Law Commons^™

Replacing The Federal Income Tax With A Postpaid Consumption Tax: Preliminary Thoughts Regarding A Government Matching Program For Wealthy Investors And A New Tax Policy Lens, J. Clifton Fleming Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, proposals have been made to replace the federal income tax with a postpaid consumption tax - that is, a federal value added tax ("VAT"), a federal retail sales tax ("RST"), or a federal cash-flow (consumed income) tax. Because these taxes can be constructed so that they are indistinguishable at the level of the ultimate consumer in terms of their principal effects, and because a prominent recent proposal is the RST approach, I have written this article in terms of an RST/income tax comparison. The analysis, however, would be mostly the same if the income tax was compared …

Taxes And Competitiveness, Michael S. Knoll

All Faculty Scholarship

Around the world, the tax laws are shaped by concerns with competitiveness. This paper provides a general theory of how taxes impact competitiveness. As part of that theory, this paper also introduces the concept of tax-based competitiveness neutrality. A tax system is competitively neutral when taxes do not cause competitors to change their relative valuations of any investments. This paper then uses that theory to evaluate tax policy in two high profile and important areas. The paper begins by describing two models of competitiveness, called the conduit or new money model and the investor or old money model. The central …

Federal Income Tax Examinations Of Pass-Through Entities, Gerald A. Kafka, Kari M. Larson

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation, Ira B. Shepard

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Surviving Irs Examinations And Appeals, Emily A. Parker, Robert D. Probasco

Faculty Scholarship

This article summarizes the statutory, regulatory and administrative rules and procedures that apply to IRS civil tax examinations and Appeals proceedings, including alternative dispute resolution procedures. The focus of this paper is on field examinations, rather than service center examinations, correspondence examinations, or office examinations. In addition, it attempts to answer some of the basic questions that taxpayers often ask their advisors and representatives when they are the subject of an IRS civil tax examination:

• Why was I selected by the IRS for audit?
• How long will this audit take?
• Why do the agents want all this information, documents, data, …

Tax Practice In A Circular Revolution: A Review Of Pli's Circular 230 Deskbook, Bridget J. Crawford

All Faculty Scholarship

This short review essay evaluates the Practicing Law Institute's Circular 230 Deskbook by Jonathan G. Blattmachr, Mitchell M. Gans and Damien Rios. For attorneys, accountants and others who "practice" before the IRS, the Circular 230 Deskbook is a masterful analysis and an important guide to the Internal Revenue Service's labyrinthine rules and regulations governing tax penalties, reportable transactions and the conduct of tax practitioners. Most tax attorneys and accountants have reacted to the recent changes to Circular 230 by appending banner notices to all written communications. Without fully understanding the underlying rules, however, a practitioner cannot be sure that a …

Tax Practice In A Circular Revolution: A Review Of Pli's Circular 230 Deskbook, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This short review essay evaluates the Practicing Law Institute's Circular 230 Deskbook by Jonathan G. Blattmachr, Mitchell M. Gans and Damien Rios. For attorneys, accountants and others who "practice" before the IRS, the Circular 230 Deskbook is a masterful analysis and an important guide to the Internal Revenue Service's labyrinthine rules and regulations governing tax penalties, reportable transactions and the conduct of tax practitioners.

Most tax attorneys and accountants have reacted to the recent changes to Circular 230 by appending banner notices to all written communications. Without fully understanding the underlying rules, however, a practitioner cannot be sure that a …

A Diversity Theory Of Charitable Tax Exemption—Beyond Efficiency, Through Critical Race Theory, Toward Diversity, David A. Brennen

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

What is the normative rationale for the federal income tax exemption for nonprofit charitable corporations? Even though the exemption dates back to 1894, Congress has failed to fully rationalize it. Though scholars and courts have attempted over the years to come up with a coherent rationale for the charitable tax exemption, their attempts are focused almost exclusively on economic efficiency. Thus, the charitable tax exemption is typically framed by noted tax scholars like Boris Bittker, Henry Hansmann, and others as an economically efficient means of providing certain goods and services to the public. Rationalizing the charitable tax exemption in economic …

Swallows As It Might Have Been: Regulations Revising Case Law, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

This is the second of two reports on the Swallozvs Holding decision. 1 In that case, the Tax Court, over three dissenting opinions, invalidated a timing rule contained in a Treasury regulation under IRC section 882. That timing rule provided that some foreign corporations could not claim otherwise available deductions if their returns for the tax year were filed outside an 18-month grace period. The majority and the dissenters clashed over which line of authority – Chevron 2 or the pre-Chevron tax-specific line of decisions typified by National Muffier3 – provides the governing standard for evaluating the validity of …

Swallows Holding As It Is: The Distortion Of National Muffler, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

I like big ideas. The opportunity to work with them, and hopefully to add to them, is one of the joys of academic life. But perspective also is required. Not everything genuinely presents "macro" issues. As Freud supposedly said, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”

In Swallows Holding Ltd. v. Commissioner, the Tax Court, over three dissenting opinions, invalidated a return-filing timing rule in a Treasury regulation under section 882 of the !RC. It is clear that what drove the majority opinion was the perception that the timing rule was contrary to many previous cases interpreting the statute. As …

Using State Fraudulent Conveyance Law To Collect Federal Taxes, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

The I.R.S. has an imposing armamentarium of means by which to collect unpaid taxes. They include the general tax lien, various special tax liens, administrative levy and sale, and judicial sale. There are many administrative and judicial protections for taxpayers and third parties against the overly zealous application of these and other devices. Nonetheless, the I.R.S.’s collection options are of imposing breadth and power, considerably exceeding collection options available to private creditors.

Confronted by these collection devices, those who owe taxes and are determined not to pay them sometimes resort to transferring their assets to others, typically family members, close …

The Employment Tax Challenge To The Check The Box Regulations, Brant J. Hellwig, Gregg D. Polsky

Scholarly Articles

Not available.

The I.R.S.'S Shotgun Marriage, Shari Motro

Law Faculty Publications

Professor Motro argues against current federal tax policy permitting married couples joint filing status regardless of actual economic unity or lack thereof.

A New I Do: Towards A Marriage-Neutral Income Tax, Shari Motro

Law Faculty Publications

The federal income tax system treats married couples as if each spouse earned approximately one-half of the couple's combined income through a mechanism called "income splitting. " For many one-earner and unequal-earner couples, income splitting produces a significant advantage, a "marriage bonus," by shifting income from higher to lower rate brackets. Marriage-based income splitting relies on a presumption that marriage is a good indicator of economic unity between two taxpayers. It is not. Marriage does not require spousal sharing, and many unmarried couples share everything they earn. As a result, the current system extends the benefit of income splitting to …

The Supreme Court's Casual Use Of The Assignment Of Income Doctrine, Brant J. Hellwig

Scholarly Articles

In early 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court answered a question that had been plaguing courts for years: whether plaintiffs should be taxed on the portion of contingent fee awards paid to their attorneys. The Court determined that they should. In this article, Professor Brant J. Hellwig focuses on the analysis employed by the Court to reach its conclusion in Commissioner v. Banks and the implications of that analysis for future cases. Although Professor Hellwig believes that the Court correctly ascertained the plaintiff's tax burden, he suggests that the Court's use of the assignment of income doctrine was both unnecessary to …

Encouraging Corporate Charity , Linda Sugin

Faculty Scholarship

The tax law governing corporate philanthropy is stuck in an archaic notion of corporate charity that does not necessarily benefit either charities or corporate stakeholders. Four developments in the last few years provoked this reexamination of the Internal Revenue Code and its awkward dichotomy between business expenses and charitable contributions. They offer new reasons for replacing the charitable contribution deduction for corporations with a business expense deduction: (1) a statutory reduction in the rate of tax on dividends received by individual shareholders, (2) empirical evidence showing very low effective tax rates paid by corporations, (3) death of the preeminent model …

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.

Taxation And Multinational Activity: New Evidence, New Interpretations, Mihir A. Desai, C. Fritz Foley, James R. Hines Jr.

Articles

In the midst of rapid integration and globalization, multinational firms still face tax systems that differ among countries, and these differences have the potential to affect major investment and financing decisions. This research covers a wide range of topics, including the impact of indirect taxes as well as of corporate income taxes, the sensitivity of financing decisions to tax rates, the effects of taxes on repatriation policies, the demand for, and impact of, tax havens, and the use of indirect ownership as a means of avoiding taxes. The behavior of US multinational firms as revealed by the evidence collected by …

Tax Filing Experiences And Withholding Preferences Of Low- And Moderate-Income Households Preliminary Evidence From A New Survey, Michael S. Barr, Jane Dokko

Other Publications

The United States Federal income tax code has an enormous potential to shape the economic and financial decisions of taxpaying households. Tax rates, compliance laws, and the withholding system create incentives, as do the methods by which the Treasury collects tax receipts and disburses tax refunds. The role of third party service providers in this incentive structure is less well understood, even though tax preparation firms play important roles in our tax system. Nationally, more than half of taxpayers use paid preparers to submit their tax returns. Low- and moderate-income (LMI) households are among those who use the paid tax …

Tax Preparation Services For Low- And Moderate-Income Households: Preliminary Evidence From A New Survey, Michael S. Barr, Jane K. Dokko

Articles

Recently, researchers have begun to examine the financial service patterns of low- and moderate-income households. These behaviors are of interest because high cost financial services, barriers to saving, the lack of insurance, and credit constraints contribute to poverty and other socioeconomic conditions . Many low- and moderate-income households use alterna­tive financial service (AFS) providers, such as check cashers, for their financial services needs. Tax preparation firms are among the important financial service providers in the lives of low-income households. Such firms help households navigate the complicated process of filing their taxes, and many low-income households obtain sizeable tax refunds. At …

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

Articles

In the current tax system, a corporation is treated as a separate taxable entity. This tax system is sometimes referred to as an entity tax or a double tax system. Since a corporation is a separate and distinct entity from its owners, the shareholders, the default rule is that transfers between them are treated as realization events. Without a specific Internal Revenue Code (Code) provision providing otherwise, such transactions will also require the parties to recognize the realized gain or loss. Congress has enacted several nonrecognition corporate provisions when forcing the recognition of income could prevent changes to the form …

The Three Goals Of Taxation, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

Articles

The current debate in the United States about whether the income tax should be replaced with a consumption tax has been waged on the traditional grounds for evaluating tax policy: efficiency, equity, and administrability. For example, Joseph Bankman and David Weisbach recently argued for the superiority of an ideal consumption tax over an ideal income tax on three grounds: First, that the consumption tax is more efficient because it does not discriminate between current and future consumption,' while both income and consumption taxes have identical effect on work effort. Second, that the consumption tax is at least as good at …

The Report Of The President's Advisory Panel On Federal Tax Reform: A Critical Assessment And A Proposal, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

Articles

ON November 1, 2005, The President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform ("Panel") submitted its report ("Report") to the Secretary of the Treasury.1 At 272 pages, this is the most important and wide-ranging plan to reform the United States federal tax system since Blueprints for Basic Tax Reform (1977).2 While prospects for immediate action appear dim, the Report will no doubt be the basis of discussion of federal tax reform for a long time to come.

Remapping The Charitable Deduction, David Pozen

Faculty Scholarship

If charity begins at home, scholarship on the charitable deduction has stayed at home. In the vast legal literature, few authors have engaged the distinction between charitable contributions that are meant to be used within the United States and charitable contributions that are meant to be used abroad. Yet these two types of contributions are treated very differently in the Code and raise very different policy issues. As Americans' giving patterns and the U.S. nonprofit sector grow increasingly international, the distinction will only become more salient.

This Article offers the first exploration of how theories of the charitable deduction apply …

The Federal Income Tax Consequences Of The Bobble Supreme Phenomenon, Leandra Lederman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Since 2003, the Green Bag Journal has been commissioning and distributing limited edition bobblehead likenesses of the Justices of the United States Supreme Court. Demand for the bobble Supremes has not been limited to existing recipients, and bobble longing has inspired purchases and even poetry. Given the importance of the bobble Supreme phenomenon to the national economy, the time has come for guidance on the tax consequences of their receipt, ownership, and transfer. Fortunately, draft proposed regulations on the federal income tax treatment of bobble Supremes recently surfaced. Although the regulations have not and never will be officially sanctioned (and, …

Class Warfare 1988-2005 Over Top Individual Income Tax Rates: Teeter-Totter From Soak-The-Rich To Robin-Hood-In-Reverse, John W. Lee

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Power As A Factor In Lawyers' Ethical Deliberation, Susan Carle

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Assessing Internal Revenue Code Section 132 After Twenty Years, Wayne M. Gazur

Publications

In 1984, Congress enacted Internal Revenue Code section 132 to bring more certainty to the taxation of employee fringe benefits. This article examines the impact of the legislation from the standpoint of administrative pronouncements and taxpayer litigation. The article concludes that section 132 has produced little litigation, but primarily because it has played the role of increasing exclusions. It remains unclear whether section 132 has also contained the growth of new forms of nonstatutory fringe benefits.

Deferred Compensation Reform: Taxing The Fruit Of The Tree In Its Proper Season, Eric D. Chason

Faculty Publications

Executive pensions (or deferred compensation) grabbed headlines after Enron's collapse and fresh concerns over ever-increasing executive pay. They also grabbed the attention of Congress, which reformed executive pensions legislatively in 2004 with § 409A of the Internal Revenue Code. Section 409A merely tightens and clarifies the doctrines that had already governed executive pensions, leaving the basic economics of executive pensions unchanged. Executives can still defer taxation on current compensation until actual payment is made in the future. Deferral still comes at the same price to the employer, namely the deferral of its deduction for the compensation expense. Thus, the timing …

Agency Activism As A New Way Of Life: Administrative Modification Of The Internal Revenue Code Through Limited Issue Focused Examinations, W Edward Afield

Faculty Publications By Year

In the name of increasing efficiency and better utilizing limited resources, the IRS has begun to adopt audit policies that overly favor taxpayers and greatly hinder the IRS’s ability to perform thorough audits. Highlighting this trend is a relatively new audit technique used by the Large to Mid-Size Business Division (LMSB), known as the Limited Issue Focused Examination (LIFE) Process. Under LIFE, the LMSB has attempted to involve taxpayers in the audit process by sharing responsibility for timely completion of the audit and has attempted to streamline the audit by reducing the scope of issues examined and applying materiality thresholds …