Author: Paul Caron
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Kleinbard: An American Dual Income Tax: Nordic Precedents
Edward D. Kleinbard (USC) has published An American Dual Income Tax: Nordic Precedents, 5 Nw. J. L. & Pub. Pol’y 41 (2010). Here is the abstract: A classic dual income tax is a schedular income tax in which capital income (broadly defined, and including corporate income) is taxed at a relatively low flat rate and labor
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Tax Court: Mortgage Disqualifies Charitable Deduction for Conservation Easement
The Tax Court yesterday denied a claimed charitable contribution deduction for a façade easement granted to a tax-exempt organization be cause the property was subject to a mortgage and thus "the conservation purpose [was not] protected in perpetuity" within the meaning of § 170(h)(2)(C) and § 170(h)(5)(A) and Reg, § 1.170A-14(a). Kaufman v. Commissioner, 134 T.C. No. 9 (Apr. 26, 2010).
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New Issue of The Law Teacher
The Institute for Law Teaching and Learning has published the Spring 2010 issue of The Law Teacher with these articles: Team-Based Learning — An Overview, by Sophie Sparrow (Franklin Pierce), p.1 The “Other Minority,” by Sabah Carrim (KDU College, Malaysia), p.3 The Socratic Method Outline, by Kelly A. Moore (Toledo), p.4 Student Self-Assessment Book (SAB): Reflective Thinking and
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CRS: An Overview of Tax Reform Proposals in the 111th Congress
Open CRS has posted James M. Bickley, Tax Reform: An Overview of Proposals in the 111th Congress (R40414). Here is the summary: Tax reform is of congressional interest in the 111th Congress. This report primarily covers fundamental tax reform because CRS reports are available online concerning the other three categories of tax reform: tax reform based on
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Winchester: Corporations That Weren’t: The Taxation of Firm Profits in Historical Perspective
Richard Winchester (Thomas Jefferson) has posted Corporations That Weren’t: The Taxation of Firm Profits in Historical Perspective, 19 S. Cal. Interdisc. L.J. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article examines the nation’s earliest income tax laws, focusing on the provisions that tax business profits in a way that disregards a firm’s state
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Professors Without Borders
A group of professors announced on Monday that it has launched a new charity, Professors Beyond Borders, modeled after the highly successful Doctors Without Borders (which won the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize for its humanitarian efforts): Our Mission: Professors Beyond Borders are dedicated to public health and a secure global village for all. We offer academics of
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Textron Files Reply Brief in Tax Work Papers Case
I previously blogged the eleven amicus briefs filed in January in the U.S. Supreme Court (No. 09-750), supporting Textron's certiorari petition seeking review of the First Circuit's 3-2 en banc decision in United States v. Textron, Inc., No. 07-2631 (1st Cir. Aug. 13, 2009), which reversed the 2-1 panel decision and held that Textron's tax accrual work
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Chronicle: Faculty, Like Students, Can be Led Astray by Rankings
Chronicle of Higher Education, Academics, Too, Can Be Led Astray by College Rankings, Study Finds, by Peter Schmidt: Prospective students are hardly the only ones who can be overly fixated on college rankings and make poor judgments of the institutions as a result. A new study suggests that academics, too, can have their opinion of
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More on the 47% Who Pay No Income Tax
Following up on my prior post, More on the 47% Who Pay No Income Tax: Neil H. Buchanan (George Washington), Do Some Americans Pay No Taxes? The Contrived Claims That Everyone Must Help Pay for the Government (FindLaw) Neil H. Buchanan (George Washington), Freeloaders and Taxpayers (Dorf on Law) VAT Bastard, The 47% Wake Up Call
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Houston Business & Tax Journal Publishes New Issue
The Houston Business & Tax Law Journal has published Vol. 10, Part 1 (2010): William M. Funk, On and Over the Horizon: Emerging Issues in U.S. Taxation of Investments, 10 Hous. Bus. & Tax L.J. 1 (2010) Glenn Walberg, Reconsidering the Treatment of Investigatory Costs for Taxpayers with Existing Businesses, 10 Hous. Bus. & Tax L.J. 47
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Joulfaian: The Federal Estate Tax: History, Law, and Economics
David Joulfaian (Office of Tax Analysis, Treasury Department) has posted The Federal Estate Tax: History, Law, and Economics on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The estate tax is the only wealth tax levied by the Federal government. It was enacted in 1916, and its scope was expanded to encompass gifts as well. It evolved over
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TIGTA: IRS Fails to Flag 1.2 Million Tax Returns Evidencing Identity Theft
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today issued a press release, TIGTA Publicly Releases Report on Identity Theft Involving Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers: An estimated 1.2 million tax returns filed in 2007 reported wages earned by taxpayers who used another taxpayer's Social Security Number, a sign of possible identity theft, according to a report
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2010: A Good Year to Die?
NPR, There May Be A Tax Upside To Dying In 2010: The saying that nothing is more certain than death or taxes doesn’t apply to all of Sanford Schlesinger’s clients. The trust and estates attorney has one client, for example, who died and left $70 million — but it’s not clear whether or how much
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Borden: PIP Factors: Examine With Low Expectations
Bradley T. Borden (Washburn) has published PIP Factors: Examine With Low Expectations, 26 Tax Mgmt. Real Est. J. 31 (2010). Here is the abstract: This article takes a critical look at the factors the income tax regulations use to define partners' interests in a partnership. The article concludes that the factors do little to help determine
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Third National People of Color Conference Offers How to Enter the Legal Academy: Pipeline Program
Seton Hall hosts the Third National People of Color Conference, Our Country, Our World in a “Post-Racial” Era, on September 9-12, 2010. The conference includes a Works-in-Progress Sessions, a Junior Faculty Writing Competition, and a Student Writing Competition, as well as a How to Enter the Legal Academy: Pipeline Program — “an opportunity to learn the inside information necessary to
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Johnston: The IRS Is More Popular Than Sarah Palin and the Tea Party
David Cay Johnston has published What Polls Tell Us About the Public's View of Taxes, 127 Tax Notes 473 (Apr. 26, 2010): Readers, here is some terrific news for sound tax policy — and two related problems. But first, to give context to both the good news and the problems, a little quiz. Based on the
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NY Times: 20%-25% of Charities to Lose Their Tax-Exempt Status on May 15
New York Times, One-Fourth of Nonprofits Are to Lose Tax Breaks, by Stephanie Strom: As many as 400,000 nonprofit organizations are weeks away from a doomsday. At midnight on May 15, an estimated one-fifth to one-quarter of some 1.6 million charities, trade associations and membership groups will lose their tax exemptions, thanks to a provision
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IRS Investigates Florida Senatorial Candidate Marco Rubio
Web CPA, IRS Investigates Marco Rubio: The IRS is reportedly investigating Florida senatorial candidate Marco Rubio’s use of a Republican Party credit card. … Rubio has been criticized in campaign ads for using his Republican Party American Express card to pay for personal expenses, including repairs to his family minivan, grocery bills, plane tickets for
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Court Rejects ‘Holocaust Defense’ of UBS Tax Cheat
Former UBS client Jack Barouh, 65 years old, was sentenced on Friday to 10 months in federal prison after claiming his Jewish parents' experience fleeing the Nazi Holocaust drove him to compulsively hide more than $10 million in secret accounts at the Swiss bank. Department of Justice Press Release Associated Press BBC Bloomberg Reuters (Hat Tip:
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TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup
Saturday: Backdating and Taxes Bartlett: The Case Against the VAT The Structured Settlement Tax Subsidy Textron: The First Circuit Destroys the Work Product Doctrine for Public Companies Sunday: Tax Prof Dancing Through the Years Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads Nicholas Mirkey Receives Humanitarian Award Congress Should Amend § 911 to Include Antarctica Tax Policy and
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Tax Prof Dancing Through the Years
I returned home yesterday from a week-long trip with my daughter visiting colleges for their "admitted student" days. We went to a father-daughter/mother-son dance at her high school last night. It was a great time, kicking up my heels for the first time in decades. (Luckily, dancing is apparently like riding a bicycle – once the muscle memory kicked in,
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Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads
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 #4: 1. [997 Downloads] Pursuing a Tax LLM Degree: Why and When?, by Paul L. Caron (Cincinnati), Jennifer M. Kowal (Loyola-L.A.) & Katherine Pratt (Loyola-L.A.) 2. [651 Downloads] Ten Estate Planning Advantages of
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Nicholas Mirkey Receives Humanitarian Award
Tax Prof Nicholas A. Mirkay (Widener) was recently honored with the Red Ribbon Humanitarian Award, given by the Delaware HIV Consortium at its sixth-annual WOW Awards Celebration: The awards event recognizes corporate and individual excellence for philanthropy, volunteerism, fundraising and community leadership in the field of HIV/AIDS. The humanitarian award in particular recognizes an individual who
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Congress Should Amend § 911 to Include Antarctica
Camille M. Castro (J.D. 2010, Syracuse) has published Note, Peculiar Polar Policy: The Internal Revenue Service's Treatment of Antarctica, 60 Syracuse L. Rev. 385 (2010). Here is the Conclusion: Currently, taxpayers in Antarctica are caught in a perpetual darkness in regards to their ability to claim the foreign earned income exclusion of § 911. Congress
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Tax Policy and the Taxation of Credit Card Rewards
Elizabeth C. Crouse (J.D. 2009, Michigan) has posted Doing as They Say or Saying as They Do: Tax Policy and the (In)Effective and (In)Efficient Taxation of Credit Card Rewards on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In recent years, credit card reward programs have become a basic component of personal finance and, often, a basic perquisite