Author: Paul Caron
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Obama and Biden Release Tax Returns
President Obama and Vice-President Biden today released their 2009 tax returns: Obama: Press Release Tax Returns (Federal Forms 1040, 709; Illinois Form 1040) Returns Relating to Nobel Prize Biden: Press Release Tax Returns (Federal Form 1040; Delaware Form 200-01) Here are charts putting the 2009 returns in context with their earlier returns: Obama: Year AGI
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Schler Presents Rebooting Section 356 Today at NYU
Michael L. Schler (Cravath, New York) presents Rebooting Section 356 at NYU today as part of its Colloquium Series on Tax Policy and Public Finance. The co-convenors of the colloquium are Daniel Shaviro (NYU) & Mihir Desai (Harvard Business School). Here is part of the Introduction: Section 356 applies when a shareholder receives both stock and nonstock consideration (“boot”)
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Brown: Shades of the American Dream
Dorothy A. Brown (Emory) has published Shades of the American Dream, 87 Wash. U.L. Rev. 329 (2010). Here is the abstract: Federal tax policies such as the mortgage interest deduction do not generally encourage anyone to become a homeowner, yet they do increase the cost of housing. Low-income homeowners regardless of race are least likely to
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Zelinsky: The Constitutionality (and Futility) of Colorado’s Amazon Law
Edward A. Zelinsky (Cardozo) has posted The Constitutionality (and Futility) of Colorado’s Amazon Law, 56 State Tax Notes ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Colorado’s law Amazon is constitutional, but will not raise significant revenue for Colorado’s treasury. Most prominently, Colorado’s Amazon law does not reach Amazon or Amazon’s sales to its Colorado customers. Only
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WSJ: Europe’s Tax Lesson: VAT Rates Start Low, Rise; Income Tax Rates Remain High
Wall Street Journal editorial, Europe's VAT Lessons: Rates Start Low and Increase, While Income Tax Rates Stay High: As Americans rush to complete their annual tax returns today, there is still some consolation in knowing that it could be worse: Like Europeans, we could pay both income taxes and a value-added tax, or VAT. And
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An Inconvenient Tax Opens Today
An Inconvenient Tax – Trailer from Life Is My Movie Entertainment on Vimeo.
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Government Spending and Tax Expenditures
The Center on American Progress held a program on Tuesday on Government Spending Undercover: Doing What Works on Tax Expenditures: Lily Batchelder (NYU) & Eric Toder (Urban Institute), Government Spending Undercover: Spending Programs Administered by the IRS Richard W. Caperton & Sima J. Gandhi (both of the Center for American Progress), America’s Hidden Power Bill Examining Federal Energy Tax
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Senate Holds Hearing Today on The Tax Filing Season
The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing at 10:00 a.m. this morning on Filing Season Update: Current IRS Issues. Here are the witnesses scheduled to testify: Steven T. Miller (Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement, IrS) Nina Olson (National Taxpayer Advocate, IRS)
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House Holds Hearing Today on State Taxation
The House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing at 11:00 a.m. this morning on State Taxation – The Impact of Congressional Legislation on State and Local Government Revenues: Panel #1: James H. Douglas (Vermont Governor, on behalf of the National Governors Ass'n) B. Glen Whitley (Tarrant County Judge, on behalf of the National Ass'n of Counties)
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NY Times: Taxing the Rich, Over Time
New York Times, Yes, 47% of Households Owe No Taxes; Look Closer, by David Leonhardt: That’s the portion of American households that owe no income tax for 2009. The number is up from 38% in 2007, and it has become a popular talking point on cable television and talk radio. With Tax Day coming on Thursday,
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Tax Polls
The American Enterprise Institute has released a 97-page report, Public Opinion on Taxes, 2010 — "[t]he most comprehensive collection of polls ever compiled on the subject of taxes": The 2010 Public Opinion Study on Taxes brings together up-to-date trends from major survey organizations and commentary on the tax burden, value for tax dollars, tax fairness,
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Galle Presents Is Cap & Trade Fair to the Poor? Today at Penn
Brian Galle (Florida State; moving to Boston College) presents Is Cap & Trade Fair to the Poor? Short-Sighted Households and the Timing of Consumption Taxes, 78 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. ___ (2010) (with Manuel A. Utset (Florida State)) at Pennsylvania today as part of its Center for Tax Law and Policy Seminar Series hosted by Chris William Sanchirico and Reed Shuldiner.
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Catholic Hosts Program Today on Philanthropy in the 21st Century
Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, hosts a program today at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Philanthropy in the 21st Century: Should All Charities Be Created Equal?, hosted by Roger Colinvaux (Catholic): Charitable organizations receive preferential treatment under federal tax law. The rules allow for a broad, purpose-based concept of charity –
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How to Boost Your Student Evaluations
Chronicle of Higher Education: Tricks for Boosting Student Evaluations, by Gene C. Fant Jr.: I often chuckle at how faculty members will sometimes wheedle and cajole their students to give higher marks. Local doughnut shops tend to see sales rise that week as professors buy treats for their classes. Extra-credit assignments seem to pop up
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Merrill & Schizer: A Proposed Petroleum Fuel Price Stabilization Plan
Thomas Merrill (Columbia) & David Schizer (Dean, Columbia) have published Energy Policy for an Economic Downturn: A Proposed Petroleum Fuel Price Stabilization Plan, 27 Yale J. on Reg. 1 (2010). Here is the abstract: A compelling case can be made for reducing America’s consumption of petroleum fuels. Nearly all analysts think that the way to slash
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The “Stickiest” Law Prof Blogs
Following up on yesterday’s post, Law Prof Blog Rankings: as others have pointed out, raw traffic numbers (visitors and page views) are only one of the measures of the influence of blogs. “Stickiness’ — the amount of time readers spend on a blog — also is an important metric. Unfortunately, the SiteMeter measure — Average
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Caron: Chief Justice Burger: A Better Tax Lawyer Than His Critics
I have posted Chief Justice Burger: A Better Tax Lawyer Than His Critics, 69 Tax Notes 1020 (1995), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Media reports of Warren Burger's homemade three-sentence will crowed about the former Chief Justice's lack of legal acumen in drafting the will. A local attorney alleged that Burger's $1.6 million estate would incur a
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Larry Lokken Retires From Florida, Joins Miami Faculty
Lawrence Lokken, Hugh Culverhouse Eminent Scholar in Taxation at the University of Florida College of Law, is taking emeritus status this fall. He is moving to the University of Miami School of Law next January as Professor of Law. Larry is the co-author of the acclaimed multi-volumne treatise, Federal Taxation of Income, Estates & Gifts (with Boris
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W&L Law Review Offers Summer Submission Program
The Washington & Lee Law Review offers a Summer Submission Program for expedited review of articles submitted from May 10 – July 30: The Board will complete its review and convey its decision to the author within two weeks The author agrees to accept an offer of publication made during the two-week period.
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House Holds Hearing Today on Energy Tax Incentives
The House Ways & Means Committee holds a hearing today on Energy Tax Incentives Driving the Green Job Economy: The hearing will examine the effectiveness of current energy tax policy and identify additional steps that the Committee can take to ensure continued job growth in this area while at the same time advancing national energy
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2011 U.S. News Law School Rankings
Two days before the official release, Above the Law links to an advance copy of the 2011 U.S. News & World Report Law School Rankings (via The Bright Coast and Top Law Schools.). Update: Analysis from Law School Predictor.
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NYU Hosts Reading Today of Dan Shaviro’s Getting It
Following up on my prior post, the NYU Graduate Tax Program is hosting a reading and discussion today of the new novel by Tax Prof Daniel N. Shaviro (NYU), Getting It (iUniverse, 2010): Bill Doberman is a liar. He’s also a conniver, a phony, a hypocrite, and a cad — and those are his good points. But will it all be
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Northwestern Dean Van Zandt Defends the U.S. News Rankings
David E. Van Zandt (Dean, Northwestern), Rankings Are Valuable (And Here to Stay); So Let’s Focus on Making Them Better: The debates about the merits of the U.S. News & World Reports annual law school rankings undoubtedly will escalate with the imminent release of the new rankings. The rankings indeed are far from perfect. (I
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Donald Marron Named Director of Tax Policy Center
The Tax Policy Center announced today that Donald Marron, who served as a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and as acting director of the Congressional Budget Office, will become the director on May 17, succeeding Rosanne Altshuler, who will be returning to Rutgers University after nearly two years with the Tax Policy