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Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in Tax Law
An Assignment By Any Other Name: Contingent-Fee Agreements As Partial Assignments Of The Claim, Andrew P. Lycans
An Assignment By Any Other Name: Contingent-Fee Agreements As Partial Assignments Of The Claim, Andrew P. Lycans
Michigan Law Review
In 1959, Mrs. Ethel West Cotnam of Alabama won a groundbreaking lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service when the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed her to subtract her legal fees, paid to her lawyer on a contingency basis, from her gross income. Mrs. Cotnam sued the estate of her former employer when the administrator refused to honor the decedent's promise to pay her one-fifth of his estate if she would care for him for the rest of his life. Upon the successful disposition of this suit, the Supreme Court of Alabama awarded Mrs. Cotnam $120,000. Of that amount, $50,365.83 …
Gifts, Gafts And Gefts: The Income Tax Definition And Treatment Of Private And Charitable 'Gifts' And A Principled Policy Justification For The Exclusion Of Gifts From Income, Douglas A. Kahn, Jeffrey H. Kahn
Gifts, Gafts And Gefts: The Income Tax Definition And Treatment Of Private And Charitable 'Gifts' And A Principled Policy Justification For The Exclusion Of Gifts From Income, Douglas A. Kahn, Jeffrey H. Kahn
Articles
Gifts have been given special treatment by the income tax laws since the first post-16th Amendment tax statute was adopted in 1913. The determination of how the income tax law should treat gifts raises a number of issues. For example: should gifts be given special treatment? If so, what should qualify as a gift? Should gifts to a private party be taxable to the donee? Should gifts to a private party be deductible by the donor? Should the donee's basis in a gift of property be determined by reference to the basis that the donor had, and should any modifications …
The Constitutionality Of Taxing Compensatory Damages For Mental Distress When There Was No Accompanying Physical Injury, Douglas A. Kahn
The Constitutionality Of Taxing Compensatory Damages For Mental Distress When There Was No Accompanying Physical Injury, Douglas A. Kahn
Articles
Since 1919, statutory tax law has excluded from gross income compensatory damages received on account of a personal injury or sickness.1 The current version of that exclusion is set forth in section 104 (a) (2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.2 The construction of that exclusion, both by the courts and by the Commissioner, underwent significant alterations over the 80-year period that the provision has existed.3 The statute itself was amended several times, most recently in 1996.4 It is the 1996 amendment that has raised a constitutional issue concerning the validity of a portion of the statute.5
Taxation Of Damages After Schleier - Where Are We And Where Do We Go From Here?, Douglas A. Kahn
Taxation Of Damages After Schleier - Where Are We And Where Do We Go From Here?, Douglas A. Kahn
Articles
This article will examine the reasoning of the Schleier decision and speculate as to how taxation of pre-1996 damages will likely apply in light of Schleier. First, the article will set forth a very brief history of the judicial and administrative constructions of the statutory exclusion, and explore tax policy justifications for providing an exclusion from gross income for certain damages. These latter two items (set forth in Parts II and III of this article) are areas that have been extensively addressed previously by several commentators, including the author of this article.' The reason for exploring tax policy issues is …
Compensatory And Punitive Damages For A Personal Injury: To Tax Or Not To Tax, Douglas A. Kahn
Compensatory And Punitive Damages For A Personal Injury: To Tax Or Not To Tax, Douglas A. Kahn
Articles
Since the adoption in 1919 of the Revenue Act of 1918, damages received on account of personal injuries or sickness have been excluded by statute from gross income.1 This exclusion, which does not apply to reimbursements for medical expenses for which the taxpayer was previously allowed a tax deduction,2 is presently set forth in section 104(a)(2). One might expect that a provision having recently attained the ripe age of 75 years without change in its basic language would have a settled meaning. However, recent litigation under section 104(a)(2) bristles with unsettled issues. Does the exclusion apply to punitive damages? To …
The Supreme Court's Misconstruction Of A Procedural Statute-A Critique Of The Court's Decision In Badaracco, Douglas A. Kahn
The Supreme Court's Misconstruction Of A Procedural Statute-A Critique Of The Court's Decision In Badaracco, Douglas A. Kahn
Articles
When a taxpayer files an honest' federal income tax return for a taxable year, section 6501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code2 limits the period of time during which the Government can assess a tax for that year to a three-year period commencing with the date that the return was filed. The three-year limitations period is extended for an additional three years by section 6501(e)(1)(A) if the taxpayer's return omits properly includible gross income in an amount in excess of twenty-five percent of the gross income that was reported. If a taxpayer fails to file a return for a taxable year …
The Supreme Court's Misconstruction Of A Procedural Statute--A Critique Of The Court's Decision In Badaracco, Douglas A. Kahn
The Supreme Court's Misconstruction Of A Procedural Statute--A Critique Of The Court's Decision In Badaracco, Douglas A. Kahn
Michigan Law Review
Before addressing the lessons to be derived from Badaracco, it is necessary to make good on the author's claim that it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of a reasonably skeptical reader that the Court's decision was patently wrong and resulted from a poor technique of statutory construction. This is a heavy burden, especially since the decision was reached by an overwhelming majority of the Court and since two courts of appeals and at least one student law review note reached the same result. The reader must judge whether the author succeeds in satisfying it. This Article will first …
Stock Redemptions: The Standards For Qualifying As A Purchase Under Section 302(B)., Douglas A. Kahn
Stock Redemptions: The Standards For Qualifying As A Purchase Under Section 302(B)., Douglas A. Kahn
Articles
This Article discusses the requirements of section 302(b) for characterizing a stock redemption as a purchase rather than as a dividend equivalent. The focus is primarily on two issues: (1) whether the election authorized by section 302(c)(2) to waive family attribution rules should be available to an entity such as a trust or estate; and (2) the determination of the standards to be applied in resolving whether a redemption is "not essentially equivalent to a dividend" so that section 302(b)(1) is applicable.
"Primarily For Sale" In I.R.C Sections 1221 And 1231 Held To Mean "Principally For Sale" Rather Than "Substantially For Sale" --Malat V. Riddell (U.S. 1966), Michigan Law Review
"Primarily For Sale" In I.R.C Sections 1221 And 1231 Held To Mean "Principally For Sale" Rather Than "Substantially For Sale" --Malat V. Riddell (U.S. 1966), Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Sections 1221 and 1231 of the Internal Revenue Code disqualify from capital gains treatment profits derived from the sale or exchange of property "held by the taxpayer primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of his trade or business." In deciding whether these sections deny capital gains treatment to profits realized by real estate dealers from the sale or exchange of land, the circuit courts, while examining similar facts in relation to the same criteria, have reached divergent conclusions. Two recent decisions, Municipal Bond Corp. v. Commissioner and Malat v. Riddell, illustrate these discordant results. In Municipal …
Commissioner May Examine Taxpayer's Records For Years Barred By Statute Of Limitations Without Proving Reasonable Suspicion Of Fraud--United States V. Powell, Michigan Law Review
Commissioner May Examine Taxpayer's Records For Years Barred By Statute Of Limitations Without Proving Reasonable Suspicion Of Fraud--United States V. Powell, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
The Commissioner of Internal Revenue has power to summon witnesses and to examine records in order to ascertain the correctness of a taxpayer's return. If a summons is not obeyed or if the records sought are not produced, the Commissioner may seek enforcement by applying to the proper federal district court. Although the Commissioner's investigative powers are broad, they are not unlimited. In the absence of fraud, he must act within the confines of a three-year statute of limitations. In addition, the Code makes it abundantly clear that taxpayers may not be subjected to unnecessary examinations or investigations and that …
Embezzled Funds As Taxable Income: A Study In Judicial Footwork, Jerome B. Libin, George R. Haydon Jr.
Embezzled Funds As Taxable Income: A Study In Judicial Footwork, Jerome B. Libin, George R. Haydon Jr.
Michigan Law Review
The James case might not be worthy of extensive comment if its only significance rested on the decision that embezzled funds constitute taxable income in the year of misappropriation. But close analysis of the five separate opinions that were written indicates that James may have considerable significance beyond its precise holding.
Freedom From Uncertainty In Income Tax Exemptions, Maurice Finkelstein
Freedom From Uncertainty In Income Tax Exemptions, Maurice Finkelstein
Michigan Law Review
Exemptions from obligations to government are as old as Scripture. It is not strange, therefore, that the public interest in humane government should dictate numerous exemptions from the income tax levy, particularly when one considers that the income tax has long ceased to be simply a revenue producing vehicle. The regulation of inflation or deflation, the control of corporate financial structures, the distribution of wealth, all these and many other concern of government have entered into the formula of our income tax laws. The selection of those who are to be benefited by the tax exemption is, of course, made …