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Tax Lawyers, Ethical Obligations, And The Duty To The System, Watson May 1999

Tax Lawyers, Ethical Obligations, And The Duty To The System, Watson

Scholarly Works

Perhaps the most elusive area of law is that of legal ethics. While the term itself is easy to define,' the subject all but defies codification because ethics, or morals (the terms are interchangeable), cannot be encapsulated by or in law. This is because law, in general, contains its own standard of validity on which there is usually clear societal consensus. For example, murder, rape, and theft are morally repugnant universally. Hence, punishment for any of these offenses does not impinge upon religious or individual autonomy because there is no ethical freedom to choose whether or not to engage in …


Who Should Be Entitled To Claim The New Education Credits?, Glenn E. Coven Jan 1999

Who Should Be Entitled To Claim The New Education Credits?, Glenn E. Coven

Faculty Publications

Professor Coven believes that the education assistance provisions enacted in 1997, while long overdue, were ill-considered and poorly constructed. Focusing on what should have been the simple question of who is entitled to claim an education tax credit, this report illustrates the harm that inadequate drafting produces. While section 25A appeared to deny a credit to a dependent child, an unfair and unwise result, the proposed regulations allow parents to shift the credit to their children but only on the forfeiture of the deduction for the personal exemption. That rule, says Coven, imposes a harsh penalty on low and middle-income …


The Constitutionality Of Taxing Compensatory Damages For Mental Distress When There Was No Accompanying Physical Injury, Douglas A. Kahn Jan 1999

The Constitutionality Of Taxing Compensatory Damages For Mental Distress When There Was No Accompanying Physical Injury, Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

Since 1919, statutory tax law has excluded from gross income compensatory damages received on account of a personal injury or sickness.1 The current version of that exclusion is set forth in section 104 (a) (2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.2 The construction of that exclusion, both by the courts and by the Commissioner, underwent significant alterations over the 80-year period that the provision has existed.3 The statute itself was amended several times, most recently in 1996.4 It is the 1996 amendment that has raised a constitutional issue concerning the validity of a portion of the statute.5