Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
News
-
Push to Repeal ObamaCare’s 1099 Requirement Ignores Tax-Gap Problem
Bloomberg, Push to ‘Correct’ IRS Small Business Rule Ignores Tax-Gap Data, by Ryan J. Donmoyer: A year ago, Congress had instructed the Internal Revenue Service to improve small businesses’ compliance with tax laws and created rules to make it more difficult for entrepreneurs to hide their income. Now, rules requiring businesses to report to the…
-
Forbes: Should Married Couples Forego Trusts?
Forbes, Married, With Assets, by Deborah L. Jacobs: The new estate law allows couples to do without trusts–if they trust each other. Under the new law, just as under the old one, you can leave a citizen spouse or a charity an unlimited amount, without worrying about tax. But the new law makes two key…
-
Dilbert Creator Scott Adams: How to Tax the Rich
Weekend Wall Street Journal, How to Tax the Rich: Try giving them perks and privileges (an extra vote?) in return, says ‘Dilbert’ creator Scott Adams. The president was too polite to mention it during his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, but here’s a quick summary of the problem: The U.S. is broke. The…
-
Thorndike: The American Tax Tradition of ‘Soaking the Rich’
Weekend Wall Street Journal, Soaking the Wealthy: An American Tradition, by Joseph J. Thorndike (Tax Analysts): Americans like to tax the rich. As a nation, we rely more on progressive taxes—and less on regressive ones—than any other developed country. We impose no broad-based consumption tax, standing firm against the global popularity of value-added levies. But…
-
Bartlett: Obama Walked Into Tax Reform Neutrality Trap
Bruce Bartlett (The Fiscal Times), Tax Reform: Obama is Walking into the Neutrality Trap: In his State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to enact tax reform. Republicans all applauded because to them tax reform is just another excuse to cut taxes. However, their response was muted when he said that any tax reform…
-
Tax Portions of President Obama’s State of the Union Address
We need to get behind this innovation. And to help pay for it, I’m asking Congress to eliminate the billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give to oil companies. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they’re doing just fine on their own. So instead of subsidizing yesterday’s energy, let’s invest in tomorrow’s. … Of…
-
Court Gives IRS Rare Win in ‘John Edwards Sub S Tax Shelter’ Case
Wall Street Journal, The IRS Targets Income Tricks, by Laura Saunders: [A] recent U.S. district court case [was] won by the IRS against David Watson, a CPA in West Des Moines, Iowa. At issue: a common tax-cutting maneuver available to the owners of millions of closely held businesses. The case, David E. Watson P.C. v.…
-
Caplin & Drysdale Shifts Tax-Exempt Guns to NASCAR-Rival
After filing complaints with the IRS challenging the tax-exempt status of college football bowl games, Marcus S. Owens (Caplin & Drysdale), the former head of the IRS’s Exempt Organization Division, has filed this complaint with the IRS challenging the tax-exempt status of the National Hot Rod Association. NHRA’s primary rivals, the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing…
-
Illinois Tax Hikes Claim First Victim: Jimmy John’s to Leave State
Following up on my recent posts (here and here) on the gigantic individual (67%) and business (45%) income tax hikes just approved in Illinois: Jimmy John Liautaud, the founder of Jimmy John’s Gourmet Subs, has announced that he is pulling the company out of Champaign because of the tax increases. Champaign News-Gazette, Jimmy John’s Founder Contemplates…
-
U.S.: The New Swedish Tax Haven
The Local, U.S. Emerges as New Swedish ‘Tax Haven’: Swedish taxpayers looking to shield earnings from the country’s tax authorities may have an unlikely tax haven at their disposal across the Atlantic: the United States. While Sweden and the United States have a tax treaty obligating the tax agencies in both countries to exchange information with…
-
Swiss Tax Whistleblower Gives Banking Records of Tax Evaders to WikiLeaks
Former Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer handed over banking records of over 2,000 wealthy individuals and corporations engaged in offshore tax evasion today to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. ABC News Associated Press BBC CNN Financial Times Globe and Mail MSNBC New York Times Reuters Telegraph
-
NY Times: A Pyrrhic Same-Sex Tax Victory
New York Times, For Same-Sex Couples, a Tax Victory That Doesn’t Feel Like One: A decision in May by the IRS that was hailed as a step toward equality for same-sex couples has instead become a headache for tens of thousands of gay and lesbian families in California. [IRS: California Registered Domestic Partners Can Split…
-
Geithner Kicks Off Obama Administration’s Corporate Tax Reform Effort
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today kicked off the Obama administration’s efforts at corporate tax reform by meeting with executives of more than a dozen major U.S. companies. Accounting Today, Geithner Mulls Corporate Tax Reform Bloomberg, Tax Reform Is in the Eye of the Beholder CNN, Corporate Tax Reform: Talk Grows Louder Financial Times, Geithner Starts…
-
Forbes: Rich Donors Seek to Undo Taxable 2010 Gifts
Forbes, Rich Folks Seek To Undo 2010 Taxable Gifts, by Deborah L. Jacobs: Many wealthy people got pitches from their estate planning lawyers last year encouraging them to make taxable gifts. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Lifetime gifts are an important estate-planning tool. Not only do they leave less for the government…
-
Indiana and Wisconsin Court Illinois Businesses Fleeing 66% Individual and 46% Business Tax Hikes
Wall Street Journal editorial, Illinois Exit Fee: Jubilation has broken out in the Midwest—or at least in Wisconsin and Indiana, now that Democrats in neighboring Illinois have rushed their tax increase into law. Late Tuesday night, Democrats in the Illinois house and senate rammed through Governor Pat Quinn’s 67% hike in the state income tax…
-
Man Arrested for Threatening to Kill Congresmman Because of His Tax Views
Charles Habermann, 32, of Palm Springs, California, was arrested yesterday for phone calls he made in December to the office of Representative Jim McDermott (D-WA), threatening to kill the congressman for, among other things, his position on extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. (Hat Tip: Jim Maule.) DOJ Press Release Bloomberg The Hill National…
-
Pratt: Tax Expenditures Are Key to Deficit Reduction
Los Angeles Daily Journal, Show Me the Money: A Hidden Source of Funding for Federal Deficit Reduction, by Katie Pratt (Loyola-L.A.): If President Barack Obama and Congress ever decide to get serious about federal deficit reduction, there is a potential $1 trillion deficit reduction funding source that they have ignored. With annual federal budget deficits…
-
Individual Income Tax Receipts Are Soaring (But So Is Spending)
Wall Street Journal editorial, Revenues Are Rising: Individual Receipts Are Up 23% in Three Months: [T]here’s some good budget news to report for a change. Federal tax revenues are rising briskly again, which should allow progress against deficits if the politicians can control their spending appetites. The CBO reported last week that federal tax receipts…
-
Pay Your Taxes or We’ll Kill Your Dog
Time Magazine, Swiss Village to Dog Owners: Pay Your Taxes, or Poochie Dies: The taxman has never been a popular figure anywhere. But in the tiny Swiss village of Reconvilier, that functionary has assumed the even more detestable profile as the guy who’ll waste your dog if you don’t cough up what you owe. Pierre-Alain…
-
2011 Tax News
Monica Davey (New York Times), In Illinois, a Giant Deficit Leads to Talk of a Giant Tax Increase Esther Fung (Wall Street Journal), China Set to Tax Residential Real Estate Al Hunt (Bloomberg), Reagan Offers Obama Playbook on Fixing Tax Code John Harwood (New York Times), Changing Corporate Tax Is a Tricky Balancing Act Tom…
-
NY Times Debate: Tax Breaks for Home Schoolers?
New York Times, Room for Debate — Do Home Schoolers Deserve a Tax Break?: The new Republicans in Congress have vowed to challenge Washington’s role in American public education, and said they will seek to turn more power over to the states on many fronts. But one of their priorities is a new federal rule:…
-
Forbes: New Estate Tax Law Could Hurt Charity
Forbes, New Estate Tax Law Could Hurt Charity, by Deborah L. Jacobs: Billionaires Gates, Buffett and Zuckerberg will still give big. But what about ordinary donors? For donors, a crucial question has always been how much to give to charity while alive and what to leave as charitable bequests in their wills or trusts. The…
-
U.S. Bank Sues FDIC for Bad Tax Advice
The Blog of Legal Times, U.S. Bank: FDIC Should Cover Cost of Bad Tax Advice: U.S. Bank has filed a federal suit in Washington against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., alleging that the failed bank for which the FDIC was acting as receiver gave U.S. Bank bad tax advice that cost it millions in IRS…
-
Mankiw: How President Obama Can Get Along With the GOP on Taxes
New York Times op-ed, How to Break Bread With the Republicans, by N. Gregory Mankiw (Harvard University, Department of Economics): Dear President Obama: Sorry to bother you. I know you are busy. But I have the sense that you could use a few words of advice. … As a sometime adviser to Republicans, I’d like…
-
The Best Magazine Essays of 2010
New York Times, The Best Magazine Essays of 2010, by David Brooks: Sam Anderson, The James Franco Project (New York Magazine) Anne Applebaum, The Worst of the Madness (The New York Review of Books) Tyler Cowen, The Inequality That Matters (The American Interest) William Deresiewicz, Solitude and Leadership (The American Scholar) Nicholas Eberstadt, The Demographic Future…