Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Tax
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Zelinsky: Age Discrimination in Defined Benefit Pensions
Edward A. Zelinsky (Cardozo) has posted The Aftermath of the Cash Balance Controversy: Defining Age Discrimination for Traditional Defined Benefit Pensions on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The appellate decisions upholding cash balance pensions against the claim of age discrimination are unconvincing. Nevertheless, these decisions reach the proper result as a matter of pension policy. These decisions…
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TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup
Saturday: Former Florida Law Prof Files Racial and Sexual Discrimination Lawsuit Against School and Dean Lathrope Leaves UC-Hastings for San Francisco Schumacher: "Purposive Textualism" Can Solve the Tax Shelter Problem Delfino and Tax Evasion Sentencing Sunday: Tax Prof Carolyn Jones to Step Down as Iowa Dean Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads A 16-Year Old's Reflections…
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Tax Prof Carolyn Jones to Step Down as Iowa Dean
Tax Prof Carolyn Jones is stepping down as Iowa's Dean after five years on the job. From the Iowa press release: Carolyn Jones, the first woman to serve as dean of the University of Iowa College of Law, has announced she will step down from leading her alma mater in summer 2010 and return to…
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Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads
This week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads is the same as last week's: 1. [348 Downloads] The Virtual Tax Library: A Comparison of Five Electronic Tax Research Platforms, by Katherine Pratt, Jennifer M. Kowal & Daniel Martin (all of Loyola-L.A.) 2. [242 Downloads] Research in Accounting for Income Taxes, by John R.…
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A 16-Year Old’s Reflections on Snow Days
Cincinnati recently shut down for three days because of a few inches of snow. My 16-year old daughter wrote this touching article for her school newspaper on how snow days are different as we grow older: I almost wish I didn't have these snow days off school. It was depressing sitting in my house all day,…
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SOI Releases 2006 Corporation Source Book
The IRS's Statistics of Income Division (SOI) has released the 2006 Corporation Source Book in two formats: a Comma Separated Value (.csv) file and Excel tables: The purpose of the .CSV file, which contains only numeric characters, is to provide an easy way to download the entire Source Book in one file and use in most…
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Lathrope Leaves UC-Hastings for San Francisco
Daniel Lathrope (UC-Hastings) has accepted a chair at San Francisco: Professor Lathrope grew up in Indiana and the East Bay, and joined the Hastings faculty in 1980. He received his undergraduate degree at the University of Denver, his J.D. at Northwestern University (Order of the Coif, law review), and an LL.M. in Taxation at New…
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Schumacher: “Purposive Textualism” Can Solve the Tax Shelter Problem
Scott A. Schumacher (University of Washington) has published MacNiven v. Westmoreland and Tax Advice: Using "Purposive Textualism" to Deal With Tax Shelters and Promote Legitimate Tax Advice, 92 Marq. L. Rev. 33 (2008). Here is the abstract: The last few years have seen a flurry of activity aimed at the tax shelter industry. Beginning with…
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Delfino and Tax Evasion Sentencing
Timothy J. Coley, Comment, Disputed Deductions: Delfino and the Fourth Circuit's Prudent Adoption of the Restrictive Approach to Tax Evasion Sentencing (United States v. Delfino, 510 F.3d 468.), 87 N.C. L. Rev. 234 (2008). Here is part of the Conclusion: Ultimately, the holding in United States v. Delfino illustrates that the Fourth Circuit, like numerous circuits before…
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Why Neil Buchanan Will Never Be Treasury Secretary
From Tax Prof Neil H. Buchanan (George Washington): Geithner, Daschle, Killefer, and Me: I could not help but wonder what would happen if my tax situation were to become a matter of public debate. I actually have recently become aware of an issue that might raise an eyebrow or two. My employer provides me with…
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Netflix CEO: Please Raise My Marginal Tax Rate to 50%
New York Times op-ed: Please Raise My Taxes, by Reed Hastings (CEO of Netflix): I’m the chief executive of a publicly traded company and, like my peers, I’m very highly paid. The difference between salaries like mine and those of average Americans creates a lot of tension, and I’d like to offer a suggestion. President…
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New Issue of Journal of Taxation of Investments
The Journal of Taxation of Investments has published its Winter 2009 issue (Vol. 26, No. 2), with these articles: Robert N. Gordon, Kudos to the Tax Writers: The Bailout Demanded Quick Answers and the Government Responded Admirably, 26 J. Tax'n Inv. 3 (Winter 2009) Mark Leeds & Yram Keinan, The End of Deferral As We Know…
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Tate: Publicity Rights, Taxation, and the Power of Testation
Joshua C. Tate (SMU) has posted Immortal Fame: Publicity Rights, Taxation, and the Power of Testation on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Publicity rights, or the rights to the use of one's image and likeness, are a relatively recent form of property. Several states now recognize rights of publicity as survivable, meaning that the heirs of…
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Tax Court Takes Swipe at Daschle-Geithner-Killefer-Solis in Making Koko Taylor Sing the Tax Blues
I previously blogged the sad case of Grammy-winning blues singer Koko Taylor, who is 80 years old and in poor health: Her income has dropped precipitously, her expenses haven’t, and she has little savings or other hard assets besides a house in a Chicago suburb that Zillow.com figures is now worth only $280,000. Nevertheless, the…
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Tax Expenditures: Compendium of Background Material
The Senate Budget Committee has published the Congressional Research Service's 931-page report, Tax Expenditures: Compendium of Background Material on Individual Provisions, 110th Cong., 2d Sess., Print #667 (Dec. 2008): [E]ach entry includes an estimate of each tax expenditure’s revenue cost, its legal authorization, a description of the tax provision and its impact, the rationale at the…
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TIGTA: IRS has 25% Error Rate in EITC Payments
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration yesterday released The Earned Income Tax Credit Program Has Made Advances; However, Alternatives to Traditional Compliance Methods Are Needed to Stop Billions of Dollars in Erroneous Payments (2009-40-024), which notes that the IRS paid out $10 billion to $12 billion in erroneous EITC payments in 2006 (out of $43.7 billion in…
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CSM: When It Comes to Taxes, More Americans Than Ever Say, “Pay Up”
Christian Science Monitor: When It Comes to Taxes, More Americans Than Ever Say, "Pay Up", by Jane Lampman: The tax woes of [three four] of President Obama’s top-level appointees come at a touchy time. … “The problem is not with the average person,” says Paul Caron, a law professor at University of Cincinnati and author of…
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Mass SJC Requests Amicus Briefs in Town Fair Tire Case
Last November, I blogged John A. Swain (Arizona) & Walter Hellerstein (Georgia), Town Fair Tire and the Silliness of the Physical Presence Rule for Use Tax Collection Nexus, 50 State Tax Notes 447 (Nov. 17, 2008). The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has taken the Town Fair Tire case on its own motion and has solicited amicus…
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Senate Cancels Labor Secretary Nominee’s Confirmation Hearing Because of Her Husband’s Tax Problems
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee abruptly canceled today's 2:00 p.m. scheduled meeting to consider President Obama's nomination of Rep. Hilda Solis to be Secretary of Labor after USA Today reported that her husband yesterday paid $6,400 to settle tax liens that had been outstanding for as long as 16 years against his L.A. auto repair business: At…
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Tax Court Says Comedian Not in Comedy Business (But At Least His Argument Was Funny)
The Tax Court yesterday held that Gabriel Loup, a comedian with a number of appearances in L.A. comedy clubs to his credit, could not deduct $13,761 of claimed business expense deductions on his 2003 return because he failed to prove that he was engaged in the trade or business of comedy during that year. Loup v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2009-23 (Feb.…
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Mintz Presents Restructuring the Federal Fuel Excise Tax Today at UCLA
Jack Mintz (University of Calgary, Department of Economics) presents A Simple Approach for Bettering the Environment and the Economy: Restructuring the Federal Fuel Excise Tax at UCLA today as part of its Tax Policy and Public Finance Colloquium Series moderated by Kirk J. Stark and Eric M. Zolt. Here is the abstract: Broadening the federal excise…
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Tax News Roundup
Bed Buffaloes in Your Tax Code: Professor Maule's Prescription for "Tax Law Disease" — And Mine, by Mary O'Keefe Bloomberg: Senate Adds Homebuyers' Tax Cut to Stimlus Measure, by Brian Faler Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate for Senate Stimulus Bill Macroeconomic Impact of Senate Bill Heritage Foundation: Obama's Broken Tax Cut Promise, by J.D. Foster…
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Finkelstein Presents EZ-Tax: Tax Salience and Tax Rates Today at NYU
Amy Finkelstein (MIT, Department of Economics) presents EZ-Tax: Tax Salience and Tax Rates at NYU today as part of its Colloquium Series on Tax Policy and Public Finance. The co-convenors are Daniel Shaviro (NYU) & Alan Auerbach (UC-Berkeley, Department of Economics). Here is the abstract: This paper examines whether the salience of a tax system affects…
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NY Times: How to Avoid a Tom Daschle Problem
New York Times: How to Avoid a Tom Daschle Problem, by Ron Lieber: Don't Forget Your Driver The Case for Getting Help The Nanny Tax Check Your Work (Hat Tip: Ann Murphy.)