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Full-Text Articles in Law

Gifts And The Income Tax—An Enduring Puzzle, Richard Schmalbeck Jan 2010

Gifts And The Income Tax—An Enduring Puzzle, Richard Schmalbeck

Law and Contemporary Problems

Schmalbeck explains that there are four policy options for the combined income tax treatment of a donor-donee pair, and that the best choice among the options is not self-evident. He notes that the current income tax treatment of noncharitable gifts originated with the 1913 income tax. The historical record provides no clues as to why Congress opted for that approach in 1913. As frustrating as this may be, it is an example of an important phenomenon in the development of the income tax. A number of crucial structural decisions made in the early days of the income tax, which continue …


The Attack On Nonprofit Status: A Charitable Assessment, James R. Hines Jr., Jill R. Horwitz, Austin Nichols Jan 2010

The Attack On Nonprofit Status: A Charitable Assessment, James R. Hines Jr., Jill R. Horwitz, Austin Nichols

Articles

American nonprofit organizations receive favorable tax treatment, including tax exemptions and tax-deductibility of contributions, in return for their devotion to charitable purposes and restrictions not to distribute profits. Recent efforts to extend some or all of these tax benefits to for-profit companies making social investments, including the creation of the new hybrid nonprofit/for-profit company form known as the Low-Profit Limited Liability Company, threaten to undermine the vitality of the nonprofit sector and the integrity of the tax system. Reform advocates maintain that the ability to compensate executives based on performance and to distribute profits when attractive investment opportunities are scarce …