Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Political News
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Tax Profs Join Letter Opposing Alito Confirmation
Several Tax profs have joined a letter signed by 500 law professors opposing the confirmation of Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to the Supreme Court. Here is the opening of the letter addressed to Senators Specter and Leahy: As law professors from across the United States, we write to express our opposition to the confirmation…
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Same-Sex Couple in Ireland Seeks to be Taxed as Married Couple
Interesting story in the Boston Globe, Same-Sex Couple’s Lawsuit a Test of Tolerance in Ireland; Tax Case Seeks Marital Recognition: In a country that has had its share of revolutionaries, Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan hardly look the part They are smartly dressed, well-coiffed, middle-aged members of Ireland’s burgeoning middle class. But in trying…
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Kesselman on Capital Gains and the Tax Reform Panel’s Report
Jonathan R. Kesselman (Simon Fraser University, Vancouver) has published Capital Gains Taxation: Augmenting the Reform Report, 109 Tax Notes 1687 (Dec. 26, 2005), also available on the Tax Analysts web site as Doc 2005-24472, 2005 TNT 248-10. Here is the Conclusion: Straightforward reforms to the tax provisions for capital gains could bring significant benefits in…
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Muntean on IRS vs. All Saints Church
Mark A. Muntean (Robert W. Wood, P.C., San Francisco) has published Preserving the Saints: IRS vs. All Saints Church, 109 Tax Notes 1691 (Dec. 26, 2005), also available on the Tax Analysts web site as Doc 2005-25292, 2005 TNT 248-13. Here is the opening: Newspapers across the country, from The New York Times to the…
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NY Times: The New Year in Taxes
The New York Times has published an interesting editorial, The New Year in Taxes: A surprise awaits the nation’s highest earners when they file their 2006 tax returns. Their taxes are going down again – whether or not Congress passes the investor tax cuts the lawmakers have been promising. On New Year’s Day, two additional…
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Rogers on Churches Deserve Clarity on Tax Rules
Interesting op-ed today in the Baltimore Sun, Churches Deserve Clarity on Tax Rules, by Melissa Rogers (Wake Forest University Divinity School). Here is the opening: May ministers preach on the great issues of the day during election season and keep their churches’ tax-exempt status? Yes. But in the wake of recent media reports about an…
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Daily Kos on Income Inequality
The Daily Kos has an interesting post, Feeding the Minimum Wage Debate: Some Graphs on Income Inequality: Once upon a time, the US economy grew and everybody shared the fruits of that growth…That changed around the time an actor got elected to the White House and unleashed a wave of "freedom" to make more money.…
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NY Times Salutes Holtz-Eakin
A New York Times editorial (The Right Stuff) salutes the work of Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who is leaving this week after three years as Director of the Congressional Budget Office: As director of the Congressional Budget Office, Douglas Holtz-Eakin has been Congress’s top economist, handpicked by the Republican leadership. Recently, he had some advice for lawmakers…
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Kofi Annan Erupts in Anger at Tax Question in Year-End Press Conference
Press reports abound over U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s eruption in anger at his year-end press conference when questioned about a tax angle in the Iraq oil-for-food scandal. A central element of the investigation is the role of Annan’s son Kojo in the award of a U.N. contract to a Swiss firm (Cotecna Inspection SA). Times…
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Tax Cut Zombies
Interesting NY Times op-ed, Tax Cut Zombies, by Paul Krugman, which addresses the “starve the beast” rationale for tax cuts: At this point starve-the-beast theory looks as silly as supply-side economics. Although a disciplined conservative movement has controlled Congress and the White House for five years — and presided over record deficits — public opposition…
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Top Tory in Tax Gaffe
Interesting story in today’s Daily Record: Top Tory in Tax Gaffe: A bitter civil war broke out among Tories yesterday after a senior figure called for the party to "redistribute" wealth away from the rich. Oliver Letwin, who leader David Cameron trusted to overhaul policy, caused uproar by using socialist rhetoric that could split the…
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Bush Needs to Embrace “Bold Inspirational Ideas,” Like Tax Code Overhaul
Interesting article on Bloomberg.com: Bush Administration May Affect Elections: A "risk-averse" Bush administration may cost Republicans control of Congress next year unless the White House embraces "bold inspirational ideas" such as overhauling the tax code, South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint said. DeMint said White House and Treasury Department officials are resisting proposals to replace…
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All Saints Church’s Attorney Claims IRS Violated § 7611 in Investigation into Whether Pastor’s Sermon Constituted Illegal Political Campaign Intervention
In a four-page letter to the IRS, Marcus S. Owens (Caplin & Drysdale), the attorney representing All Saints Church (Pasadena, CA), the IRS did not follow the § 7611 procedural safeguards when it launched an inquiry into whether an anti-war sermon delivered by Rev. George Regas the Sunday before the 2004 Presidential election violated the…
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Frist Says Senate Unlikely to Approve AMT Relief This Year
Press coverage: Boston Globe CNN L.A. Times New York Times Wall Street Journal Washington Post
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Burman & Gale on A Preliminary Evaluation of the Tax Reform Panel’s Report
Leonard E. Burman (Senior Fellow, Urban Institute; Co-director, Tax Policy Center) & William G. Gale (Arjay and Frances Fearing Miller Chair, Brookings Institution; Co-director, Tax Policy Center) have posted A Preliminary Evaluation of the Tax Reform Panel’s Report on the Tax Policy Center web site. Here is the abstract: This paper summarizes the two options…
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House Passes AMT Relief Bill
From Bloomberg.com: House Passes Measure Limiting Effect of Alternative Minimum Tax: The U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure that would spare 15 million households from a $30 billion alternative minimum tax increase next year. The 414-4 vote would renew a temporary law exempting the first $58,000 of a married couple’s income from the minimum…
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AMT Fix Imperils Bush’s Dividend and Capital Gains Tax Cuts
Interesting story this morning from Bloomberg.com: Bush Faces a $30 Billion Quandary After Delay of Tax Overhaul: President George W. Bush is backing legislation to prevent the alternative minimum tax from imposing a $30 billion increase on 15 million households next year, a task that would widen the deficit and complicate the Republican push to…
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More on IRS’s Threatened Revocation of All Saints Church’s Tax-Exemption
The American Constitution Society Blog (The IRS in the Pulpit) picks up the story of the IRS’s threatened revocation of the tax exemption of All Saints Episcopal Church because of an anti-war sermon delivered the Sunday before the 2004 Presidential election. (For prior TaxProf Blog coverage, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here,…
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Time Magazine: Tax Reform Dead Until 2007-08
This week’s Time magazine reports that President Bush has decided to postpone any major tax reform push unil 2007 or 2008: Bush aides tell TIME that the President is likely to postpone any big push for comprehensive tax reform–which looked like it would be a centerpiece of next year’s agenda–until ’07 or ’08. In the…
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WSJ: Liberals for Tax Cuts!
Interesting editorial in this morning’s Wall Street Journal: Liberals for Tax Cuts!: A strange and astonishing thing is happening in Washington as a House-Senate conference committee debates its final tax bill: Democrats are discovering the virtues of cutting taxes for "the rich." Of course there’s a catch, but the political by-play is too amusing to…
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Bush to Delay Push for Tax Reform
Interesting article this morning on bloomberg.com: Bush to Delay Major Push for Tax Overhaul, People Familiar Say: President George W. Bush will delay a major push for revamping the tax code because administration officials concluded the changes are too tough to sell to the public and lawmakers, two people familiar with the matter said. Bush…
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Sawicky & Cowen Debate Advisory Panel’s Tax Reform Report on WSJ’s Econoblog
Max Sawicky and Tyler Cowen debate the report of the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform on the Wall Street Journal’s Econoblog.
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Aprill Proposes Four Safe Harbors for § 501(c)(3) Organizations to Avoid Charges of Improper Political Campaigning
Ellen P. Aprill (Loyola L.A.) has submitted a letter and proposed revenue procedure to the IRS to provide guidance on the thorny question of political campaign intervention by § 501(c)(3) oganizations. From her cover letter: [T]he issue of implicit intervention into political campaigns by § 501(c )(3) organizations is currently receiving a great deal of…
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Congress to Slash Taxes for Songwriters
Interesting article in today’s Wall Street Journal: Music to Songwriters’ Ears: Lower Taxes; Country Artists’ Group Presses Lawmakers to Slash the Levy on Lyricists, by Brody Mullins: Country music is cool these days — and now Congress may make it more profitable for the people behind the lyrics. A bipartisan group of lawmakers, prodded by…
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Rep. Cunningham Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion, Resigns Congressional Seat
The Department of Justice announced yesterday that Congressman Randall “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bribery, honest services fraud, and tax evasion pursuant to a plea agreement in U.S. District Court in San Diego Later yesterday morning, Cunningham resigned his congressional seat: In the tax evasion count, he admitted filing a 2004…