Law Commons^™

Probability, Professionalism, And Protecting Taxpayers, Bradley T. Borden, Dennis J. Ventry, Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Probability, Professionalism, And Protecting Taxpayers, Bradley T. Borden, Dennis J. Ventry

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Income Taxation, Wealth Effects, And Uncertainty: Portfolio Adjustments With Isoelastic Utility And Discrete Probability, Theodore S. Sims

Faculty Scholarship

The expected utility formulation of the problem of a risk-averse agent’s allocating a portfolio between a safe and a risky asset is widely taken as standing for the proposition that if α* ε (0, 1) is the optimal allocation to the risky asset in the absence of tax, α*/(1-t) is the optimal allocation in the presence of tax at rate t, a finding obtained on the assumption that the return r to the riskless asset is (or is taxed as though it were) zero. In this paper I model the agent as exhibiting constant relative risk aversion and the probability …

Sales Suppression As A Service (Ssaas) & The Apple Store Solution, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

The problem of sales suppression fraud is estimated to cost state and local governments $20 billion annually ($2 billion in New York restaurants alone). Modern sales suppression (skimming) is carried out with technology (Zappers and Phantom-ware). Nine undercover sting operations in and around Manhattan and the Bronx by investigators working for New York’s Department of Taxation and Finance (NY-DT&F) have identified the SSaaS variant of modern skimming.

A striking example of SSaaS may be unfolding in the $1 million sales suppression case against Congressman Michael Grimm (R-NY). It is alleged that Grimm skimmed sales from his Healthalicious restaurant in Manhattan, …

Some Reflections On The Past, Present And State-Dependent Future Of Lotteries In American Gaming Law, Stephen J. Leacock

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The 2013 Irs Crisis: Where Do We Go From Here?, Donald B. Tobin

Faculty Scholarship

This article argues that the IRS’s new proposed regulation on candidate-related political activities is a good first step. It creates a bright-line standard that is easy to apply and will reduce concerns that the IRS is manipulating the enforcement process for political gain. The regulation addresses serious concerns that some independent groups are circumventing disclosure laws in the code. These groups are improperly arguing that they qualify as social welfare organizations when in fact they are political organizations subject to disclosure under section 527. A better solution would be for Congress to pass broad-based campaign disclosure laws that would apply …

Joint Ventures Of Nonprofits And For-Profits, Terri Lynn Helge

Faculty Scholarship

This article summarizes special tax considerations that should be taken into account when for-profit parties seek to engage in joint ventures with charitable organizations. In particular, there are two areas of concern unique to charitable organizations with respect to joint ventures with for-profit parties. First, certain rules restrict or prohibit a charitable organization's ability to enter into transactions with insiders. Second, a charitable organizations' participation in a joint venture with a taxable party may cause the charitable organization to incur unrelated business taxable income or lose its tax-exempt status. Underlying both of these areas of concern is the overriding concern …

A Case For Simpler Gain Bifurcation For Real Estate Developers, Bradley T. Borden, Nathan R. Brown, E. John Wagner, Ii

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A National Mineral Policy As An International Investment Law Stratagem: The Case Of Tajikistan's Gold Reserves, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Taxation And Incentives In The Business Enterprise, David Gamage, Shruti Rana

Faculty Scholarship

This book chapter discusses the tax perspective on business enterprise law with a comparative focus on the U.S. and Japan.

The Internal Revenue Service And A Crisis Of Confidence: A New Regulatory Approach For A New Era, Donald B. Tobin

Faculty Scholarship

The Internal Revenue Service is not usually thought of as the agency charged with enforcing the nation’s campaign finance laws. It has found itself, however, at the center of a firestorm over both its involvement and its ineptitude in enforcing certain rules that regulate the campaign activities of tax-exempt organizations. For historical, legal, and practical reasons, the Internal Revenue Code regulates the political activity of tax-exempt groups, in some instances providing for disclosure of campaign donors and expenditures, and in other instances limiting the amount of political activity engaged in by tax-exempt organizations. As campaigns become more sophisticated and complicated, …

Don't Give Up On Taxes, Linda Sugin

Faculty Scholarship

Professor Sugin discusses professor Edward D. Kleinbard's latest book, We are Better Than This (2015, Oxford) about the fiscal system and the broader implications of progressive taxation as a policy goal.

Tax Ferrets, Tax Consultants, Bounty Hunters, And Hired Guns: The Property Tax Netherworld Fueled By Contingency Fees And Champertous Agreements, J. Lyn Entrikin

Faculty Scholarship

Contingency fee agreements between local tax assessors and contract auditors on the one hand, and property owners and private tax consultants on the other, create perverse financial incentives that undermine the integrity of state and local tax administration. When local governments engage outside auditors to identify undervalued or escaped taxable property, the practice raises serious due process and ethical concerns. As a matter of policy, diverting a share of property tax revenue to private third parties in consideration for outsourced tax assessment services undermines public accountability and reduces net property tax revenue for local government services. And when states allow …

Payroll Taxes, Mythology And Fairness, Linda Sugin

Faculty Scholarship

As the 2012 fiscal cliff approached, Congress and President Obama bickered over the top marginal income tax rate that would apply to a tiny sliver of the population, while allowing payroll taxes to quietly rise for all working Americans. Though most Americans pay more payroll tax than income tax, academic and public debates rarely mention it. The combined effect of the payroll tax and the income tax produce dramatically heavier tax liabilities on labor compared to capital, producing substantial horizontal and vertical inequity in the tax system. This article argues that a fair tax system demands just overall burdens, and …

Up In The Air Over Taxing Frequent Flyer Benefits: The American, Canadian, And Australian Experiences, Lawrence A. Zelenak

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Ending The Sweetheart Deal Between Big-Time College Sports And The Tax System, Richard L. Schmalbeck

Faculty Scholarship

This paper was prepared for the annual conference of the National Center for Philanthropy and Law, held at the NYU Law School, held October 24-25, 2013. The overall topic was “Tax Issues Affecting Colleges and Universities,” and I was asked to address specifically those issues relating to athletics. This paper considers two specific issues that have in common only that they involve college sports, and are plagued by egregiously bad, (in this case, egregiously generous), tax treatment: the failure of the IRS to regard any part of the revenue from college sports as unrelated business income, and the choice by …

Space Madness: Subsidies And Economic Substance, Steven Dean

Faculty Scholarship

Extending the reach of the recently codified economic substance doctrine to embrace transactions spurred by tax subsidies would help both Congress and taxpayers promote worthy objectives such as historic preservation and the production of renewable energy. Congress-or quite possibly the courts-could use losses as the lynchpin of an economic substance doctrine for subsidized transactions.

Mitt Romney, The 47% Percent, And The Future Of The Mass Income Tax, Lawrence A. Zelenak

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Tax Reform Road Not Taken – Yet, Michael J. Graetz

Faculty Scholarship

The United States has traveled a unique tax policy path, avoiding value added taxes (VATs), which have now been adopted by every OECD country and 160 countries worldwide. Moreover, many U.S. consumption tax advocates have insisted on direct personalized taxes that are unlike taxes used anywhere in the world. This article details a tax reform plan that uses revenues from a VAT to substantially reduce and reform our nation’s tax system. The plan would (1) enact a destination-based VAT; (2) use the revenue produced by this VAT to finance an income tax exemption of $100,000 of family income and to …

A Case For Simpler Gain Bifurcation For Real Estate Developers, Bradley T. Borden

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.