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Full-Text Articles in Law
Estate Tax Repeal: Through The Looking Glass, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
Estate Tax Repeal: Through The Looking Glass, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
Grayson McCouch
The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 promises dramatic reductions in income and estate taxes over a nine-year phase-in period, culminating in 2010 with complete repeal of the estate tax and introduction of a new carryover basis regime for inherited property. The Act's sunset provision automatically terminates these substantive changes at the end of 2010 and reinstates prior law for 2011 and subsequent years. In effect, the sunset provision transforms the large-scale tax cuts into a temporary measure and leaves open the question of whether to make those cuts permanent. Since the Act was signed into law, …
The Moving Target Of Tax Reform, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
The Moving Target Of Tax Reform, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
Grayson McCouch
In 2000, Professor William Turnier proposed a package of three reforms to make the estate tax more “equitable” and “taxpayerfriendly.” All of his proposals—allowing a surviving spouse to inherit a deceased spouse’s unused exemption, replacing the state death tax credit with a deduction, and indexing the exemption for inflation—were eventually enacted. Today, the estate tax remains on the books, but changes in rates and exemptions have severely curtailed its role in the larger federal tax system. Income tax rate reductions for capital gains and dividends have further lightened the tax burden on capital income, and international pressure to reduce the …
Death Without Taxes?, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
Death Without Taxes?, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
Karen Burke
In recent years the role of the estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes within the federal tax system has become increasingly controversial. The future of the transfer taxes remains unsettled, despite recently enacted legislation that moves in the direction of repeal with a delayed effective date. This paper looks at transfer tax repeal in terms of its repercussions on the rest of the tax system, with special emphasis on the income tax treatment of property transferred by gift or bequest. Repeal of the transfer taxes would reduce the progressivity of the overall tax system, exacerbate existing inequities with respect to …
Estate Tax Repeal: Through The Looking Glass, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
Estate Tax Repeal: Through The Looking Glass, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
Karen Burke
The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 promises dramatic reductions in income and estate taxes over a nine-year phase-in period, culminating in 2010 with complete repeal of the estate tax and introduction of a new carryover basis regime for inherited property. The Act's sunset provision automatically terminates these substantive changes at the end of 2010 and reinstates prior law for 2011 and subsequent years. In effect, the sunset provision transforms the large-scale tax cuts into a temporary measure and leaves open the question of whether to make those cuts permanent. Since the Act was signed into law, …
The Moving Target Of Tax Reform, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
The Moving Target Of Tax Reform, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
Karen Burke
In 2000, Professor William Turnier proposed a package of three reforms to make the estate tax more “equitable” and “taxpayerfriendly.” All of his proposals—allowing a surviving spouse to inherit a deceased spouse’s unused exemption, replacing the state death tax credit with a deduction, and indexing the exemption for inflation—were eventually enacted. Today, the estate tax remains on the books, but changes in rates and exemptions have severely curtailed its role in the larger federal tax system. Income tax rate reductions for capital gains and dividends have further lightened the tax burden on capital income, and international pressure to reduce the …
Family Limited Partnerships: Discounts, Options, And Disappearing Value, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
Family Limited Partnerships: Discounts, Options, And Disappearing Value, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
Karen Burke
Family partnerships have been become increasingly popular as a means of avoiding estate and gift taxes. As other estate freezing techniques have been closed off by statutory anti-abuse rules, estate planners have increasingly resorted to partnerships as a vehicle for transferring assets within a family at deeply discounted values. Discounts ranging from one-third to over one-half of the value of the underlying assets are routinely claimed, and often allowed, based on lack of marketability and lack of control, even where these disabilities have no lasting or ascertainable economic effect. Nevertheless, the use of family partnerships to suppress value for transfer …
Family Limited Partnerships: Discounts, Options, And Disappearing Value, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
Family Limited Partnerships: Discounts, Options, And Disappearing Value, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
Grayson McCouch
Family partnerships have been become increasingly popular as a means of avoiding estate and gift taxes. As other estate freezing techniques have been closed off by statutory anti-abuse rules, estate planners have increasingly resorted to partnerships as a vehicle for transferring assets within a family at deeply discounted values. Discounts ranging from one-third to over one-half of the value of the underlying assets are routinely claimed, and often allowed, based on lack of marketability and lack of control, even where these disabilities have no lasting or ascertainable economic effect. Nevertheless, the use of family partnerships to suppress value for transfer …
E-Vat: An Electronically Collected Progressive Consumption Tax, Daniel S. Goldberg
E-Vat: An Electronically Collected Progressive Consumption Tax, Daniel S. Goldberg
Daniel S. Goldberg
This report proposes replacing the income tax with an electronic, progressive consumption tax that couples a credit-method VAT (modified for wages) with a progressive wage tax. I have called this proposal e-VAT (a convenient contraction for an electronic value added tax), because it is based on a business-level-credit VAT and can be collected automatically and electronically at the point of sale. The essential advantage of e-VAT over the Hall-Rabushka flat tax is that e-VAT’s use of a credit VAT as its foundation facilitates automatic and electronic collection of the tax. A credit VAT lends itself to electronic monitoring and auditing …
Taxing Personhood: Estate Taxes And The Compelled Commodification Of Identity, Ray D. Madoff
Taxing Personhood: Estate Taxes And The Compelled Commodification Of Identity, Ray D. Madoff
Ray D. Madoff
In this Article, Professor Madoff explores the ways in which the blunt tools of the wealth tax, and in particular the estate tax, uses a one-size-fits-all system to impose a tax on all property interests owned at the time of one’s death. Professor Madoff illustrates the ways in which these blunt tools can produce problematic results by examining their application to the right of publicity, a newly recognized property interest. Professor Madoff suggests that the imposition of the estate tax can force the commodification of an individual’s identity, regardless of one’s desire to refrain from marketing their identity, and explores …
The Impact On The Marital Deduction Of Expenses Chargeable To Post-Mortem Income: Does United States V. Stapf Answer The Question?, Martha W. Jordan
The Impact On The Marital Deduction Of Expenses Chargeable To Post-Mortem Income: Does United States V. Stapf Answer The Question?, Martha W. Jordan
Martha W. Jordan
During the 1996-97 tern, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Estate of Hubert v. Commissioner, which concerns issues of extreme importance to estate tax practitioners. The Court granted certiorari in Hubert to resolve a split of authority among the circuits regarding whether administration expenses allocable to post mortem income reduce the marital deduction. Since the tax court first adopted the pro-taxpayer position endorsed by the Eleventh Circuit in Hubert, commentators have been analyzing, supporting and justifying the tax court's position. This article uses the Court's reasoning in United States v. Stapf to predict the Court's resolution of the issues …
Sales Of Remainder Interests: Reconciling Gradow V. United States And Section 2702, Martha W. Jordan
Sales Of Remainder Interests: Reconciling Gradow V. United States And Section 2702, Martha W. Jordan
Martha W. Jordan
This article seeks to answer the question of whether the sale of a remainder interest for its actuarial value is exempt from transfer tax. Generally, when a taxpayer sells property for its fair market value, the taxpayer has been adequately compensated and, therefore, should not be subject to transfer tax. The sale of a remainder interest, however, raises various questions that are not present when property is sold outright. The sale of a remainder interest divides the underlying property into two split-interests: the remainder interest and the retained or present interest. The fair market value of split-interests is commonly determined …