Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Celebrity Tax Lore
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Tax Profs on Anna Nicole Smith’s Will
Gerry W. Beyer (Texas Tech) on Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog (Analysis of Anna Nicole Smith’s Will) Joanna Grossman (Hofstra) in FindLaw (The Litigation-Filled Life of Anna Nicole Smith, and the Legal Aftermath of Her Demise) Lee-ford Tritt (Florida) in the New York Times (Years-Old Will Adds to Chaos After Death of a Celebrity)…
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Will of Anna Nicole Smith
The will of Anna Nicole Smith (Vickie Lynn Marshall) is available here. (Hat Tip: David Latt.) Media coverage: Associated Press CNN Reuters USA Today
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ABC: Netherlands Is Latest Tax Shelter Hot Spot
Interesting article on abcnews.com: Where the Stars Hide Their Money: Come Visit Your Money, Stay for the Heineken Tour — the Netherlands Is the Latest Tax Shelter Hot Spot, by Aswini Anburajan: U2, the Rolling Stones, movie stars, sports figures and a host of corporations have turned to an unlikely accountant, the Netherlands, to help…
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Actor Paul Hogan Implicated in $300m Australian Tax Case
Actor Paul Hogan (of Crocodile Dundee fame) is linked to a $300 million Australian tax fraud case: The Australian Sky News Australia Sydney Morning Herald news.com.au
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Tax Prof Distraught Over Anna Nicole Smith’s Death
From a Syracuse press release: SU Law Professor Hit Hard by Death of Anna Nicole Smith Syracuse University College of Law assistant professor Terry L. Turnipseed released the following statement today regarding the death of Anna Nicole Smith. Turnipseed attended the Supreme Court oral argument in Marshall v. Marshall and has published several articles on…
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Property Tax Consequences of Extreme Makeover, Home Edition
Our prior coverage (see below) of the tax consequences to recipeints of home renovations through the TV show Extreme Makeover — Home Edition have forcused on the federal income tax consequences. Current news reports discuss the state and local property tax consequences: Dream Home Brings a Big Tax Hike; Legislation Seeks Help for "Makeover" Families,…
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Taxes Aren’t Beautiful: James Blunt Moves to Switzerland to Avoid British Taxes
British singer-songwriter James Blunt — best known for his hit single You’re Beautiful — has decided to establish residence in Switzerland to avoid British taxes. From press reports: Blunt, who earned £5 million ($9.8 million) from his debut album Back To Bedlam, is the latest in a long line of high-earners to quit their homeland…
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Tax Consequences of Another Oprah Giveaway
I previously blogged the tax consequences of another giveaway on the October 30 Oprah Winfrey Show: Every member of Oprah’s audience is going home with a $1,000 Bank of America debit card and a Sony DVD Handycam…but there’s a catch. Oprah is challenging more than 300 audience members to donate their money to a charitable…
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Martin Luther King, Jr. and Tax
In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: reports on how some southern officials tried to use state tax laws to stop King and the nascent civil rights movement: "In Alabama, … Governor John Patterson in early 1960 directed state revenue authorities to charge Martin Luther King, Jr., with tax evasion and perjury in completing…
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Golden Globes to Pay Tax Liability of Presenters
Following up (via E! News) on yesterday’s post about the IRS’s agreement with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association resolving outstanding tax responsibilities with respect to Golden Globe Awards presenter gift baskets: [T]he HFPA has decided to forgo the traditional gift baskets for presenters at next week’s Golden Globes. The HFPA made its announcement Wednesday, shortly…
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IRS, Hollywood Settle Dispute over Tax Treatment of Gift Bags at Golden Globe Awards
The IRS announced today (IR-2007-05) that it has reached an agreement with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to resolve outstanding tax responsibilities with respect to Golden Globe Awards presenter gift baskets: Under the closing agreement, the HFPA and the IRS have settled the tax obligations with respect to gifts given through 2005. Recipients of 2006…
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Carell & Colbert Death Tax Debate
Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert debate the Death Tax in this hilarious Daily Show "Even Stephen" segment: (Hat Tip: Taxalicious.)
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Penn Econ Prof Charged in Wife’s Brutal Murder
University of Pennsylvania economics professor Rafael Robb has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the brutal death of his wife, Ellen, who was bludgeoned beyond recognition in the kitchen of their home. From press reports: Ellen Robb had retained a divorce lawyer and was planning to move into a $1,500-a-month apartment by New…
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“Hero of Harlem” Dodges Subway, Not IRS
By now, most readers have read about the gripping tale of Wesley Autrey, 50, who was standing on a subway station platform in the Harlem neighborhood in New York City with his four- and six-year old daughters on Tuesday when Cameron Hollopeter, 20, suffered a seizure and fell to the tracks in front of an…
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ABBA Tax Woes
Interesting Associated Press story: Tax Woes for ABBA Star Bjorn Ulvaeus, by Louise Nordstrom: Swedish tax officials want former ABBA star Bjorn Ulvaeus to pay $2.1 million for undeclared royalties from the supergroup’s hits dating back decades. It is the second time the Swedish Tax Authority has claimed the 61-year-old singer dodged taxes by not…
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Tax Consequences of Furniture Store Giveaway
Last month we blogged the tax consequences an L.A. furniture store owner who promised customers who spent more than $2,000 in the three days prior to the UCLA-USC football game that they would not have to pay for the furniture if UCLA won (which they did). The "Shop Talk" column in the December 2006 Journal…
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Tax Consequences of Microsoft’s “Gift” of Laptops to Bloggers
Slashdot reports today (via Long Zheng) that Microsoft is sending out free top-of-the-line Acer-Ferrari laptops pre-loaded with Vista to bloggers as a "no strings attached gift." Four questions: What are Microsoft’s tax reporting obligations? Is there any way for the bloggers to avoid reporting the fmv of the laptops on their 2006 tax returns? What…
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Former IRS Attorney (and Current Law Prof) Proceeds to Trial in $20m Suit v. Former Girlfriend for Revealing Details of Their Sex Life on Blog
The Associated Press reports today that former Deputy Senior Counselor to the Commissioner of the IRS, and current Arkansas-Little Rock Law Prof, Robert Steinbuch’s "cyberspace sex scandal" case is going to trial. Steinbuch’s $20 million lawsuit against Jessica Cutler claims that she revealed details of their sex life on her Washingtonienne blog while both were…
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The Role of Taxes in the Birth of Christ
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee,…
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Jon Stewart on Alabama Tax Policy
We previously have blogged Alabama Tax Prof Susan Pace Hamill’s scholarship challenging Alabama’s tax policies on Judeo-Christian ethics grounds. The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart weighs in with his thoughts on Alabama voters’ rejection of a tax increase proposed by the governor: (Hat Tip: Taxalicious.)
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Blogger Sued for $7.6 Million for Violating Copyright Law in Posting Photos on Blog
The $7.6 million lawsuit against an L.A. blogger for copyright infringement should send chills down the spine of bloggers everywhere. From the L.A. Times: Perez Hilton Takes Their Best Shots; The Gossip Blogger’s Use of an Agency’s Paparazzi Photos Puts the Legal Spotlight on Copyright Infringement: It’s hard to know whom to sympathize with…
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Tax Consequences of Extreme Makeover, Home Edition
New press reports indicate that ABC’s lawyers continue to take the aggressive tax position that recipients of home renovations through the TV show Extreme Makeover — Home Edition do not have to include the value of the home improvements in income because they come within the short term rental payment exception of § 280A(g): To…
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Colonoscopy: A Rawlsian Perspective
Jack Bogdanski (Lewis & Clark) passed along this hilarious clip of Lou Rawls performing a colonoscopy on Damon Wayans:
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King Pays Tax for First Time
Interesting article today in Reuter’s: Nepal’s King Pays Tax for the First Time: Nepal’s King Gyanendra has paid customs duty on his personal goods, the first time a monarch of the Himalayan nation has paid any type of tax, a government spokesman said on Friday. Nepal’s government in May stripped the king of almost all…