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Full-Text Articles in Tax Law

Comments On Guidance For Tax-Exempt Social Welfare Organizations On Candidate-Related Political Activities, Brian D. Galle, Donald B. Tobin Feb 2014

Comments On Guidance For Tax-Exempt Social Welfare Organizations On Candidate-Related Political Activities, Brian D. Galle, Donald B. Tobin

Brian D. Galle

The Notice is a good first step. It creates bright-line standards that are easy to apply and that will eliminate much of the gray area regarding permissible political activity. Clearer lines will reduce the discretion on the part of the IRS. By decreasing the IRS’s discretion, the regulation will reduce the opportunity for the IRS to be used as a political tool in an Administration’s tool box. However, the Notice does not go far enough. Congress has established a regulatory regime that has as its central purpose the disclosure of any significant campaign contributions by individuals or firms. In recent …


The Problem Of Nonprofit Executive Pay?: Evidence From U.S. Colleges And Universities, Brian D. Galle, David I. Walker Aug 2013

The Problem Of Nonprofit Executive Pay?: Evidence From U.S. Colleges And Universities, Brian D. Galle, David I. Walker

Brian D. Galle

Nonprofit organizations suffer from agency problems that are similar to or perhaps even more severe than those observed at for-profit companies. As a result, one might expect the executive pay setting process in the two sectors to reflect similar deficiencies. This Article explains why the managerial power theory that was developed to help explain for-profit executive pay is plausibly applicable to nonprofits. More importantly, this Article offers new evidence based on data from a large panel of colleges and universities collected across a nine year period that supports the idea that potential stakeholder outrage plays a role in limiting nonprofit …


Carrots, Sticks, And Salience, Brian D. Galle Jan 2013

Carrots, Sticks, And Salience, Brian D. Galle

Brian D. Galle

This Article considers the second-best design of Pigouvian taxes and subsidies in the presence of agents who are imperfectly aware of the instrument. Until very recently, the price instrument literature has assumed perfect rationality, and even the handful of prior attempts to account for “hidden” prices focus mainly on the income tax. I extend these efforts in several directions. First, I show that the best available instrument for correcting negative externalities is often one whose price is partially adjusted upwards -- or, in the case of subsidies, downwards -- to counter-act the neglect of irrational actors. In addition, I argue …


Hidden Taxes, Brian D. Galle Jan 2009

Hidden Taxes, Brian D. Galle

Brian D. Galle

The idea of hidden taxes is as old as John Stuart Mill, but convincing evidence of their existence is new. In this Article, I survey and critique recent studies that claim to show that there are some taxes that can go unnoticed by those who pay them. I also develop the array of unanswered theoretical questions and policy implications that potentially follow from the studies' results. Probably the central question for hidden taxes is whether they might enable government to raise revenue without also distorting the economy. If so, I argue, they have the potential to radically refashion the architecture …


Can Federal Agencies Authorize Private Suits Under Section 1983? A Theoretical Approach, Brian D. Galle Jan 2003

Can Federal Agencies Authorize Private Suits Under Section 1983? A Theoretical Approach, Brian D. Galle

Brian D. Galle

Since 1980, private suits brought under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 have been a prime vehicle for enforcing federal statutory norms against state and local government. Federal regulations, however, affect a vast cross-section of state conduct not directly controlled by federal statutes. It is therefore surprising to discover that, notwithstanding some occasional acknowledgments of the considerable importance of the issue, there is almost no scholarly discussion concerning to what extent federal norms embodied in regulations can be enforced through private Section 1983 litigation. The federal Courts of Appeals are badly divided over the question, and no coherent rationale for one approach …