Law Commons^™

The Futility Of Tax Protester Arguments, Allen Madison

Allen Madison

Rationalizing Tax Law By Breaking The Addiction To Economic Substance, Allen Madison

Allen Madison

This article presents a critique of the economic substance doctrine and suggests an alternative. The economic substance doctrine under certain circumstances overrides the technical provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Congress recently incorporated into the Code a version similar to the court-developed doctrine. Whether authorized by the court or authorized by statute, however, the doctrine makes our tax laws vague, uncertain, and fallacious. Therefore, the doctrine should be abandoned. A more appropriate tool for curbing questionable tax planning is the use of statutory risk requirements. This article provides some suggestions for developing such requirements. The article concludes that statutory risk …

The Tension Between Textualism And Substance-Over-Form Doctrines In Tax Law, Allen Madison

Allen Madison

This article discusses the tension that exists between the recent textualist approach taken in the U.S. Supreme Court and the judicially developed substance-over-form doctrines that pervade tax law. It sets forth Justice Antonin Scalia’s textualist approach, provides an overview of the substance-over-form doctrines, and then analyzes whether the current Supreme Court would uphold a case that overrode the literal text of the Internal Revenue Code on the basis of one of the doctrines. The article concludes that the current Supreme Court would reject any of these doctrines if faced with the issue.

An Analysis Of The Irs’S Voluntary Disclosure Policy, Allen Madison

Allen Madison

When a taxpayer files a fraudulent return but amends it before the IRS begins a criminal investigation, the IRS has a long-standing policy that it will not refer that taxpayer to the Department of Justice for prosecution. This policy is known as the Voluntary Disclosure Policy. Such a policy allows taxpayers who have fallen off the tax rolls to get right with the government, which in turn helps the government by increasing revenues without the expense of investigation and enforcement. Over the Policy's history, the IRS has tinkered with it, at times keeping it in written form and at other …