Law Commons^™

The Individual Mandate Tax Penalty, Jeffrey H. Kahn

Scholarly Publications

In 2010, President Obama signed legislation that significantly altered the healthcare and health insurance markets in the United States. An integral part of that reform is the individual mandate, a provision that requires individuals to purchase and maintain healthcare insurance. Failure to maintain such coverage subjects an individual to a tax penalty. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of that provision under Congress’s taxing power.

Despite the Supreme Court upholding the individual mandate, fundamental questions remain. This Article addresses the question of whether the use of a tax penalty to encourage taxpayers to do something that the government desires is …

Free Rider: A Justification For Mandatory Medical Insurance Under Health Care Reform?, Jeffrey H. Kahn, Douglas A. Kahn

Scholarly Publications

Section 1501 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act added section 5000A to the Internal Revenue Code to require most individuals in the United States, beginning in the year 2014, to purchase an established minimum level of medical insurance. This requirement, which is enforced by a penalty imposed on those who fail to comply, is sometimes referred to as the “individual mandate.” The individual mandate is one element of a vast change to the provision of medical care that Congress implemented in 2010. The individual mandate has proved to be controversial and has been the subject of a number …

Prevention Of Double Deductions Of A Single Loss: Solutions In Search Of A Problem, Jeffrey H. Kahn, Douglas A. Kahn

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Secondary Liability For Federal Trust Fund Taxes, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

When collection of unpaid taxes cannot be effected from the person primarily liable for them, the Internal Revenue Code creates for the IRS a number of mechanisms for collection from secondary parties. To satisfy the requirements of fairness and due process, secondary liability is imposed only when the party has some nexus to the liability, that is, when that person's actions helped create the liability or frustrated its collection from the primary taxpayer.

This article discusses l.R.C. § 6672, one of the most widely used and important of the secondary liability mechanisms in tax. There are numerous § 6672 assessments …

Federal Tax Collection Controversies In The Era Of Drye, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

By “tax collection controversies,” I mean cases in which it has been established that the taxpayer owes additional taxes, those taxes remain unpaid, and the IRS is attempting to enforce collection out of the taxpayer’s assets. Such cases are numerous and involve attorneys in general legal practice as well as tax specialists. For example, the taxpayer may be your client for non-tax matters, and may expect you to handle her tax collection controversy as well. Or, your client may not be the taxpayer herself, but instead someone who co-owns property with the taxpayer. Your client expects you to make sure …

Rendering Unto Caesar Or Electioneering For Caesar--Loss Of Church Tax Exemption For Participation In Electoral Politics, Alan L. Feld

Faculty Scholarship

The restriction on church participation in political campaigns contained in the Internal Revenue Code operates uneasily. It appears to serve the useful purpose of separating the spheres of religion and electoral politics. But the separation often is only apparent, as churches in practice signal support for a particular candidate in a variety of rays that historically have not cost them their exemptions. Although the limited enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service has reflected the sensitive nature of the First Amendment values present, the federal government should provide more formal elaboration by statute or regulation. Focus on the use of funds …

Reflections On Executive Compensation And A Modest Proposal For (Further) Reform, Mark J. Loewenstein

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Limited Liability Company Experiment: Unlimited Flexibility, Uncertain Role, Wayne M. Gazur

Publications

No abstract provided.

Dubious Interpretative Rules For Construing Federal Taxing Statutes, Richard A. Westin

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Knowing even a substantial portion of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 is a major achievement. Divining how the courts might react to a complex tax transaction is also terribly difficult, but for this ability lawyers are often well-rewarded on earth. The tools of this esoteric trade include a mass of interpretative rules of a most uncertain nature, as sophisticated tax advisors are well aware. This article discusses the application and limits of a litany of the interpretative rules. The rules are frequently applicable outside the tax field, but the following study is confined to their application to tax decisions. …