, 2010
NESN, Sabermetrician Bill James Pokes Fun at Himself on 'The Simpsons': Who knew The Simpsons could be so in tune with sabermetrics? The long-running cartoon featured a guest appearance from Bill James on Sunday night [in an episode entitled MoneyBART, a takeoff on Moneyball], and the most famous sabermetrician of...

CRS: Economic Effects of the Expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts

Posted on November 09, 2010
Congressional Research Service, What Effects Would the Expiration of the 2001 and 2003 Tax Cuts Have on the Economy? (R41443): In 2001 and 2003, Congress enacted major tax cuts (popularly referred to as the ?Bush tax cuts?), the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA; P...

TIGTA: Scammers Defraud IRS Out of $1.9 Billion Via Multiple I.D. Numbers

Posted on November 09, 2010
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration yesterday released Multiple Use of Taxpayer Identification Numbers Continues to Result in Significant Erroneous Exemptions and Credits (2010-40-117): Individuals inappropriately received at least $380 million in personal tax exemptions and tax credits in 2007 as a result of the multiple use of Taxpayer...

Judge Posner Tax Quotations

Posted on November 09, 2010
The Quotable Judge Posner 197-201 (Robert F. Blomquist (Valparaiso), ed.) (SUNY Press, 2010): "The parents between them own 75 percent of the corporation's stock, so that quite apart from their parental control over the minor children who are the other shareholders, they legally control the corporation and could if they...

Susan Pace Hamill Loses Alabama House Bid

Posted on November 09, 2010
Tax Prof Susan Pace Hamill (Alabama) lost her bid for the Alabama state house (District 63), 64%-36%, to Republican Bill Poole.

Virginia Tax Review Publishes New Issue

Posted on November 09, 2010
The Virginia Tax Review has published Vol. 30, No. 1 (Summer 2010): Joshua D. Blank (NYU) & Daniel Z. Levin (Rutgers Business School), When Is Tax Enforcement Publicized?, 30 Va. Tax Rev. 1 (2010) Evelyn A. Lewis (UC-Davis), Charitable Waste: Consideration of a "Waste Not, Want Not" Tax , 30...

Colbert on the Bush Tax Cuts

Posted on November 09, 2010
The Colbert Report Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c The Word - Nothingness www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive Colbert on the Bush Tax Cuts (July 30, 2010) Colbert on the Bush Tax Cuts (Oct. 25, 2010)

Law Schools Overwhelmingly Hire Liberals as Law Professors

Posted on November 09, 2010
Following up on my prior post, Ideological Diversity and Law School Hiring (July 20, 2010): National Jurist (Nov. 2010), Law Schools Hiring Liberal Educators: A new study shows that law schools overwhelmingly hire liberals as law professors. There has been much discussion about liberal bias in higher education, and now...

Bipartisan Senate Tax Leaders Pledge to Enact 2010 AMT Relief

Posted on November 09, 2010
Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley, as well as House Ways & Means Committee Chair Sander Levin and Ranking Member Dave Camp, today pledged in a letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman to ?do everything possible? to enact 2010 AMT relief...

NY Times: How Did Democrats End Up in Tax Cut Fix?

Posted on November 09, 2010
New York Times, Tax Cut Timing Is Proving Problematic for Democrats: [H]ow is it that Democrats ended up in such a fix over what to do about the expiring Bush-era tax cuts? That is what many Democrats are asking. By dint of calculation and miscalculation, after mixed messages and missed...

Where Have All the Women Lawyers Gone?

Posted on November 09, 2010
The National Association of Women Lawyers has released Report of the Fifth Annual National Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms: American Lawyer, Not a Good Year for Women Lawyers WSJ Law Blog, Where Have all The Women Lawyers Gone?

Sullivan: The Coming Fiscal Catastrophe in the United States

Posted on November 08, 2010
Martin A. Sullivan (Tax Analysts) has published Fiscal Crisis, Part 2: Catastrophe, 129 Tax Notes 647 (Nov. 8, 2010): Last week we talked about the first stage of the U.S. fiscal crisis: the slow erosion of long-term growth because of mounting government debt...

Is It Law Porn If You Can Wear It?

Posted on November 08, 2010
Last week (after I had already submitted my U.S. News survey), I received this tee-shirt from the University of Connecticut School of Law, celebrating its Year of the Book -- One Year. Ten Books. Prior TaxProf Blog coverage of law porn: The U.S. News Silly Season (Oct...

Harvard Taps Bond Markets for $1 Billion While Hoarding Cash

Posted on November 08, 2010
Bloomberg, Harvard Taps Bond Markets for $1.04 Billion While Hoarding Cash: Harvard University plans to sell $741 million of tax-exempt municipal bonds next week as the oldest and richest U.S. academic institution seeks to refinance outstanding debt and fund construction while hoarding cash...

TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup

Posted on November 08, 2010
Saturday: Canadian Couple Who Gave $11.2m Lottery Winnings to Charity Would Have U.S. Tax Problem Michael Mundaca Answers Your Tax Questions Goodwin: Using a Family Trust Company to Secure a Family Fortune IRS Looks Closely at Tax Issues of Closely Held Businesses Sunday: Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads Thaler: Estate...

Schwarz Presents Navigating the Charity/Business Border Today at San Diego

Posted on November 08, 2010
Stephen Schwarz (UC-Hastings) presents Navigating the Charity/Business Border: Structures, Strategies and Solutions at San Diego today as part of its Tax Speakers Series. Here is the abstract: In surveying the policies that shape and inform the federal tax treatment of charitable organizations in the United States, Professor John Simon of...

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