Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
News
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Abortion and Taxes
House Ways & Means Committee, Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, Hearing Announcement House Ways & Means Committee, Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, Testimony of Thomas A. Barthold Chief of Staff, Joint Committee on Taxation Accounting Today, Congress Deliberates on Taxes and Abortions Bloomberg, Abortion Foes Collide With Tax Obstacle in Attempt to Cap Federal Funding
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EU Proposes Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base
The European Commission yesterday proposed a common system for calculating the tax base of businesses operating in the European Union: The aim of this proposal is to significantly reduce the administrative burden, compliance costs and legal uncertainties that businesses in the EU currently face in having to comply with up to 27 different national systems…
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Ohio Promises Woman $200m Tax Refund (Albeit via Check, Not Direct-Deposit)
The Sandusky Register reports that a taxpayer received a latter from the Ohio Department of Taxation explaining that her $200 million refund could not be paid by direct deposit but that she would be sent a check: 9,700 other Ohio taxpayers also received letters promising inflated tax refunds The Department of Taxation blames a “software error.” Accounting Today…
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How Much Money Do the Rich Have?
National Review, How Much Money Do the Rich Have?, by Robert VerBruggen: My colleague Kevin D. Williamson has a piece today about how hard it would be to close the $1.1 trillion budget gap by taxing “the rich.” I spent some time this weekend going through more detailed IRS data, and they support his conclusion.…
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Tax Lawyer’s Conviction in Tax Shelter Case Results in Automatic Disbarment
The New York Appellate Division last week held that a tax lawyer’s criminal conviction in a tax shelter case results in automatic disbarment from the New York bar. Matter of Nissenbaum, 2011 N.Y. Slip Op 01847 (N.Y. App, Div. Mar. 8, 2011): According to the petitioner, the respondent “was convicted of conspiring with others to…
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IRS Tries to Bogart Medical Marijuana Club’s Deductions
Marin Independent Journal, IRS Tells Fairfax Medical Marijuana Dispensary It Owes Millions in Unpaid Taxes: The IRS has notified the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax that it owes millions of dollars in unpaid back taxes, according to the alliance’s founder and director, Lynnette Shaw. Shaw said the IRS audited the alliance’s tax returns…
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Dems, GOP Reject Economists’ Call for a VAT
The Hill, Calls for New VAT Tax Prove Unpopular With Both Dems, GOP: A range of economists have come to Capitol Hill to sing the praises of a value-added tax (VAT), but their song is falling on deaf ears. While some elected officials have pledged to keep an open mind about the VAT, many lawmakers…
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Five Sneaky Tax Deductions
MSN Money, 5 Sneaky Tax Deductions: You’ve probably never heard of these write-offs, but they could save you a lot of money and make your April easier. Why send the IRS any more than you need to? ‘Depreciate’ land Make money on charitable contributions Expense it all, or depreciate 100% Take a remodeling credit Make…
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WSJ: Obama’s Budget Targets ‘Dynasty Trusts’
Wall Street Journal, Dynasty Trusts Under Attack, by Laura Saunders: It’s official: A type of trust used by the wealthy to shelter assets from estate taxes for hundreds of years, or even forever, is under fire. The proposal, which first appeared a few weeks ago on a hit list of estate provisions in President Obama’s…
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WSJ: Whirlpool Parlays Green Credits Into Zero Tax Liability
Wall Street Journal editorial, Tax Reform Exhibit A: How Whirlpool Parlays Green Credits Into Zero Tax Liability: Whirlpool Corporation recorded $18 billion in global sales and $619 million of earnings in 2010 but won’t pay anywhere near the U.S. statutory tax rate of 35% on those profits. Its effective tax rate will be 0%. As…
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NY Times: Through the Tax Looking Glass With Ambac
New York Times DealBook, Through the Looking Glass With Ambac, by Stephen J. Lubben (Seton Hall): If the claims by the IRS are true, Ambac has managed to pull off something that Lehman Brothers could not: force the government to provide a bailout. Ambac got its bailout by receiving more than $700 million in tax…
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How to Build a Progressive Tea Party
The Nation, How to Build a Progressive Tea Party, by Johann Hari: Imagine a parallel universe where the Great Crash of 2008 was followed by a Tea Party of a very different kind. Enraged citizens gather in every city, week after week—to demand the government finally regulate the behavior of corporations and the superrich, and…
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Geithner: End Pass-Through Treatment of LLCs, Partnerships & S Corps
Bloomberg News, Geithner Seeks to Broaden U.S. Corporate Tax Overhaul Debate: The Obama administration is seeking to widen the scope of its proposal to overhaul the corporate tax code, urging Congress to also change rules that allow some businesses to take advantage of tax laws governing individuals. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the Senate…
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Tax Court Denies Deduction for TV News Anchor’s Clothing Expenses
The Tax Court yesterday denied business expense deductions claimed by a TV news anchor for her wardrobe and other personal expenses and sustained accuracy-related penalties. Hamper v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2011-17 (Feb. 25, 2011) (citations omitted): On Schedules A of her Federal income tax returns for the years at issue, petitioner claimed deductions for unreimbursed employee…
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CNN: GM’s Sweetheart Tax Deal
Following up on my prior post, Rasmusen Presents The Lawlessness of the GM NOL Ruling (Feb. 14, 2011): CNN, GM’s Sweetheart Tax Deal: The U.S. Treasury is giving up $14 billion in tax revenue because of a sweetheart deal it’s giving General Motors. The automaker is expected to post its first profitable year since 2004 when it reports…
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How Do Sales Taxes Apply to a Groupon?
Forbes, Social Confusion: How Do Sales Taxes Apply to a Groupon?, by Janet Novack: Have you used a Groupon or a Living Social coupon recently? When you handed over your coupon, did the merchant collect tax from you? Did he calculate the tax based on the full face value of your purchase, or the discounted amount…
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WSJ: Tax Code Keeps Microsoft, Other U.S. Companies From Spending $1 Trillion in Foreign Profits
Wall Street Journal, Why Investors Can’t Get More Cash Out of U.S. Companies, by Jason Zweig: Earlier this month, Microsoft borrowed $2.25 billion in unsecured debt. What in the world possesses a company with $40 billion in cash and short-term securities to go out and borrow money? Rock-bottom interest rates are one reason. But the…
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WSJ: Same-Sex Couples in CA, NV & WA Reap Big Federal Tax Bonuses
Wall Street Journal, Same-Sex Couples And The Marriage Penalty, by Laura Saunders: Thanks to a 1996 federal law aimed at preserving traditional marriage, thousands of same-sex couples in California, Nevada, and Washington state could get big tax bonuses on their federal returns starting this year. The bonuses are off-limits to heterosexual married couples—a sharp reminder…
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Feldstein: Boost the Economy by Lowering Corporate Tax Rates
Wall Street Journal op-ed, Want to Boost the Economy? Lower Corporate Tax Rates, by Martin Feldstein (Harvard University, Department of Economics): President Obama has reached out to the business community with talk of lowering the corporate tax rate and improving the tax treatment of profits earned abroad by American companies. That would certainly be an…
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WSJ: Death Tax Ambush
Wall Street Journal editorial, Death Tax Ambush: Many States Now Have Crushing Burdens: The new law applies a top federal death tax rate of 35% with a $5 million exemption for 2011 and 2012. But it also changed a federal credit for state death tax rates into a federal deduction. The credit allowed a dollar-for-dollar…
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Fact-Checking President Obama’s Claim: ‘I Didn’t Raise Taxes Once’
From Bill O’Reilly’s interview with President Obama: O’REILLY: Do you deny that you are a man who wants to redistribute wealth. OBAMA: Absolutely. O’REILLY: You deny that? OBAMA: Absolutely. I didn’t raise taxes once. I lowered taxes over the last two years.I lowered taxes for the last two years.” Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Americans for Tax…
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Krugman & Freakonomics on Bias Against Conservatives in the Academy
Following up on this morning’s post, NY Times Finds Bias Against Conservatives in the Academy: NY Times (The Conscience of a Liberal), Ideas Are Not The Same As Race, by Paul Krugman: Every once in a while you get stories like this one, about the underrepresentation of conservatives in academics, that treat ideological divides as…
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AP: Taxes (as a Percentage of the Economy) Are Lowest in 60 Years
Associated Press, Taxes (as a Percentage of Economy) Drop to Lowest Level in 60 Years: Taxes too high? Actually, as a share of the nation’s economy, Uncle Sam’s take this year will be the lowest since 1950, when the Korean War was just getting under way. And for the third straight year, American families and businesses…
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WSJ: Is 1099 Repeal a Controlled Burn of ObamaCare or Uncontrollable Wildfire?
Weekend Wall Street Journal editorial, The 1099 Repudiation: A Revealing Debate Over One of Washington’s Dumbest Ideas: Democrats now claim that the infamous 1099 business reporting mandate that the Senate repealed this week was an accident, as if they were as surprised as everyone else to learn that this destructive provision had crept by itself…
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Double the Charitable Deduction to Create Jobs, Reduce Poverty
Huffington Post, A New Big Idea: Create Jobs and Reduce Poverty by Doubling the Charitable Deduction, by Dan Froomkin: Even as the United States suffers from a staggering unemployment crisis and vast income inequality, the nation’s wealthiest families are sitting on huge piles of unproductive cash. So with nothing remotely like a second stimulus bill…