Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
News
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Fortune: The Role of Expert Opinions in the Tax Shelter Problem
In today’s Fortune: Blowing the Whistle on Unethical Lawyers; Legal Professor William Simon Aims to Shame Colleagues Who Sell Their Opinions for the Right Price, by Roger Parloff: In a forthcoming Stanford Law Review article titled The Market for Bad Legal Advice: Academic Professional Responsibility Consulting as an Example, Columbia Law School professor William Simon
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WSJ: New IRS Rules Help Donors Vet Charities
Today’s Wall Street Journal: New IRS Rules Help Donors Vet Charities; Revised Tax Form Will Make Nonprofits Reveal More About How They Spend, by Mike Spector: Americans searching for the best places to make charitable donations are about to get more help from the federal government. The IRS, the tax agency that serves as the
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WSJ: New Law Makes Escape Tougher For Tax Exiles
Article in today’s Wall Street Journal: New Law Makes Escape Tougher For Tax Exiles, by Martin A. Vaughan: It’s been called "the ultimate estate plan": moving to a desert island or other far-off locale to escape the clutches of the IRS. Indeed, hundreds of Americans do formally renounce their U.S. citizenship every year, many in
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WSJ: Michigan’s Tax Warning
Editorial in today’s Wall Street Journal: Granholm’s Tax Warning: It’s no fun to kick a state when it’s down – especially when the local politicians are doing a fine job of it – but the latest news of Michigan’s deepening budget woe is a national warning of what happens when you raise taxes in a
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Tax Analysts and TRAC Issue First of Monthly Series of Tax Enforcement Reports
Tax Analysts and the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse of Syracuse University have joined forces to offer a new series of monthly reports on a range of tax enforcement subjects, beginning with the use of the government’s criminal powers. Forthcoming monthly reports will focus on tax audits, tax collections, and other related issues. This month’s report
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Hire an Ex-Con, Get a Tax Break
From the Associated Press: Hire an Ex-Con in Philly, Get a Tax Break: [T]he city of Philadelphia is making a concerted effort to encourage the hiring of ex-convicts amid a renewed interest nationwide in dealing with high recidivism, growing crime rates and exploding prison populations. Philadelphia averaged a murder a day the past two years
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Why A Porn Tax Is Unconstitutional
Following up on Friday’s post on California’s proposed 25% porn tax: Eugene Volokh (UCLA) argues that such a tax would violate the First Amendment: It seems to me the tax would likely be unconstitutional. Content-based taxes on the sale of First-Amendment-protected materials (and recall that the law targets not just unprotected and illegal obscenity, but
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Memorial Day Tax Resources for U.S. Armed Forces (Plus Their Families & Employers)
Continuing a TaxProf Blog Memorial Day tradition (2007, 2006, and 2005), I want to pass along links to the Tax Information for Members of the U.S. Armed Forces material maintained on the IRS web site: The tax laws provide some special benefits for active members of the U.S. Armed Forces, including those serving in combat
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NY Times: Exemptions for Charities Face New Challenges
Today’s New York Times: Exemptions for Charities Face New Challenges, by Stephanie Strom: Authorities from the local tax assessor to members of Congress are increasingly challenging the tax-exempt status of nonprofit institutions — ranging from small group homes to wealthy universities — questioning whether they deserve special treatment. One issue is the growing confusion over
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Would a Porn Tax Hurt Sales?
The Freakanomics blog asks: Would a Porn Tax Hurt Sales?: A California state assemblyman has proposed dealing with the state’s huge budget shortfall by taxing pornography, including the production and sale of pornographic videos — by 25%. To an economist this initially sounds like a good idea: An ideal tax is one that doesn’t cause
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AP: Snipes Seeks Bond As He Appeals Tax Convictions
Associated Press: Snipes Seeks Bond As He Appeals Tax Convictions: Wesley Snipes must surrender to prison authorities June 3 if he isn’t granted bail to appeal three federal tax convictions, defense lawyers said in a court filing. Snipes’ attorneys plan to argue before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the trial judge erred
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NLJ: D.C. Tax Practice Hot; Firms Gear Up for Major Tax Law Changes
From this weel’s National Law Journal: Law Firms Gear Up for Critical Tax Policy Changes; Top-Level Tax Attorneys Are Recruited in Preparation For Changes, by Lynne Marek: Law firms in Washington are gearing up for what attorneys say could be a crucial debate over U.S. tax policy — one that might usher in the most
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Former Tax Legislative Counsel Desmond Joins McKee Nelson
Last month, I blogged the news that Michael J. Desmond was leaving his position as Tax Legislative Counsel in the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy. McKee Nelson announced this week that he has rejoined the firm as a partner and chair of the firm’s Tax practice. From the press release: For the past three
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WSJ: The Economy, Not Tax Rates, Drives Tax Revenues; Revenues = 19.5% of GDP, Whether Rates Are 28%-91%
You Can’t Soak the Rich (Wall Street Journal op-ed), by David Ranson: Kurt Hauser is a San Francisco investment economist who, 15 years ago, published fresh and eye-opening data about the federal tax system. His findings imply that there are draconian constraints on the ability of tax-rate increases to generate fresh revenues. I think his
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Massachusetts Should Tax Harvard
Earlier this month, I blogged a pending proposal in Massachusetts to impose a 2.5% excise tax on college endowments in excess of $1 billion. Although much of the commentary opposed the proposal, an op-ed in today’s Inside Higher Ed by James D. Miller (Smith College, Department of Economics), Massachusetts Should Tax Harvard, supports the proposal:
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Denver Post & Sen. Salazar Don’t Understand AGI
Denver Post: Plowing Into the Farm Bill, by Anne C. Mulkern: Sen. Ken Salazar, a Denver Democrat who supports the bill, disputed the idea that it pays rich farmers. The bill allows payments to farmers with adjusted gross incomes of $750,000 or less. That number doesn’t take into account deductions for the cost of running
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Former Senate Chief Tax Counsel Heck Joins K&L Gates
Patrick G. Heck, former Chief Tax Counsel to the Senate Finance Committee, has become a partner in the public policy and law practice of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. From the press release: As the senior tax policy advisor to Chairman Max Baucus and other Democratic members of
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EU to Crack Down on Tax Havens
International Herald Tribune: EU Considers Toughening Offensive on Tax Havens, by Stephen Castle: Under pressure from Germany, the European Union on Wednesday agreed to consider a new clampdown on tax havens, despite the opposition of one country, Luxembourg, which said it saw no reason to change the existing law. In what is likely to become
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WSJ: What Congress Is Likely to Do to Your Taxes
Today’s Wall Street Journal Tax Report: What Congress Is Likely To Do to Your Tax Bill, by Tom Herman: It’s going to be a tricky year to do your tax planning. Look for Congress to revive several popular tax breaks this year that expired at the end of 2007 and to shield more than 20
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Tax Court Issues Phishing Warning
The Tax Court has posted this notice on its web site: The United States Tax Court has received many telephone calls regarding an email which purports to originate from the Court being sent by and a member of the Tax Court’s practitioner bar. This message is an example of "Spear Phishing", which is an email
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Is the Marriage Penalty Unconstitutional?
Point of Law: The Marriage Penalty, by Ted Frank: The death of Mildred Loving this week reminds us of the landmark decision of Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967), which struck down appalling anti-miscegenation laws. … Zablocki v. Redhail, 434 U.S. 374 (1978), which struck down a Wisconsin statute requiring a court order for
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Pastors to Challenge Ban on Political Activity by Endorsing Candidates From Pulpit on Sept. 28
Wall Street Journal: Pastors May Defy IRS Gag Rule; Legal Group Urges Ministers to Preach About Candidates, by Suzanne Sataline: A conservative legal-advocacy group is enlisting ministers to use their pulpits to preach about election candidates this September, defying a tax law that bars churches from engaging in politics. Alliance Defense Fund, a Scottsdale, Ariz.,
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Skadden’s Tax Work Helps Firm Become D.C. Behemoth
Legal Times: Skadden Posts Huge Capital Gains, by Marisa McQuilken: It’s the highest-grossing firm in New York, and for that matter, in the United States. Could Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom be on the verge of becoming D.C.’s top revenue earner, too? On this year’s D.C. 20, Legal Times’ annual list of the top-grossing
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WSJ: Obama’s Faulty Tax Argument
Op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal: Obama’s Faulty Argument, by Andrew G. Biggs (American Enterprise Institute): As the presidential campaign heats up, a key issue is whether to extend the 2001 and 2003 income tax cuts, which expire in 2011. John McCain wants to make the tax cuts permanent. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton want
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Ohio Supreme Court: Beneficiaries Cannot Sue Decedent’s Attorney For Estate Tax Negligence
The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously held that children could not sue their deceased mother’s attorney for negligence in the preparation of a deed during her life that resulted in adverse etsate tax conseqences under § 2036. Shoemaker v. Gindlesberger, Slip Op. No. 2008-Ohio-2012 (Ohio 5/7/08) The appellants’ argument rests on two public policy