Law Commons^™

Wheir’S The Beef?: Buffalo Law And Taxation, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

The intersection of buffalo law and taxation hasn't been a busy one, but accidents still happen: not everyone understands that buffalo have the right of way. This article critically analyzes the recent Tax Court summary opinion in Wheir v. Commissioner, which involved a bodybuilder who sought to deduct the cost of an incredible amount of buffalo meat. Along the way, the article brings buffalo law learning up-to-date; revisits some classic, nineteenth-century buffalo law cases; and, most important, considers whether there are important differences between the American bison and American beef cattle - differences that might have relevance to American tax …

Interpreting The Sixteenth Amendment (By Way Of The Direct-Tax Clauses), Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

The Sixteenth Amendment and the direct-tax clauses have become subjects of interest in the legal academy and, as proposals for new forms of national taxation emerge on a seemingly daily basis, they could become subjects of more general interest as well. Under the direct-tax clauses, a direct tax must be apportioned among the states on the basis of population, making such a tax difficult, although not impossible, to implement. Following the Supreme Court decisions in the 1895 Income Tax Cases, which held that an 1894 income tax was a direct tax that had not been properly apportioned, the Sixteenth Amendment, …

Taxation Of Beards, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This article makes a compelling case that the United States could learn from the imaginative tax policy-maker Peter the Great and institute a tax on beards. Such a tax could raise a little revenue, decrease scruffiness, and provide a new subject for cutting-edge law review notes.

Note: This a description of the paper and not the actual abstract.

The Taxing Power, The Sixteenth Amendment, And The Meaning Of ‘Incomes,’, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This article examines the debates leading to the enactment of the 1894 income tax, which the Supreme Court struck down in 1895, and the Sixteenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, and concludes that an income tax and a tax on consumption were understood to be fundamentally different types of taxes. The author argues that the term “taxes on incomes” in the Sixteenth Amendment should be interpreted with that distinction in mind. The Amendment was intended to make a “tax on incomes,” and only a tax on incomes, possible without the apportionment that would otherwise be required for a direct tax. For …

Unapportioned Direct-Consumption Taxes And The Sixteenth Amendment, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

The point of this essay is simple: a direct-consumption tax like the Forbes-Armey-Hall-Rabushka flat tax or the Nunn-Domenici USA tax is not a "tax on incomes" within the meaning of the Sixteenth Amendment. As a result, such a tax would be constitutional only if it were apportioned among the states on the basis of population. And since these taxes would not be apportioned-how could they be and work as they are intended to work?-they would be unconstitutional.

Taxation And The Constitution: How To Read The Direct-Tax Clauses, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This essay responds to Professor Bruce Ackerman, who had challenged the author's understanding of the Direct-Tax Clauses of the Constitution and the Sixteenth Amendment to that Constitution.

Respect For Statutory Text Versus ‘Blithe Unconcern’: A Reply To Professor Coverdale, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

In Tufts v. Commissioner, the Supreme Court in 1983 had concluded that relief from a nonrecourse liability on disposition of property should be reflected in the seller's amount realized, even if the value of the property had dropped below the principal amount of the obligation. Professor Coverdale quite reasonably complained that the statutory definition of amount realized makes no mention of liabilities and that, not quite so reasonably, commentators had shown blithe unconcern about statutory language. A great fan of adhering to statutory language, the author nevertheless argues that interpreters must take into account judicial developments, in this case beginning …

The Control Of Avoidance: The United States Alternative, John Tiley, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This article, jointly written by a British and an American academic, describes the American experience in identifying and attacking tax avoidance. The article was part of a symposium issue of the British Tax Review, published by Sweet and Maxwell, devoted to tax avoidance issues around the globe.

Critical Theory And The Loneliness Of The Tax Prof, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This essay, prepared for a symposium on critical theory and tax law, has two goals: to suggest why feminist theory and critical race theory are spreading in taxation and to discuss some dangers of that criticism. The author evaluates three examples of the new criticism: an article on critical race theory by Professors Moran and Whitford; an article on feminist statutory interpretation by Professor Handelman; and a book, Taxing Women, by Professor McCaffery.

The Apportionment Of ‘Direct Taxes’: Are Consumption Taxes Constitutional?, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

In debates about reorienting the American revenue system, nearly everyone assumes the Constitution is irrelevant. With few exceptions, the tax provisions in the original Constitution - particularly the direct-tax apportionment rule and the uniformity rule - have been interpreted to be paper tigers. And in only one major case has the Sixteenth Amendment, which excepts "taxes on incomes" from apportionment, been held to limit congressional power.

S Rejecting conventional wisdom, this Article argues that some consumption taxes would violate constitutional norms. The Article focuses on the requirement that “direct taxes” be apportioned among the states on the basis of population. …

Commentary: Food For Thought And Thoughts About Food: Can Meals And Lodging Provided To Domestic Servants Be For The Convenience Of The Employer?, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This commentary considers one of the least important issues in tax law: whether the value of meals and lodging provided to domestic servants is excludable from the servants' gross income under section 119 of the Internal Revenue Code. Trivial though the issue is, the author goes on and on-and on, arguing that an example in the regulations under section 119, which concludes that the "business premises of the employer" requirement would be satisfied in such a situation, is misleading in its implications. It's not enough that the meals and lodging be provided on the business premises of the employer to …

The Supreme Court And The Timing Of Deductions For Accrual-Basis Taxpayers, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This article examines the Supreme Court's two decisions in the late 1980s dealing with the timing of deductions, United States v. Hughes Properties (1986) and United States v. General Dynamics Corp. (1987), and finds those decisions wanting. Indeed, it is hard to understand why the Court exercised its discretionary jurisdiction twice in such a short period when the cases involved technicalities that seemed to overwhelm the generalist justices and when subsequent disputes with similar factual situations would be affected by statutory changes.

Taxation, The Student Athlete, And The Professionalization Of College Athletics, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

It has become common to hear critics argue that big-time college athletes are being exploited by their institutions and that they should be paid fair market value for their services. This article argues that such a policy, if adopted, could have some unexpected consequences for the colleges. The traditional justification for not taxing athletic income (basically meaning, for most big-time schools, that from football and basketball) is that the participants are student athletes, that the activities are related to the colleges’ overall educational purposes, and that the athletic revenue is therefore not subject to the tax on unrelated business income. …

Hughes Properties And General Dynamics: The Supreme Court, The All Events Test, And The 1984 Tax Act, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This article discusses United States v. Hughes Properties, a 1986 case in which the Supreme Court blessed an accrual-basis taxpayer's current deduction for amounts guaranteed as payoffs on progressive slot machines but for which no winner had yet been determined. The author notes that, had the case been governed by section 461(h) of the Internal Revenue Code, as it was amended by the 1984 Tax Reform Act, the deductions would have been deferred. He speculates about the Supreme Court's willingness to decide an issue rendered moot by subsequent legislation, and ponders the effect that the decision in Hughes Properties will …

The Deduction Of Future Liabilities By Accrual-Basis Tax­Payers: Premature Accruals, The All Events Test, And Eco­Nomic Performance, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

Written during the Paleozoic era, this article considers the timing of deductions by accrual-basis taxpayers. The article considers timing problems under pre-1984 prior law, where the benefit of a deduction for a future obligation could provide grossly inflated tax benefits; the limitations of the all events test as the sole determinant of timing; and the effect of statutory changes made by the Tax Reform Act of 1984, which require that a deduction be deferred until "economic performance" has occurred.

The Uneasy Justification For Special Treatment Of Like-Kind Exchanges, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This article considered the traditional justifications for nonrecognition treatment for like-kind exchanges, as provided in section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, and found them wanting. The article nevertheless concluded that, even though the justifications are imperfect, section 1031 has some plausibility to it, at least as applied to traditional, simultaneous exchanges.

The Evolving Domestic And International Law Against Foreign Corruption: Some New And Old Ethical Dilemmas Facing The International Lawyer, Juscelino F. Colares

Faculty Publications

This article examines the origins and meaning of the Export Clause in Article I, section 9 of the United States Constitution, which provides that "[n]o Tax or duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State."

Part I of the article considers the original understanding of the Export Clause, concluding that, without the Clause, the Constitution would not have been adopted. In light of the Export Clause's significance in the constitutional structure, Part II examines the Supreme Court's decisions in United States v. International Business Machines Corp., 517 U.S. 843 (1996) (IBM), and United States v. United States Shoe …

The Heroic Nature Of Tax Lawyers, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This essay uses John Grisham’s monumental work, 'The Firm,' to refute the notion that tax lawyers are nerds. A tax lawyer himself, the author challenges anyone who disagrees with him to a duel with broadswords.