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Full-Text Articles in Law

No Thanks, Uncle Sam, You Can Keep Your Tax Break, James Edward Maule Aug 2006

No Thanks, Uncle Sam, You Can Keep Your Tax Break, James Edward Maule

James Edward Maule

This article addresses the question of whether income tax deductions are mandatory, or may be waived by the taxpayer when doing so generates a tax or non-tax benefit. What little authority exists suggests that deductions are optional except in two specific instances related to the computation of net earnings from self-employment. The increasing number of taxpayers subject to the alternative minimum tax, the amount of which can be reduced in many instances by foregoing deductions, makes it very likely that the question will reach the courts in the near future. This article concludes that aside from the two specific instances …


Editorial, Federal Tax Reform Has Gone By The Wayside, Michael Hussey Apr 2006

Editorial, Federal Tax Reform Has Gone By The Wayside, Michael Hussey

Michael Hussey

No abstract provided.


Irs Audits And Appeals, Emily A. Parker, Robert D. Probasco Mar 2006

Irs Audits And Appeals, Emily A. Parker, Robert D. Probasco

Robert Probasco

No abstract provided.


Irs Audits And Appeals, Robert D. Probasco Mar 2006

Irs Audits And Appeals, Robert D. Probasco

Robert Probasco

No abstract provided.


Substance Over Form? Phantom Regulations And The Internal Revenue Code, Amandeep S. Grewal Dec 2005

Substance Over Form? Phantom Regulations And The Internal Revenue Code, Amandeep S. Grewal

Andy Grewal

What happens when Congress commands the Secretary of an administrative agency to issue regulations, but the Secretary fails to act?

In most areas of the law, the answer is obvious: a party aggrieved by the Secretary's delay should file a suit (under 5 U.S.C. 706 or a similar provision) asking a court to compel the Secretary to issue regulations.

In the tax area, however, a different pattern has emerged. When Congress enacts a statute commanding the Secretary of the Treasury to act, the courts generally have not bothered to issue an order compelling him to do so. Rather, the reviewing …


Selective Waiver And The Tax Practitioner Privilege, Amandeep S. Grewal Dec 2005

Selective Waiver And The Tax Practitioner Privilege, Amandeep S. Grewal

Andy Grewal

Congress blundered badly by defining the federally authorized tax practitioner privilege by cross-reference to the attorney-client privilege. The relationship between a client and a FATP is wholly different from that between a client and an attorney, and the application of attorney-client principles to the FATP privilege has given rise to confused judicial opinions. This report attempts to stem the confusion with respect to one aspect of the FATP privilege. The proper application of the selective waiver doctrine to the FATP privilege remains an open question, though courts seem poised to reject it. They have rejected it numerous times in the …


Has Congress Stopped Executives From Raiding The Bank? A Critical Analysis Of I.R.C. §409a, Michael Hussey Dec 2005

Has Congress Stopped Executives From Raiding The Bank? A Critical Analysis Of I.R.C. §409a, Michael Hussey

Michael Hussey

In October 2004 Congress passed the American Jobs Creation Act ("AJCA"). Among other things, the AJCA created Internal Revenue Code §409A to address perceived abuses of nonqualified deferred compensation. Section 409A contains detailed and restrictive provisions relating to nonqualified deferred compensation including rules on when distributions may be made, when the arrangement may be renegotiated, and new penalties applicable if a plan fails to qualify under §409A.

This paper focuses on how §409A began largely as a reaction to the sizeable distributions to Enron executives from their nonqualified deferred compensation accounts shortly before Enron's collapse. The paper discusses how §409A …


Working For Free: It Ought To Be Against The (Tax) Law, Richard Winchester Dec 2005

Working For Free: It Ought To Be Against The (Tax) Law, Richard Winchester

Richard Winchester

Employment taxes account for an enormous share of federal tax receipts. And it is widely acknowledged that taxes on the self-employed are collected under a dysfunctional set of laws that is long overdue for repair. Yet, there is surprisingly little legal scholarship in the field. This article fills a portion of that gap. It examines some fundamental flaws that plague our nation’s employment tax laws, focusing on how President Bush’s dividend tax cut created an incentive for wealthy individuals to exploit those flaws at the government’s expense when they work for a corporation that they also own and control. Specifically, …