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Full-Text Articles in Law

Is It Time For Federal Regulation Of The Tax Preparer Industry? New Insights From Legal And Empirical Developments, Jessica A. Magaldi, Matthew Reidenbach, Jonathan S. Sales, John S. Treu Mar 2023

Is It Time For Federal Regulation Of The Tax Preparer Industry? New Insights From Legal And Empirical Developments, Jessica A. Magaldi, Matthew Reidenbach, Jonathan S. Sales, John S. Treu

Marquette Law Review

The tax preparer industry is unusual in that it involves the interpretation of an intricate and complicated tax code, but imposes no minimum requirements of competency because the industry is largely unregulated. A study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) indicated that unregulated tax preparers commit significantly higher error rates and, based in part on that study’s findings, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) attempted to regulate the tax preparer industry nationwide under the Registered Tax Return Preparer (RTRP) regime. This RTRP program was invalidated in Loving v. IRS, however, leaving the industry largely unregulated, except in the small minority …


How Shell Entities And Lack Of Ownership Transparency Facilitate Tax Evasion And Modern Policy Responses To These Problems Sep 2018

How Shell Entities And Lack Of Ownership Transparency Facilitate Tax Evasion And Modern Policy Responses To These Problems

Marquette Law Review

The purpose of this article is to review the use and application of shell entities, as they facilitate tax evasion, impede investigations, and harm society. This article details the types and characteristics of shell entities, reviews actual cases to exhibit how shells are abused, outlines reasons shells disguise beneficial ownership, and analyzes steps taken by countries and organizations to thwart the abuse of shell entities. Many types of shell entities are used by tax evaders and are often layered in an intricate network which conceals the identity of beneficial owners. Nominees and bearer shares are used in tandem with shell …


Income Tax Treatment Of Same-Sex Couples: Windsor Vs State Marriage Bans, Samantha Schmid Jun 2015

Income Tax Treatment Of Same-Sex Couples: Windsor Vs State Marriage Bans, Samantha Schmid

Marquette Law Review

In 1996 the United States Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act, which codified the federal definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. But in 2013 the United States Supreme Court struck down this definition of marriage and, for the first time, the federal government began recognizing same-sex marriages. However, many states, including Wisconsin, continued to have state bans on same-sex marriage, and many of these bans have recently been challenged in state and federal courts. The effect of this has been a patchwork of laws that provide same-sex couples different rights based upon the state in …


Transforming Federal And State Retirement Tax Deductions To Refundable Tax Credits, Teresa Ghilarducci, Ismael Cid-Martinez Jan 2015

Transforming Federal And State Retirement Tax Deductions To Refundable Tax Credits, Teresa Ghilarducci, Ismael Cid-Martinez

Marquette Benefits and Social Welfare Law Review

The purpose of this Study is to calculate retirement account tax expenditures by states. States with income taxes that allow tax deferral of retirement account contributions and investment earnings lose nearly $20 billion in revenue. This Study uses a variety of data sources, including state reports from their executive agencies and known estimation techniques to calculate the amount of tax credits that a worker in each state would receive if the deferrals were converted to a refundable tax credit. The average credit under these estimation techniques and calculations would be $172.


Retirement Security: Leveraging The Research And Development Tax Credit, Tristen J. Cohen Jan 2014

Retirement Security: Leveraging The Research And Development Tax Credit, Tristen J. Cohen

Marquette Elder's Advisor

The long-term health and stability of the social security program is currently being threatened by significant demographic shifts and petty political gamesmanship. The importance of the program combined with the significance of the chance of insolvency requires that some action be taken in the present to mitigate problems in the future. Congress can do this by decreasing benefits, raising taxes, or finding alternative ways to raise revenue. One such alternative is investing in program that will increase economic activity and productivity. This paper argues that the Startup Innovation Credit Act of 2013 leverages the research and development credit to create …


Consistency Is Key: To Preserve Legislative Intent The Irs Must Afford Legal Recognition To Non-Marital Relationships In A Post-Doma World, Shane R. Martins Jan 2014

Consistency Is Key: To Preserve Legislative Intent The Irs Must Afford Legal Recognition To Non-Marital Relationships In A Post-Doma World, Shane R. Martins

Marquette Elder's Advisor

Although the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Windsor v. US allows for federal recognition of same-sex marriages, the Internal Revenue Service will only grant spousal recognition to couples residing in states that term same-sex unions as marriages. Consequently, spousal treatment will not be extended to non-marital relationships, even in states that treat their Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships as “marital equivalents.” Given that spousal recognition for federal tax purposes was intended to ensure geographic uniformity and horizontal equity, the IRS must grant spousal recognition to couples who are in relationships that their respective state identifies as a “marital equivalent”.