Law Commons^™

Web Resources For Tax Professionals: 2001, Dennis Schmidt, Will Yancey

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Employee Benefits For The Closely Held Business, Lisa C. Germano

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Representing The Failing Company Where The Irs Is "Knocking On The Door", Craig D. Bell, T. Keith Fogg, George C. Gretes, Nina E. Olson

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Tax Planning For Real Estate Developers, Charles H. Egerton

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

The Like Kind Exchange: A Current Review, Stefan F. Tucker

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Tax Planning For Real Estate Ownership, Stefan F. Tucker

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Why The Corporate Amt Should Be Retained, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

Articles

The corporate AMT is under attack. Repeal has been proposed by the White House, endorsed by the ABA/AICPA/TEI tax simplification project, and included in the stimulus bill passed by the House of Representatives. Repeal is supported on two principal grounds: That the corporate AMT increases complexity, and that it is pro-cyclical.

Discovery In Summary Assessment Proceedings, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

When the collection of tax could be imperiled by going through the usual deficiency procedures, the IRS may make a jeopardy assessment or a termination assessment (hereinafter sometimes called “summary assessment”) and proceed immediately to collection. To prevent the misuse of this power, section 7429 provides affected taxpayers expedited administrative and judicial review. The IRS has made tens of thousands of jeopardy and termination assessments over the years, and there are hundreds of court decisions in litigated section 7429 cases.

The unique nature of jeopardy and termination assessments makes section 7429 proceedings very different from typical tax litigation. This article …

Federal Tax Collection Controversies In The Era Of Drye, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

By “tax collection controversies,” I mean cases in which it has been established that the taxpayer owes additional taxes, those taxes remain unpaid, and the IRS is attempting to enforce collection out of the taxpayer’s assets. Such cases are numerous and involve attorneys in general legal practice as well as tax specialists. For example, the taxpayer may be your client for non-tax matters, and may expect you to handle her tax collection controversy as well. Or, your client may not be the taxpayer herself, but instead someone who co-owns property with the taxpayer. Your client expects you to make sure …

Leverage, Linkage, And Leakage: Problems With The Private Pension System And How They Should Inform The Social Security Reform Debate, Norman P. Stein, Patricia E. Dilley

UF Law Faculty Publications

The argument for Social Security privatization is, at bottom, simple: we need more, and better, advance funding of the public retirement system. In particular, we need to commit a portion of FICA tax to privately managed investment accounts, which will purchase investment instruments that promise higher rates of return than the government debt instruments in which the Social Security surplus is currently invested. The privatization debate has centered on the extent to which Social Security faces an impending demographic crisis during the coming decades, whether privatization is fundamentally inconsistent with the idea of social insurance, whether privatization financial projections are …

Revisiting The Taxation Of Punitive Damages, Gregg D. Polsky, Dan Markel

Scholarly Works

In our recent article, Taxing Punitive Damages, available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1421879, we argued (1) that plaintiffs in punitive damages cases should be allowed to introduce to the jury evidence regarding the deductibility of those damages by defendants, and (2) that this jury tax-awareness approach is better than the Obama Administration’s suggested alternative of disallowing those deductions.

To our delight, Professor Larry Zelenak and Paul Mogin have each provided published comments to our piece on Virginia Law Review's In Brief companion website. Professor Zelenak’s thoughtful response focuses on our prescriptive claim that jury tax-awareness is better than nondeductibility, while Mr. Mogin disputes …

The Irs As Super Creditor, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

The IRS is a super creditor in the sense that its efforts to collect tax debts are free of restrictions imposed by state law on other creditors. This principle is no novelty. Several recent developments, though, have involved interesting applications of it. Part I of this article explains the principle. Part II examines recent applications of it.

The Proposed Domestic Reverse Hybrid Entity Regulations: Can The Treasury Department Override Treaties?, Anthony C. Infanti

Articles

This article first describes the proposed regulations issued under section 894 addressing the ability of domestic reverse hybrid entities to claim treaty benefits with respect to payments made to their interest holders (the proposed DRH regulations). After describing the proposed DRH regulations, the article next explores the potential that these regulations have to override existing U.S. treaty obligations. After concluding that the proposed DRH regulations are inconsistent with at least one existing treaty, the article concludes by questioning the power of the Treasury Department to promulgate regulations (such as the proposed DRH regulations) that override treaties.

Note: This is a …

Last Gasp Estate Planning: The Formation Of Family Limited Liability Entities Shortly Before Death, Walter D. Schwidetzky

All Faculty Scholarship

Family limited partnerships have been popular gift and estate tax planning vehicles for many years. In recent years, family limited liability companies (LLCs) have also become common, particularly in those states that have updated their statutes to take the check-the-box regulations into account. LLCs with more than one member are usually classified as partnerships for federal income tax purposes. In a typical structure, when there is adequate planning, the donors form a limited partnership or an LLC (jointly, 'family limited liability entity' or FLLE), to which they contribute assets expected to appreciate in value. This article will focus on such …

Are Tax "Benefits" For Religious Institutions Constitutionally Dependent On Benefits For Secular Entities?, Edward A. Zelinsky

Articles

The Supreme Court generally conditions tax exemptions, deductions, and exclusions for religious organizations and activities upon the simultaneous extension of such benefits to secular institutions and undertakings. The Court's position flows logically from its acceptance of the premise that tax exemptions, deductions, and exclusions constitute subsidies. However, the "subsidy" label is usually deployed in a conclusory and unconvincing fashion. The First Amendment is best understood as permitting governments to refrain from taxation to accommodate the autonomy of religious actors and activities; hence, tax benefits extended solely to religious institutions should pass constitutional muster as recognition of that autonomy.

Rendering Unto Caesar Or Electioneering For Caesar--Loss Of Church Tax Exemption For Participation In Electoral Politics, Alan L. Feld

Faculty Scholarship

The restriction on church participation in political campaigns contained in the Internal Revenue Code operates uneasily. It appears to serve the useful purpose of separating the spheres of religion and electoral politics. But the separation often is only apparent, as churches in practice signal support for a particular candidate in a variety of rays that historically have not cost them their exemptions. Although the limited enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service has reflected the sensitive nature of the First Amendment values present, the federal government should provide more formal elaboration by statute or regulation. Focus on the use of funds …

Reverse Like-Kind Exchanges: A Principled Approach, Bradley T. Borden

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Cash Balance Controversy Revisited: Age Discrimination And Fidelity To Statutory Text, Edward A. Zelinsky

Articles

No abstract provided.

Crumbs For Oliver Twist: Resolving The Conflict Between Tax And Support Claims In Bankruptcy, Michelle A. Cecil

Faculty Publications

This article is premised on the assumption that the congressional goal of preferring support claims over federal income tax claims is indeed a laudable one, based on three interrelated policy justifications. First, support claimants are unable to spread their risk of loss like the government is able to do by raising tax rates or increasing tax revenue from other sources. As three prominent bankruptcy scholars noted in their recent study of consumer bankruptcy entitled The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt:

Informational Hearing On Energy Conservation Tax Policy, Assembly Committee On Revenue And Taxation

California Assembly

No abstract provided.

Settlements And Waivers Affecting Pension Benefits Under Erisa, Eric D. Chason

Faculty Publications

Waivers affecting pension benefits may be entered into as part of a controversy (for example, a settlement agreement) or in isolation (for example, a disclaimer). Under current law, however, it is unclear how these waivers fit within the protections of ERISA, particularly the antialienation rule. Courts have generally honored settlement agreements so long as they are procedurally fair to participants. However, the antialienation rule looms in the background. The IRS and Treasury, in contrast, have focused on waivers outside the settlement context, prohibiting participants from making them but allowing beneficiaries to do so if the waiver satisfies gift-tax rules for …

An Obituary Of The Federal Estate Tax, M C. Mirow, Bruce A. Mcgovern

Faculty Publications

The authors adopt the genre of the obituary to discuss the development and present condition of the Federal Estate Tax. Using this form of descriptive narrative, the authors present a concise summary of the most important changes in the tax over the past eighty-five years.

When Charity Aids Tax Shelters, Darryll K. Jones

Journal Publications

How to deal with societal vice is always an interesting question. The body politic must first achieve a level of maturity that allows it to formulate a consensus regarding precisely what constitutes "vice." By its nature, vice is an activity to which some ascribe no harm and others view as inherently harmful. Achieving consensus is therefore no easy task, and then, recognizing that supply would not exist but for demand, and vice-versa, the body politic must determine whether enforcement resources are best directed towards consumers, towards producers, or equally towards both. Here, questions of fairness and efficiency arise. Is it …

Evolution Of The Arm's Length Standard In The Us Transfer Pricing Legislation And Russian Arm's Length Perspective, Andrei A. Shutov

LLM Theses and Essays

This thesis analyzes the evolution of the arm's length standard (ALS) as the key element of the transfer pricing control system in the US. This thesis also addresses some issues on creation of transfer pricing legislation in the Russian Federation and focuses on three sets of problems. First, it provides the general outline of the legislative history of the ALS as well as the history of the ALS' application in the US, including an overview of landmark cases, which revealed some conceptual problems with respect to the ALS. Secondly, the thesis addresses core problems associated with the ALS, such as …

Change Of Control Board: Federal Preemption Of The Law Governing A Target's Directors, Samuel C. Thompson Jr.

Journal Articles

This article sets out a proposed federal uniform standard governing the actions by the board of directors of a publicly held corporation that is the target of a change of control transaction. This proposal would apply in each of the following four merger and acquisition transactions: (1) the acquisition of a target in an arm's-length negotiated merger or acquisition; (2) the acquisition of a target in a management buyout; (3) the proposed acquisition of a target in a hostile tender offer; and (4) the acquisition by a target's controlling shareholder of the minority interests in such target in a freezeout …

Tax Expenditures, Social Justice, And Civil Rights: Expanding The Scope Of Civil Rights Laws To Apply To Tax-Exempt Charities, David A. Brennen

Scholarly Works

In recent years, courts have decided a number of cases in which private organizations discriminated against people based solely on their race, gender, sexual orientation, or other immutable traits. For example, in 2000, the Boy Scouts of America revoked a New Jersey man's membership in the Boy Scouts because he was gay. New Jersey's supreme court held that the Boy Scouts' action violated New Jersey's anti-discrimination law. Notwithstanding the state court's holding, the United States Supreme Court concluded that the First Amendment prevented any court from forcing the Boy Scouts to keep a gay man as a member of its …

The Cashless Corporate Tax, Herwig J. Schlunk

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Proposals for reforming the federal corporate income tax are neverending and ever-multiplying. They range from those that merely tinker around the edges, such as most recent proposals attacking the various perceived abuses that masquerade under the moniker "corporate tax shelter," to various integration approaches that arguably would gut the enterprise of a corporate income tax altogether. Since everything and the kitchen sink is at least theoretically in play, it seems appropriate to add this modest proposal, which I call the "cashless corporate tax" (CCT). As described below, the CCT is a "tax" that would replace the current corporate income tax-defined …

Striking A Balance In The Cash Balance Plan Debate, Regina T. Jefferson

Scholarly Articles

Cash balance plans are hybrid plans designed to offer the best characteristics of both defined benefit and defined contribution plans. However, conversions of existing defined benefit plans into cash balance plans are highly controversial because they can significantly reduce the expected retirement benefits of older workers. Because future plan costs are reduced and plan surpluses are often created, the use of surplus plan assets by employers has raised serious concerns. This article describes and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of using cash balance plans as primary retirement savings vehicles. It argues that the controversy over conversions is really about the …

Anatomy Of Valuing Stock In Closely Held Corporations: Pursuing The Phantom Of Objectivity Into The New Millennium, Stephen J. Leacock

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Federal Tax Collection Controversies In The Era Of Drye, Steve R. Johnson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

By "tax collection controversies," I mean cases in which it has been established that the taxpayer owes additional taxes, those taxes remain unpaid, and the IRS is attempting to enforce collection out of the taxpayer's assets. Such cases are numerous and involve attorneys in general legal practice as well as tax specialists. For example, the taxpayer may be your client for non-tax matters, and may expect you to handle her tax collection controversy as well. Or, your client may not be the taxpayer herself, but instead someone who co-owns property with the taxpayer. Your client expects you to make sure …