Tax Law Commons^™

Embracing The Queen Of Hearts: Deference To Retroactive Tax Rules, James M. Puckett

James Puckett

The Supreme Court’s decision in Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research v. United States underscored the importance of a uniform approach to judicial review of administrative action; accordingly, the Court clarified that tax administration is generally subject to the same review as other kinds of administrative action by other federal agencies. Tax guidance from the IRS and Treasury Department serves an important role in clarifying the tax law so that taxpayers may report their tax liability accurately and plan their affairs. Meanwhile, aggressive attempts by a relatively small number of taxpayers to avoid tax liability by exploiting arguable ambiguities …

Structural Tax Exceptionalism, James M. Puckett

James Puckett

This Article argues that it is misleading to declare the death of tax exceptionalism and that structural tax exceptionalism may have important benefits. Part II provides a brief historical overview of the rise of federal agency administration of statutes and especially tax laws. The history trends to detract from anti-tax and anti-agency rhetoric that counsel disempowering the Treasury Department and other administrative agencies from comprehensively enforcing laws and making policy in their relevant domains. Part III analyzes how the Code's structure for tax administration differs from the APA template for administrative agencies. Part IV deconstructs these differences, drawing from general …

When Does A Settlement Become Binding On A Party In The Tax Court, T. Keith Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

The 21st Century Fight Over Who Sets The Terms Of The Charity Property Tax Exemption, Evelyn Brody

Evelyn Brody

Winning The Crowd: Harnessing Taxpayer Choices To Improve Educational Quality, W. Edward Afield

W. Edward "Ted" Afield

No abstract provided.

A Market For Tax Compliance, W. Edward Afield

W. Edward "Ted" Afield

This piece seeks to lay the framework for how such a voluntary compliance certification program would work and to discuss the benefits of such a system that are currently not being realized through the IRS’s current regulation of paid preparers. Part II summarizes in brief the current regulatory landscape for paid preparers and illustrates that the current environment falls short in providing a mechanism to allow the government to better direct its enforcement resources and to incentivize a culture of compliance among tax preparers and their clients. Part III describes in general terms how a voluntary compliance certification system should …

Agency Activism As A New Way Of Life: Administrative Modification Of The Internal Revenue Code Through Limited Issue Focused Examinations, W Edward Afield

W. Edward "Ted" Afield

In the name of increasing efficiency and better utilizing limited resources, the IRS has begun to adopt audit policies that overly favor taxpayers and greatly hinder the IRS’s ability to perform thorough audits. Highlighting this trend is a relatively new audit technique used by the Large to Mid-Size Business Division (LMSB), known as the Limited Issue Focused Examination (LIFE) Process. Under LIFE, the LMSB has attempted to involve taxpayers in the audit process by sharing responsibility for timely completion of the audit and has attempted to streamline the audit by reducing the scope of issues examined and applying materiality thresholds …

Don't Burst The Bubble: An Analysis Of The First-Time Homebuyer Credit And Its Use As An Economic Policy Tool, 45 J. Marshall L. Rev. 23 (2011), Sarah Webber

Sarah J Webber

No abstract provided.

Fogg Book Problems At The Irs In Attempting To Provide Service To Taxpayers Tax Notes March 14 2016 1335.Pdf, T. Keith Fogg, Leslie M. Book

T. Keith Fogg

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

Terri L. Helge

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 …

Nuts And Bolts Of Unrelated Business Income Tax, Terri Lynn Helge

Terri L. Helge

This paper summarizes the unrelated business income tax rules as they apply to tax-exempt charitable organizations described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Code. Since the 1950s, the unrelated business income tax has been imposed on a charity’s net income from a regularly carried on trade or business that is unrelated to the charity’s tax-exempt purposes. Often times, the justification for imposing this tax on a charity’s net income from unrelated business activities is that such activities involve unfair competition with the charity’s for-profit counterparts.

Abusive Tax Practices: The 100-Year Onslaught On The Tax Code

Arthur Acevedo

No abstract provided.

Bastardy And The Statute Of Wills: Interpreting A Sixteenth-Century Statute With Cases And Readings, M C. Mirow

M. C. Mirow

The Statute of Wills of 1540 created a tax loophole for transfers of property to illegitimate children. Assessments for wardships that would normally be imposed on certain transfers of land to children could be effectively avoided by establishing that the donee was illegitimate, and therefore a stranger to the donor for the purposes of the statute. English lawyers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries educated their colleagues about this newly available loophole. In the inns of court, lawyers discussed the statutory provisions and recent revenue cases from the Court of Wards. This article sets out the loophole, examines how the …

An Obituary Of The Federal Estate Tax, M C. Mirow, Bruce A. Mcgovern

M. C. Mirow

The authors adopt the genre of the obituary to discuss the development and present condition of the Federal Estate Tax. Using this form of descriptive narrative, the authors present a concise summary of the most important changes in the tax over the past eighty-five years.

Doma Implications For Employee Benefit Plans: Round 3, 150 Tax Notes 101 (2016), Kathryn Kennedy

Kathryn J. Kennedy

This article is the third in a series on the implications for employee benefit plans of the Supreme Court’s decisions on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and state bans on same-sex marriage. In this article, Kennedy highlights the effect Obergefell v. Hodges will have on employee benefit plans.

Quoted In Daily Tax Report On Stars, Robert D. Probasco

Robert Probasco

No abstract provided.

Charitable Organization Oversight: Rules V. Standards, Philip T. Hackney

Philip T. Hackney

Congress has traditionally utilized standards as a means of communicating charitable tax law in the Code. In the past fifteen years, however, Congress has increasingly turned to rules to stop fraud and abuse in the charitable sector. I review the rules versus standards debate to evaluate this trend. Are congressional rules the best method for regulating the charitable sector? While the complex changing nature of charitable purpose would suggest standards are better, the inadequacy of IRS enforcement and the large number of unsophisticated charitable organizations both augur strongly in favor of rules. Congress, however, is not the ideal institution to …

The Meaning Of Capital In The 21st Century, Edward Mccaffery

Edward J McCaffery

The United States Tax Court - A Court For All Parties, T. Keith Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

Bureaucratic Oppression And The Tax System, Leslie Book

Leslie Book

No abstract provided.

How Can Tax Collection Be Structured To Observe And Preserve Taxpayer Rights: A Discussion Of Practices And Possibilities, T. Keith Fogg, Sime Jozipovic

T. Keith Fogg

Exculpatory Liabilities And Partnership Nonrecourse Allocations, Karen C. Burke

Karen Burke

The rise of limited liability companies (LLCs) classified as partnerships for federal income tax purposes challenges traditional assumptions concerning the treatment of recourse and nonrecourse liabilities under Subchapter K. The complex rules of sections 704(b) and 752 give little attention to liabilities that are recourse to the entity under section 1001 but for which no member bears the economic risk of loss under section 752. In comparison to traditional general or limited partnerships, however, LLCs are much more likely to incur such "exculpatory" liabilities because of the limited liability shield under state law. Although exculpatory liabilities are functionally quite similar …

A Winn For Educational Pluralism, Nicole Stelle Garnett

Nicole Stelle Garnett

This short essay takes as its starting point on the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Winn v. Arizona Christian Tuition Organization, which involved an Establishment Clause challenge to Arizona’s scholarship tax program — a school-choice device that provides tax credits from state income taxes for donations to organizations granting scholarship to private K-12 schools. In Winn, a divided court ruled that taxpayers lack standing to challenge this and other tax credit programs — thereby dramatically limiting the Flast v. Cohen exception to the no-taxpayer-standing rule. The essay makes the case that the Winn will promote authentic educational pluralism by clearing …

A Better Direction For California's Climate Change Policy, David Gamage, Mark Gergen

Mark P. Gergen

No abstract provided.

How King V. Burwell Creates Tax Problems For Consumers And What The Treasury Can Do About It, Andy Grewal

Andy Grewal

Commentators have expressed concern that a government loss in King v. Burwell, which addresses whether taxpayers can enjoy tax credits for policies purchased on federal health care exchanges, will lead to a "death spiral" during future enrollment seasons.

However, this discussion threatens to mask the potential tax problems facing persons who purchase policies this enrollment season. As this short article explains, purchasers may be faced with a surprising tax bill when they complete their 2015 tax returns. Additionally, the government has argued that it can protect customers from surprise tax bills, but it's authority to do so is far from …

The Estate Planner's Income Tax Playbook, Samuel A. Donaldson

Samuel A. Donaldson

No abstract provided.

2003 Federal Tax Update, Samuel Donaldson

Samuel A. Donaldson

No abstract provided.

United States International Taxation, Allison Christians, Samuel Donaldson, Phillip Postlewaite

Samuel A. Donaldson

No abstract provided.

The Best Arrow In The Quiver: Qualified Personal Residence Trusts In Contemporary Estate Planning, Samuel Donaldson

Samuel A. Donaldson

No abstract provided.

Teaching Tax And Other Tedious Topics, John Bogdanski, Samuel Donaldson

Samuel A. Donaldson

No abstract provided.