Law Commons^™

Replacing The Federal Income Tax With A Postpaid Consumption Tax: Preliminary Thoughts Regarding A Government Matching Program For Wealthy Investors And A New Tax Policy Lens, J. Clifton Fleming Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, proposals have been made to replace the federal income tax with a postpaid consumption tax - that is, a federal value added tax ("VAT"), a federal retail sales tax ("RST"), or a federal cash-flow (consumed income) tax. Because these taxes can be constructed so that they are indistinguishable at the level of the ultimate consumer in terms of their principal effects, and because a prominent recent proposal is the RST approach, I have written this article in terms of an RST/income tax comparison. The analysis, however, would be mostly the same if the income tax was compared …

Optimal Tax Compliance And Penalties When The Law Is Uncertain, Kyle D. Logue

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

This Article examines the optimal level of tax compliance and the optimal penalty for noncompliance in circumstances in which the tax law is substantively uncertain – that is, when the precise application of the Internal Revenue Code to a particular situation is not clear. In such situations, two interesting questions arise: First, as a normative matter, how certain should a taxpayer be before she relies on a particular interpretation of a substantively uncertain tax rule? That is, if a particular position is not clearly prohibited, but neither is it clearly allowed, under the tax law, what is the appropriate threshold …

Taxes And Competitiveness, Michael S. Knoll

All Faculty Scholarship

Around the world, the tax laws are shaped by concerns with competitiveness. This paper provides a general theory of how taxes impact competitiveness. As part of that theory, this paper also introduces the concept of tax-based competitiveness neutrality. A tax system is competitively neutral when taxes do not cause competitors to change their relative valuations of any investments. This paper then uses that theory to evaluate tax policy in two high profile and important areas. The paper begins by describing two models of competitiveness, called the conduit or new money model and the investor or old money model. The central …

Implementing A Progressive Consumption Tax: Advantages Of Adopting The Vat Credit-Method System, Itai Grinberg

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

A credit–method value–added tax, a payroll tax, and a business–level wage subsidy can approximate the economic and distributional consequences of a subtraction–method X–tax. Such a credit–method progressive consumption tax has administrative advantages as compared to a subtraction–method progressive consumption tax, once certain political factors are taken into account. Further, unlike a subtraction–method system, a credit– method progressive consumption tax could easily interact with other tax systems around the world and comply with World Trade Organization rules without sacrifi cing best practice VAT design features that allow for effective enforcement.

Biometrics, Certified Software Solutions, And The Japanese Consumption Tax: A Proposal For The Tax Commission, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Significant change is anticipated in the Japanese Consumption Tax. The Japanese Tax Commission is recommending that the rate should double, multiple rates should be employed, and the "bookkeeping method" of accounting should be abandoned in favor of the European "invoice method."

The Tax Commission faces a tax policy dilemma. The aging population drives the need for a tax increase (making the Consumption Tax an obvious target for revenue enhancement) at exactly the same time the population is shrinking in overall size, thereby reducing the number of working-consumers who can pay the higher tax.

These are dramatic changes for the Japanese …

Business Combinations: Mergers And Sales And Purchases Of Ownership Interests And Entity Assets, Thomas P. Rohman, Stephen L. Owen

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Business Combinations: Mergers And Sales And Purchases Of Ownership Interests And Entity Assets (Related Articles), Stephen L. Owen

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

S Corporations Redemptions And Divisions, Farhad Aghdami

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of S Corporations And Llcs, Stefan F. Tucker

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Partnership Tax Allocation Provisions, Brian J. O'Connor

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Liquidating According To Capital Accounts: Gone With The Wind?, Brian J. O'Connor, Steven R. Schneider

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Tax Considerations Of Transfers To And Distributions From The C Or S Corporation, C. Wells Hall Iii

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Executive Compensation Techniques For Closely-Held Businesses, Jeffrey R. Capwell

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Property And Liability Transfers To Partnerships: Built-In Gain Or Loss, Boot, And Disguised Sales, Andrea M. Whiteway

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Murphy And The Evolution Of "Basis", Deborah A. Geier

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Marrita Murphy received compensatory damages of $45,000 for emotional distress or mental anguish and $25,000 for injury to professional reputation after bringing a complaint with the Department of Labor under various whistle-blower statutes. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously held, in an opinion written by Chief Judge Douglas Ginsburg, that Murphy's damages were not due to physical injury and thus could not be excluded under the authority of section 104(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code but that the government nevertheless could not, under the Constitution, tax those damages as income. The government …

Surviving Irs Examinations And Appeals, Emily A. Parker, Robert D. Probasco

Faculty Scholarship

This article summarizes the statutory, regulatory and administrative rules and procedures that apply to IRS civil tax examinations and Appeals proceedings, including alternative dispute resolution procedures. The focus of this paper is on field examinations, rather than service center examinations, correspondence examinations, or office examinations. In addition, it attempts to answer some of the basic questions that taxpayers often ask their advisors and representatives when they are the subject of an IRS civil tax examination:

• Why was I selected by the IRS for audit?
• How long will this audit take?
• Why do the agents want all this information, documents, data, …

Unjust Enrichment And Wrongly Paid Tax, Hang Wu Tang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Boake Allen Limited v. Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2006] EWCA Civ 25 concerned early payment of Advance Corporation Tax ("ACT"). ACT was normally payable when a company paid dividends to its shareholders, but there was a statutory exception where the company was a subsidiary of a United Kingdom company and both the parent and subsidiary made a group income election. If the tax authorities accepted the election, the obligation to pay ACT would only accrue when the parent company paid dividends. Section 247 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 ("ICTA") stipulated that group income elections were only available …

Tax Practice In A Circular Revolution: A Review Of Pli's Circular 230 Deskbook, Bridget J. Crawford

All Faculty Scholarship

This short review essay evaluates the Practicing Law Institute's Circular 230 Deskbook by Jonathan G. Blattmachr, Mitchell M. Gans and Damien Rios. For attorneys, accountants and others who "practice" before the IRS, the Circular 230 Deskbook is a masterful analysis and an important guide to the Internal Revenue Service's labyrinthine rules and regulations governing tax penalties, reportable transactions and the conduct of tax practitioners. Most tax attorneys and accountants have reacted to the recent changes to Circular 230 by appending banner notices to all written communications. Without fully understanding the underlying rules, however, a practitioner cannot be sure that a …

A Diversity Theory Of Charitable Tax Exemption -- Beyond Efficiency, Through Critical Race Theory, Toward Diversity, David A. Brennen

Scholarly Works

Part I of the article presents Robin Paul Malloy's Law and Market Economy Theory (“LMT”) as an example of the basis for a normative explanation of the charitable tax exemption. LMT addresses the relationship among law, markets, and culture. Thus, using LMT, this part demonstrates how traditional law and economic analysis, premised on self-interest and wealth maximization, simply does not capture the essence of the many values that impact the marketplace and the market exchange process. Instead, LMT approaches legal analysis in a broader market context and is premised on the need to promote a process of sustainable wealth formation …

Bankruptcy Reform: What's Tax Got To Do With It?, Michelle A. Cecil

Faculty Publications

The article takes a two-pronged approach to the issue. First, it argues that all post-petition appreciation should be taxed to the debtor rather than to the debtor's bankruptcy estate because the debtor enjoys the benefits of the asset's appreciation in value and because, from a tax perspective, the results will be identical irrespective of whether the debtor or the bankruptcy estate is taxed on the asset's post-petition appreciation. Second, the article proposes that the gain accruing before the termination of the bankruptcy proceeding be treated as discharge of indebtedness income so that the debtor can defer recognition of the gain …

A Diversity Theory Of Charitable Tax Exemption—Beyond Efficiency, Through Critical Race Theory, Toward Diversity, David A. Brennen

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

What is the normative rationale for the federal income tax exemption for nonprofit charitable corporations? Even though the exemption dates back to 1894, Congress has failed to fully rationalize it. Though scholars and courts have attempted over the years to come up with a coherent rationale for the charitable tax exemption, their attempts are focused almost exclusively on economic efficiency. Thus, the charitable tax exemption is typically framed by noted tax scholars like Boris Bittker, Henry Hansmann, and others as an economically efficient means of providing certain goods and services to the public. Rationalizing the charitable tax exemption in economic …

Taxing Services Under The Eu Vat And Japanese Consumption Tax: A Comparative Assessment Of New Eu Place Of Taxation Rules For Services And Intangibles, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Place of taxation rules are the seminal cross-jurisdictional provisions of any consumption tax regime. They determine where among competing jurisdictions a particular service is taxed. They are not important for transactions that are restricted to a single jurisdiction and to businesses or individuals belonging to that jurisdiction. However, when two or more jurisdictions are involved, these are the essential tools for revenue allocation and avoidance of double taxation.

It is therefore of considerable importance to Japanese businesses and consumers when the European Union (EU) undertakes a wholesale revision of the place of supply rules for services and intangibles. The European …

Digital Consumption Tax (D-Ct), Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Modern technology is dramatically changing the way consumption taxes are collected, but it is also changing the way policymakers assess the operation and impact of these taxes. Whether the design is a standard credit-invoice value added tax (VAT) of European design, or a retail sales tax (RST) of American design, or the credit subtraction VAT without invoices type of consumption tax (CT) of Japanese design, technology is having a profound impact.

Government certified transaction software is in place in the United States. The Streamlined Sales Tax offers taxpayers in 18 states the option of having their retail sales tax determined …

Swallows As It Might Have Been: Regulations Revising Case Law, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

This is the second of two reports on the Swallozvs Holding decision. 1 In that case, the Tax Court, over three dissenting opinions, invalidated a timing rule contained in a Treasury regulation under IRC section 882. That timing rule provided that some foreign corporations could not claim otherwise available deductions if their returns for the tax year were filed outside an 18-month grace period. The majority and the dissenters clashed over which line of authority – Chevron 2 or the pre-Chevron tax-specific line of decisions typified by National Muffier3 – provides the governing standard for evaluating the validity of …

A Multinational Perspective On Capital Structure Choice And Internal Capital Markets, Mihir A. Desai, C. Fritz Foley, James R. Hines Jr.

Book Chapters

This paper analyzes the capital structures of foreign affiliates and internal capital markets of multinational corporations. Ten percent higher local tax rates are associated with 2.8% higher debt/asset ratios, with internal borrowing being particularly sensitive to taxes. Multinational affiliates are financed with less external debt in countries with underdeveloped capital markets or weak creditor rights, reflecting significantly higher local borrowing costs. Instrumental variable analysis indicates that greater borrowing from parent companies substitutes for three-quarters of reduced external borrowing induced by capital market conditions. Multinational firms appear to employ internal capital markets opportunistically to overcome imperfections in external capital markets.

Biometrics: Solving The Regressivity Of Vats And Rsts With 'Smart Card' Technology, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Biometric identifiers embedded in national identity cards puts a formerly impossible goal of consumption taxation within the grasp of policymakers for the first time. Never before has it been possible to design a broad-based, single rate consumption tax that is truly progressive.

No consumption tax has ever had all three of the critical attributes of a progressive consumption tax: a broad base, a single rate, and measured relief for those in greatest need. Although economists have urged that a broad base and a single rate be pursued over progressivity, most consumption taxes instead seek progressivity at the expense of both …

Drawing The Line: One Taxpayer's Economic Development Incentive Is Often Another's Discriminatory Tax, Walter Hellerstein

Popular Media

Shackelford Professor Walter Hellerstein shares his opinions regarding Congress' need to define more clearly what types of state and local tax incentives are legal. Prof. Hellerstein was asked to provide testimony on these issues at a U.S. Senate hearing before the Subcommittee on International Trade of the Committee on Finance. He also testified on this topic before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee and provided an overview of the American debate to the United Kingdom’s Treasury Department, which faces similar issues in relation to Member States of the European Union seeking to encourage economic growth and productivity in their respective …

Swallows Holding As It Is: The Distortion Of National Muffler, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

I like big ideas. The opportunity to work with them, and hopefully to add to them, is one of the joys of academic life. But perspective also is required. Not everything genuinely presents "macro" issues. As Freud supposedly said, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”

In Swallows Holding Ltd. v. Commissioner, the Tax Court, over three dissenting opinions, invalidated a return-filing timing rule in a Treasury regulation under section 882 of the !RC. It is clear that what drove the majority opinion was the perception that the timing rule was contrary to many previous cases interpreting the statute. As …

Preventing The Hybrid From Backfiring: Delivery Of Benefits To The Working Poor Through The Tax System, Leslie Book

Working Paper Series

This article analyzes the government’s increased use of the tax system to deliver benefits to the working poor. The hybrid in this article is the earned income tax credit (EITC), one of the country’s largest anti-poverty programs. The EITC is hybrid in that it is administered in the tax system but is increasingly redistributive, like traditional welfare programs. It reveals that the hybrid tax and welfare nature of the delivery of benefits to the working poor through the tax system results in some significant benefits, such as higher participation and lower administrative costs, but also a weakness in the form …

Using State Fraudulent Conveyance Law To Collect Federal Taxes, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

The I.R.S. has an imposing armamentarium of means by which to collect unpaid taxes. They include the general tax lien, various special tax liens, administrative levy and sale, and judicial sale. There are many administrative and judicial protections for taxpayers and third parties against the overly zealous application of these and other devices. Nonetheless, the I.R.S.’s collection options are of imposing breadth and power, considerably exceeding collection options available to private creditors.

Confronted by these collection devices, those who owe taxes and are determined not to pay them sometimes resort to transferring their assets to others, typically family members, close …