a surfer in front of the malibu pier on a sunny day

Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law

headshot

Miscellaneous

  • Schadenfreude at the Hampton Inn

    New York Times:  Waiting for Schadenfreude, by Judith Warner: [I]n the whole winner-take-all-era ushered in by the boom years of the late 1990s … [t]he model for success narrowed. The goal posts marking success grew more out of reach. For all the people who did something with their lives other than doggedly, single-mindedly — and

    Continue reading

  • Tax Toilet Paper

    If your tax bric-a-brac tastes are more low-brow than yesterday’s Form 1040 Puzzle, you can bid on your very own roll of Form 1040 toilet paper: Does it pain you to fill out a tax form each year? Does knowing that the IRS takes a large chunk of your salary give you the runs? This

    Continue reading

  • Form 1040: The Puzzle

    Thanks to Leandra Lederman, I am the proud owner of a Form 1040 Puzzle, which I have added to my extensive collection of tax bric-a-brac:

    Continue reading

  • Firefox: The Researcher’s Browser of Choice

    Great post on Res Ipsa Blog:  Become an Efficient Researcher: Top Twenty Firefox Add-ons that Make Firefox the Researcher’s Browser of Choice: Firefox was introduced in 2004 as a free open-source replacement for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Firefox offered improved security and introduced tabbed browsing, an integrated spell checker, and a download manager. Today, Firefox is

    Continue reading

  • WKRP TaxProf Blog in Cincinnati

    Fans of the WKRP in Cincinnati TV show might remember the theme song: Dave Rifkin (Attorney-Advisor to Tax Court Judge Juan F. Vasquez; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown) welcomed me back from San Diego with this ode: Baby, if you’ve ever wondered, Wondered whatever became of me, I’m living on the net in Cincinnati, TaxProf Blog in

    Continue reading

  • Farewell, San Diego!

    This is a bittersweet day for me, as I leave San Diego after seven weeks to return home to Cincinnati.  This was my fifth summer teaching at the University of San Diego School of Law, and I have had a wonderful time. My thanks to the kind folks at USD for having me back again,

    Continue reading

  • TaxProf Blog Named “Top 100 Law and Lawyer Blog”

    TaxProf Blog has been named one of the The Top 100 Law and Lawyer Blogs by Criminal Justice Degrees Guide.  In particular, TaxProf Blog is one of the fifteen blogs named in the Law Professors category along with über blogs such as InstaPundit, Lessig, and The Volokh Conspiracy.  I am particularly proud that six of

    Continue reading

  • Randy Pausch: Time Management

    Last fall, I blogged the incredibly moving last lecture of Randy Pausch, a 46-year old computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University and father of three pre-school children who is dying of pancreatic cancer.  The lecture has become a worldwide phenomenon, spawning over 2.6 million YouTube views and a new best-selling book. (For an update

    Continue reading

  • Off to San Diego

    I am off to San Diego for the summer to teach Tax I at the University of San Diego School of Law.  It is a wonderful city and school, and I am looking forward to renewing acquaintances with the many friends I have made in my four previous summers there.  I am especially excited at

    Continue reading

  • TaxProf Blog Named “Top 50 Law School Blog”

    CollegeDegrees.com has named TaxProf Blog one of the Top 50 Law School Blogs: This popular, informative, and easy to read tax law blog, written by Paul Caron, a professor at the University of Cincinnati Law School, offers topics touching on a range of issues that will be of interest to students, professors, and practicing lawyers

    Continue reading

  • Sweet 16

    Jayne, 16 years ago today you entered this world, enriching our lives beyond measure. The years have flown by, and my heart aches that we will never again play basketball in the driveway, hit baseballs in the park, or go to Fall Out Boy concerts together.  But the void is filled with a different kind

    Continue reading

  • Goodbye, Class of 2008

    The University of Cincinnati College of Law sent off the Class of 2008 into the world today at our graduation ceremony.  They are our 175th graduating class, making us the fourth-oldest conitnuously operating law school in the country. It is always a reflective day for the faculty, as we watch with pride as each of

    Continue reading

  • Birthday as (Athletic) Destiny

    Growing up in Boston, my goal was to play first base for the Red Sox.  After a mediocre high school and college career, I hung up the spikes for good.  It turns out the my failing owed more to my July 27 birthday than to my inability to hit a curveball:  The Boys of Late

    Continue reading

  • Letting Go

    I have written before of moments of special joy as a father to a 15-year old daughter — our times together at two Fall Out Boy Concerts, a coming-of-age camp in Northern California, and various business trips and sports activities through the years.  Today, my daughter embarked on a 17,000 mile, 10-day adventure to Mamelodi,

    Continue reading

  • The Worst Year Of My Life?

    As regular readers of the blog know, I turned 50 this year (and endured this rite of passage for folks my age).  The Weekend Wall Street Journal says this should be the worst year of my life: This week a massive American-British study of some two million souls throughout 80 countries confirms, empirically, that middle

    Continue reading

  • ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, Legal Version

    Check out the original and legal versions of the classic poem, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas [click on chart to enlarge]:

    Continue reading

  • Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

    From the Treasury Department Historical Association: Eleven Christmas Tree Tax Ornaments, including my favorite: the 1993 ornament issued on the 80th Anniversary of 16th Amendment: THA’s fifth annual ornament depicts the first Form 1040 as a commemorative of the 80th Anniversary of the authorization to collect tax on income. The ornament measures approximately 3-1/4 by

    Continue reading

  • Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

    For sale on eBay:  an IRS action figure — Irwin R. Schyster: The action figure is modeled after WWF wrestler Mike Rotunda: In the WWF, Rotunda became Irwin R. Shyster (I.R.S.) and he is perhaps best known for this role, more than any other role he has played during his career. Irwin R Shyster was

    Continue reading

  • Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

    Nothing says "I love you" better than IRS chocolates: Bite Back at the IRS Bar (left) Bite Back at the IRS Cookie CPA Coin IRS 1040 Bar (right) Mini IRS 1040 Bar (Hat Tip: Linda Galler.)

    Continue reading

  • Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

    Check out the various I Love Tax products from Cafe Press: If you work in the Tax Industry – whether as a Beanie or a Lawyer, you’ll know what it is to REALLY love tax. We love thinking about tax, talking about tax, and especially ways of avoiding tax. Tax. Live it. Tax Teddy Bear

    Continue reading

  • Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

    Tax Stories (Foundation Press, 2003) (ISBN # 1-58778-403-3), by Paul L. Caron (Cincinnati): Introduction: Tax Archaeology, by Paul L. Caron (Cincinnati): Ch. 1: The Story of Glenshaw Glass: Toward a Modern Concept of Gross Income, by Joseph Dodge (Florida State) Ch. 2: The Story of Eisner v. Macomber: The Continuing Role of “Realization” in Tax

    Continue reading

  • Chistmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

    Nothing says "I love you" better than paraphernalia from a Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service!  Check out this autographed picture and signed original letter from Donald C. Alexander, Commissioner of the IRS from 5/25/73 – 2/26/77 [click on items to enlarge]:                        

    Continue reading

  • Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

    Check out this postcard on eBay: If 10% Is Enough For God, It’s Enough For The IRS 4×6 inches in size, full color. 18 are available Cost:  $1.00 Shipping:  $1.00.

    Continue reading

  • Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person

    Continuing a TaxProf Blog holiday tradition, I will offer this week some gift ideas for that special tax person in your life.  Today’s suggestion:  For Counsel (Products and Gifts for Lawyers) sells an exact reproduction of the original 1913 Form 1040: Four pages long, including one page of instructions. Impressively framed in classic mahogany with

    Continue reading