TaxProf Blog

Friday, June 25, 2004

The Inner Child Test is sweeping the law professor blogosphere, with Professors Althouse (10 years old), Bainbridge (45) and Yin (16) enngaging in the self-analysis. Take the test here; for the record, here’s Tax Prof Blog’s score:

My inner child is forty-five years old!

I’ve never really liked children, not even when I
was one. I want things neat, ordered, and
adult–fine wine instead of french fries, pina
coladas by the pool instead of beach sand
between my toes. Now if only my fellow adults
would stop acting like such, well, children!

Friday, June 25, 2004

Bizarre non-tax story of the week from The Smoking Gun:

While seated on the bench, an Oklahoma judge used a male enhancement pump, shaved and oiled his nether region, and pleasured himself, state officials charged yesterday in a petition to remove the jurist.

For the full story, “Here Comes the Judge,” see here.

Friday, June 25, 2004

Washington, D.C. area Tax Profs and tax lawyers should check out the July 1 shindig sponsored by the Tax Section of the D.C. Bar:

The New Tax Practitioners’ Committee of the Taxation Section invites you to our Annual Summer Networking Reception at the Senate Finance Committee’s Hearing Room. This reception will provide an excellent opportunity for meeting new friends and renewing old acquaintances. Summer Associates will experience Capitol Hill and mingle with new and seasoned tax attorneys. This year’s discussion will focus on the process of how the tax laws are developed and promulgated. (Hor d’Oeuvres, beer, wine and soft drinks included)

Speakers:
• Tom Ochsenschlager, AICPA VP Taxation
• Ed McClellan, Tax Counsel, Senate Finance Committee
• John Buckley, Chief Tax Counsel-Minority Staff, House Ways & Means Committee

Thursday, July 1, 2004, 5:00 pm–7:00 pm
Senate Finance Committee’s Hearing Room
Everett M. Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
First Street & C Street, NE, Room SD-215

For further details, see here.

Friday, June 25, 2004

In yet another sign of how technology is changing the nature of tax scholarship, Newkirk Publications has announced that it will no longer publish its Monthly Digest of Tax Articles:

After more than 50 years of continuous publication, the Monthly Digest of Tax Articles will be discontinued after the December 2004 issue. Internet services have largely rendered our publication obsolete, and the economics of publishing the Digest no longer make business sense.

Friday, June 25, 2004

Interesting tax case reported yesterday on law.com about Quakers’ tax obligations. Here is the introduction:

In a court battle between the IRS and a group of Quakers, a federal judge has ruled that the Quakers must comply with a levy on the wages of a Quaker employee and “war tax protester” and that its refusal to honor the levy makes the Quakers directly liable for all of the employee’s unpaid taxes.

But in a significant victory for the Quakers, U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell ruled that the Internal Revenue Service is not entitled to a 50 percent penalty because the church had “raised novel and important questions” about its rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

In his opinion in United States v. Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, Dalzell said he agreed with the Quakers’ argument that complying with the levy “substantially burdens its exercise of religion.”

For the full story, see here. (Thanks to reader Steven Sholk for the tip.]

Thursday, June 24, 2004

The Tax Court yesterday announced the death of retired Judge Charles E. Clapp II. Judge Clapp was appointed by President Reagan in 1983 and served until 1993, when he assumed Senior Judge status until his retirement in 1998. Funeral services are Friday, June 25 in Duxbury, MA.

Thursday, June 24, 2004

In Notice 2004-45 and accompanying press release, the Treasury Department and IRS today warned taxpayers about a tax scam involving phony claims of Virgin Island tax benefits under sections 932(c) and 934(g):

The Internal Revenue Service is aware that certain promoters are advising taxpayers to take highly questionable, and in most cases meritless, positions … in order to avoid U.S. taxation and claim a tax benefit under the laws of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI). Promoters may also be advising taxpayers to take similar positions with respect to other U.S. possessions. This notice alerts taxpayers that the Service intends to challenge these positions in appropriate cases.