Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Celebrity Tax Lore
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Forbes: Was Tax Lawyer the Real MVP of Saints’ Super Bowl?
Forbes, Did Tax Ploy Help Saints Win Super Bowl?: Did the New Orleans Saints have some accounting help as they marched in to their Super Bowl win this year over the Indianapolis Colts? In a just-filed U.S. Tax Court lawsuit [New Orleans Louisiana Saints Master Limited Partnership LLC v. Commissioner, No. 13635-10)], the partnership owning…
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Celebrity Lawyer Mickey Sherman Pleads Guilty to Nonpayment of $400k in Taxes
Celebrity lawyer Michael "Mickey" Sherman (husband of Fox News legal analyst Lis Wiehl), who represented Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel in his murder trial, pleaded guilty last week to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay $400,000 in taxes. From the Associated Press: "I have many explanations, but no excuses," Sherman said. "I’m taking responsibility for these two offenses and…
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Bill Gates Sr.: Raise My Taxes. Please.
Seattle Times, Bill Gates Sr. Makes His Case for Income Tax Initiative: Bill Gates Sr. fielded questions from reporters Thursday morning, sometimes with a note of exasperation, about the income tax initiative 1098. I-1098 sponsors turned in 350,000 signatures, with another 20,000 expected Friday — more than enough to qualify the measure for the ballot.…
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Rapper Method Man Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion
Following up on my prior post, Rapper Method Man (Clifford Smith) Arrested on Tax Charges: Mr. Smith pleaded guilty on Monday to evading New York state taxes and paid $106,000 in restitution. Associated Press BBC E! Online New York Daily News TMZ (Hat Tip: Justin Axelrod.)
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Wesley Snipes Seeks Dismissal or New Trial in Tax Fraud Case in Light of Kenneth Starr’s Arrest
Wesley Snipes' attorneys have filed a motion requesting that the 11th Circuit suspend consideration of his appeal to allow him time to request the district court to either dismiss his conviction on three misdemeanor tax fraud counts or order a new trial in light of the arrest on securities fraud charges of Kenneth Starr, a tax lawyer and financial adviser who…
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The Tax Court, Tim Geithner, and Jack Webb
Following up on this morning’s post, Tax Court Rejects Geithner/TurboTax Defense: from a reader :
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Reggie Bush Can’t Outrun the IRS
The NCAA's University of Southern California Public Infractions Report (June 10, 2010) details over $300,000 in benefits from agents provided to former Trojan Heisman Trophy Winner (and current New Orleans Saint) Reggie Bush. FOX News reports that the IRS and California tax authorities may seek over $200,000 in back taxes, interest, and penalties from Mr. Bush: Good…
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Ralph Lauren’s Tax-Motivated Sale
Future of Capitlism: Ralph Lauren's Stock Sale and Taxes, by Ira Stoll: Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post all have coverage of Ralph Lauren's plan to sell a quarter of his stake in his publicly traded Polo Ralph Lauren apparel/fashion/retail empire, with proceeds estimated at between $900 million and $1 billion.…
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IRS Issues Regs on New 10% Tanning Tax; Snooki and John McCain Are Not Pleased
The IRS announced (IR-2010-073) today that it has issued regulations outlining the administration of the 10% excise tax on indoor tanning services that goes into effect on July 1: In general, providers of indoor tanning services will collect the tax at the time the purchaser pays for the tanning services. The provider then pays over these amounts…
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Texan May be First Billionaire in 95 Years to Pass Estate to His Children Tax-Free
In my lecture, The Costs of Estate Tax Dithering, 43 Creighton L. Rev. ___ (2010), I talked about how the estates of several recently departed celebrities — including Texas tycoon Dan Duncan — might be treated in the current estate tax interregnum. The New York Times has an interesting article on Mr. Duncan, Legacy for One…
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The Tax Man Takes Aim at Olympians
The Globe and Mail, The Tax Man Takes Aim at Olympians: Canadian medalists from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics began receiving their podium bonuses recently, but the cheques came with a letter informing the athletes they are responsible for paying tax on the one-time payments. … In 2007, the Canadian Olympic Committee established the Athlete Excellence…
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Rahm Emanuel Pays Delinquent Property Tax After Being Questioned by Media
From WBBM Newsradio 780: White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was three months behind on his property tax payments until Newsradio 780 brought it to his attention. Rahm Emanuel and his wife accumulated a $445.56 penalty for the payment delay on their four-bedroom Ravenswood home. On March 2, when property taxes were due, Emanuel…
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IRS Is Big Winner in Shift of Phillies-Jays Series from Toronto to Philadelphia
Major League Baseball’s decision to move the June 25-27 Blue Jays-Phillies series from Toronto to Philadelphia to avoid the G-20 summit being held in Toronto will cost Phillies ace Roy Halladay, who picthed for the Blue Jays for 12 seasons, $75,000 in additional federal income tax. From the Wall Street Journal: The potential tax hit is related…
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Ex-IRS Agent’s Reality TV Show: IRS Hitman
IRS Hitman Reality TV Show Press Release, Wanted by America, the IRS (+) Hitman Reality TV Show is Here Going Concern, Just So You're Aware, An Ex-IRS AGent has a Reality TV Show
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Celebrity Tax Troubles
Corbin Bernsen, actor, $94,681 California tax lien Mel Blount, former Pittsburgh Steeler, $652,000 IRS tax liens Toni Braxton, singer, $396,330 IRS tax lien Jeff Bridges, actor, $23,997 IRS tax lien Judy Collins, singer, $116,780 IRS tax lien, $34,072 New York tax lien Janice Dickinson, supermodel, $83,226 California tax liens Faith Evans, singer, $156,181 ITS tax…
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Art Imitates Life: The Estate Tax on Last Night’s Law & Order
Last week, I blogged my Creighton lecture on The Costs of Estate Tax DIthering — in which I showed a clip from Throw Momma from the Train (originally coined by Paul Krugman to refer to the 2001 passage of the one-year repeal of the estate tax in 2010), discussed two papers showing the impact of estate tax changes on the timing of deaths, and concluded…
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“The Kingdom of God Is Not Run on GAAP” — But This World Is
A federal jury last week convicted co-pastors Anthony and Harriet Jinwright of multiple counts of tax evasion and fraud. From the Charlotte Observer: [C]hurch finance expert Dan Busby, who heads the national Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, reviewed the trial and called it "one of the most egregious cases" of pastoral misconduct that he's seen. Jinwright…
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Faisal Shahzad’s Tax Problem
Faisal Shahzad, the attempted Times Square bomber, purchased his home at 119 Long Hill Avenue, Shelton, CT in July 2004 for $273,000 — he put down 20% ($54,600) and took out a conventional 30-year mortgage loan from Chase for $218,400. In February 2009, he took out a $65,000 equity line of credit from Wachovia. In September 2009, Chase…
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Goodbye, Class of 2010
The University of Cincinnati College of Law sent off the Class of 2010 into the world today at our graduation ceremony at venerable Music Hall They are our 177th graduating class, making us the fourth-oldest continuously operating law school in the country. It is always a reflective day for the faculty, as we watch with…
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School’s Out for Summer!
I taught my last class of the academic year today — thanks to my students in Federal Income Tax for a wonderful semester! Well we got no choiceAll the girls and boysMakin’ all that noise‘Cause they found new toysWell we can’t salute yaCan’t find a flagIf that don’t suit yaThat’s a drag School’s out for…