Tax Law Commons^™

Section 179 Expensing And The Bonus Depreciation Allowance: Their Application, History, Costs, And Benefits., Alice E. Keane

Alice E. Keane

This article examines Section 179 expensing and the bonus depreciation allowance, tax incentives that allow businesses to dramatically accelerate deductions on purchases of most tangible property. Generally, Section 179 expensing benefits smaller businesses, while the bonus depreciation allowance, which is more controversial and costly, is more useful to larger businesses and C corporations. Both of these tax incentives expired at the end of 2014. Congress is currently considering bills that would extend these incentives retroactively to 2015 and beyond. There is conflicting evidence of the benefit to the economy of Section 179 expensing and the bonus depreciation allowance, with certain …

An Overview Of Taxation Of Non-Resident Company In Nigeria, Oluwaseun Viyon Ojo

Oluwaseun Viyon Ojo

Non-resident companies, though not incorporated in Nigeria but deriving income from the Nigerian economic environment, is subject to tax within the nigerian tax environment under the specific circumstances set out in the provisions of the Companies Income Tax Act. Thus, this paper deals with the specific circumstances under which the non-resident companies will be subject to taxes in Nigeria.

King V. Burwell And The Chevron Doctrine: Did The Court Invite Judicial Activism?, Matthew A. Melone

Matthew A. Melone

No abstract provided.

The Moral Undercurrent Beneath The Regulatory Regime Of Investor Protection, Huhnkie Lee

Huhnkie Lee

No abstract provided.

The Proposed Inheritance Tax And Its Impact On China's Economy, Michael Steve

Michael Steve

No abstract provided.

Income Tax Accounting Consistency: Eliminate Accrual And Depreciation, And Revamp The Tax Treatment Of Borrowing, Joseph M. Dodge

Joseph M Dodge

Abstract for

INCOME TAX ACCOUNTING CONSISTENCY: ELIMINATE ACCRUAL AND DEPRECIATION, AND REVAMP THE TAX TREATMENT OF BORROWING

Joseph M. Dodge

Professor Emeritus, Florida State University College of Law

The thesis is that inconsistent tax accounting rules undermine the individual income tax, and the best available move for improving it – given the unassailability of the realization principle - is to eliminate its accrual (and quasi-accrual) features. Specifically, the agenda is to eliminate tax accrual accounting in the conventional sense, revamp the tax treatment of borrowing to (inter alia) abolish the Crane doctrine, and eliminate depreciation deductions for indivisible productive assets. …

Through The Lens Of Innovation, Mirit Eyal-Cohen

Mirit Eyal-Cohen

The legal system constantly follows the footsteps of innovation and attempts to discourage its migration overseas. Yet, present legal rules that inform and explain entrepreneurial circumstances lack a core understanding of the concept of innovation. By its nature, law imposes order. It provides rules, remedies, and classifications that direct behavior in a consistent manner. Innovation turns on the contrary. It entails making creative judgments about the unknown. It involves adapting to disarray. It thrives on deviations as opposed to traditional causation. This Article argues that these differences matter. It demonstrates that current laws lock entrepreneurs into inefficient legal routes. Using …

The Secret Economy Of Charitable Giving, Allison Anna Tait

Allison Anna Tait

Charitable giving is big business. In 2009, the Internal Revenue Service reported close to 100,000 private foundations, almost double the number from fifteen years earlier. Some of these charitable trusts, like the Gates Foundation, are multi-billion dollar enterprises. Trust instruments and other governing documents set forth the terms that control these gifts. Because charitable trusts can exist in perpetuity, however, changing circumstances sometimes render the terms difficult to fulfill. Courts can apply cy pres, a saving doctrine that allows for the modification of gift restrictions, but in the past courts have tended to apply cy pres narrowly and privilege donor …

An Invisible Hand Behind: The Myth Of The Chinese Tax System, Yan Xu

Yan XU

To the casual observer, China in 2014 bears little resemblance to imperial society in place two thousand years ago. The agrarian rural society that dominated until recently has shifted to an urbanized services and manufacturing society. The emperor is long dead, along with the Republic government that followedand the subsequent Communist regime has morphed into Party led oligarchy guiding a state controlled market economy. A closer look, however, reveals a remarkable continuity of features. It seems that some aspects of life in China are more resistant to change and the continuity of these features to today indicates that some fundamental …

Crafting A Constitutional Marijuana Tax, Nima H. Mohebbi

Nima H. Mohebbi

Marijuana legalization and decriminalization have become important policy issues. Twenty-three states have partially legalized marijuana (generally for medicinal purposes), and four – Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington – have legalized it for general adult recreational use. Given the likely hyper-growth of the cannabis market due to widespread legalization, states might enjoy budgetary windfalls from collecting marijuana taxes. Marijuana, however, remains a federally controlled substance, the sale or use of which is subject to substantial penalties. For the states, this presents a potential problem in collecting marijuana excise taxes. If an individual user in a state where marijuana is legal pays …

Lessons In Fiscal Activism, Mirit Eyal-Cohen

Mirit Eyal-Cohen

This article highlights an anomaly. It shows that two tax rules aimed to achieve a similar goal were introduced at the same time. Both meant to be temporary and bring economic stimuli but received a dramatically different treatment. The economically inferior rule survived while its superior counterpart did not. The article reviews the reasons for this paradox. It shows that the causes are both political and an agency problem. The article not only enriches an important and ongoing debate that has received much attention in recent years, but also provides important lessons to policymakers.

International Tax Cooperation, Taxpayers’ Rights And Bank Secrecy: Brazilian Difficulties To Fit Global Standards, Carlos Otávio Ferreira De Almeida

Carlos Otávio Ferreira de Almeida

This paper analyses the conflict between two constitutionally protected rights: privacy and transparency. The latter has been invoked increasingly often by international organizations committed to tackling harmful tax practices, and the former has been recognized as a crucial human right. In an interconnected world, domestic laws are not capable of countering cross-border tax evasion strategies, so that transparency has become one of the most important topics in international tax cooperation, but it is doubtful whether tax authorities can access banking data in order to obtain information to exchange. The judicial reserve clause upheld by the Brazilian Supreme Court represents a …

Allocative Fairness And The Income Tax, Joseph Dodge

Joseph M Dodge

Abstract for: Allocative Fairness and the Income Tax

This article seeks to provide a normative justification for the “allocative tax fairness” principle of “objective ability to pay.” First off is a brief overview of norm categories as they relate to taxation. Here, the category of internal-to-tax fairness (“allocative fairness”), referring to how the tax burden should be apportioned among the population, is identified as being distinct from a conception of a good or just society (social equity). Allocative tax fairness is often referred to as “horizontal equity.” Unfortunately, that notion is purely formal, and the remainder of the article develops …

The Family Llc: A New Approach To Insuring Dynastic Wealth, Evan M. Purcell

Evan M Purcell

No abstract provided.

A Whole New World: Income Tax Considerations Of The Bitcoin Economy, Benjamin W. Akins Jd, Llm, Jennifer L. Chapman Jd, Cpa, Jason M. Gordon Jd, Mba

Benjamin W. Akins

Bitcoin is a virtual, cryptocurrency growing rapidly in influence throughout the world. Numerous characteristics associated with the bitcoin system, including low transaction costs and greater user privacy, make it appealing as a medium of electronic payment. The number of users of bitcoin, including merchants accepting the currency as a form of payment, has grown considerably in recent years. Estimates indicate that there are more than 60,000 active bitcoin users as of September 2012, with nearly 11 million bitcoins in existence. According to the latest estimates, bitcoin market capitalization is roughly $9 billion. The growth of bitcoin as an accepted currency …

Definitions, Religion, And Free Exercise Guarantees, Mark Strasser

Mark Strasser

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the free exercise of religion. Non-religious practices do not receive those same protections, which makes the ability to distinguish between religious and non-religious practices important. Regrettably, members of the Court have been unable to agree about how to distinguish the religious from the non-religious—sometimes, the implicit criteria focus on the sincerity of the beliefs, sometimes the strength of the beliefs or the role that they play in an individual’s life, and sometimes the kind of beliefs. In short, the Court has virtually guaranteed an incoherent jurisprudence by sending contradictory signals with …

Shut Up: Pay More: This What You Voted For. Why You Don't See Me At San Francisco's Hall Of Justice, David D. Butler

David D. Butler

Urban violence, much of it politically motivated, has driven the taxpaying Middle Class into the suburbs. This has left only the tax eating poor and the tax avoiding rich in the big cities. This has resulted in urban bankruptcy in Detroit and even in California with its gifts of the technological Gold Rush, the Pacific Ocean, and the Sierra Nevada and Santa Lucia Mountains. The poor are more issolated than ever confined to the functional equivalent of no go zones. They speak a differenct language, dress differently, and sell drugs until they are caught and caged, providing good pay and …

Strictly Liable, David Randall Jenkins

David Randall Jenkins

The Power Point summarizes the Self-Directed IRA Custodian's Five Deadly Sins and Three Punishments for failing to assure Section 4975 impounded management and investment risk diversification policy compliance.

Taxes And Takings - And First Principles, George B. Hefferan Jr

George B Hefferan Jr

No abstract provided.

Taxes And Takings - And First Principles, George B. Hefferan Jr

George B Hefferan Jr

Public school property taxes are a verifiable violation of the takings clauses of the state and federal constitutions.

The Rescission Doctrine: Everything Old Is New Again, Allen Sparkman

Allen Sparkman

This paper considers rescissions--attempts by parties to undo a transaction and have that undoing respected for federal tax purposes. Some commentators have questioned the legal basis for the rescission doctrine as applied by the Internal Revenue Service, and others have argued for expansion or restriction of the doctrine. This paper traces the development of the rescission doctrine, examines a critical article that argues that there is no legal precedent that truly supports the rescission doctrine as it is currently applied by the Internal Revenue Service, considers whether there exists sufficient legal authority for the doctrine as applied by the Internal …

The Intersection Of Tax And Bankruptcy: The Mccoy Rule, John Ferguson

John Ferguson

No abstract provided.

Exotic Dancing: Taxable Gyrations Or Exempt Art, John O. Hayward

John O. Hayward

Exotic dancers usually embroil themselves in censorship battles with local authorities. But recently they have drawn the attention of tax authorities who have tussled with the owners of so-called “gentlemen’s clubs” over whether the exotic dancing performed in their establishments are subject to taxation. This paper examines several recent cases where state authorities choose to tax exotic dancing while at the same time exempting what some jurists regard as comparable choreographic performances. In the opinion of these commentators, the tax authorities exhibited a bias against low-brow artistic expression, thus engaging in impermissible content discrimination. It advances the proposition that judges …

The Intersection Of Tax And Bankruptcy: The Mccoy Rule, John Ferguson

John Ferguson

No abstract provided.

Complexity And Simplicity In Law: A Review Essay (Cass R. Sunstein, Simpler 2013)), David M. Driesen

David M Driesen

This essay discusses Cass Sunstein’s book, Simpler, in order to advance our understanding of the concepts of complex and simple law. Many writers identify complexity with uncertainty and high cost. This essay argues that complexity bears no fixed relationship to costs or benefits. It also shows that complexity’s relationship to uncertainty is so ambiguous that it is profitable to treat complexity and uncertainty as separate concepts. It develops useful separate concepts of legal and compliance complexity that will aid efforts to simplify law, like the one Sunstein claims to have embarked upon. It also argues that complexity is a hallmark …

The Origins Of Affirmative Fiscal Action, Mirit Eyal-Cohen

Mirit Eyal-Cohen

This article highlights an anomaly. It shows that two tax rules aimed to achieve a similar goal were introduced at the same time. Both meant to be temporary and bring economic stimuli, but received a dramatically different treatment. The less efficient or economically inferior survived. Its superior counterpart did not. The article reviews the reasons for this paradox. It shows that the reason is both political and an agency problem. The article not only enriches an important and ongoing debate that has received much attention in recent years, but also provides important lessons to policymakers.

Penalties For The Failure To Report Foreign Financial Accounts And The Excessive Fines Clause Of The Eighth Amendment, Matthew A. Melone

Matthew A. Melone

Offshore financial accounts held by U.S. citizens or residents have been the subject of government scrutiny for some time. These accounts often are maintained by taxpayers as repositories of funds derived from illegal activities or to evade income taxes both on funds derived from legal and illegal activities. Recent high profile scandals, particularly those that involved Swiss banks, have brought heightened congressional and public attention to the nefarious use of such accounts. Particularly prominent was the scandal involving UBS and the deliberate attempts by its private banking division to aid U.S. citizens in evading income taxes. This scandal, which prompted …

Marriage Penalty: How Stacking Income Affects The Secondary Earner’S Decision To Work, Kevin M. Walsh

Kevin M Walsh

Our progressive tax rate structure is aimed at taxing citizens fairly and based on their ability to pay. The rate structure, however, partially loses its purpose when analyzing the income taxation of married individuals. If a married couple decides to file jointly they are sometimes taxed at higher rates than individuals are depending on the incomes of the couple. This has created what we know today as the “marriage penalty,” and it can serve as a deterrent to the secondary earner from working.

There is no simple solution to address how the marriage penalty, in combination with necessary expenses, affects …

Renewable Energy: Where We Are Now And How Renewable Energy Investment And Development Can Be Expanded, Kevin M. Walsh

Kevin M Walsh

The renewable energy field is currently stifled because many renewable energy developments require tax equity investors to provide additional funds to get the project off the ground and running. The Code provides tax credits to incentivize investors to invest. Currently, the Investment Tax Credit (“ITC”) is the only available credit left for renewable projects placed in service from 2014 on. Tax credits are a step in the right direction to encourage renewable investment; however, the credits are limited in application mostly to large financial institutions. Moreover, investments into one specific renewable energy project can be risky because there is no …

Navigating A Post-Windsor World: The Promise And Limits Of Marriage Equality, Nancy J. Knauer

Nancy J. Knauer

When the 2013 landmark decision in U.S. v. Windsor invalidated part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), it was hailed as a landmark civil rights victory, but its implementation has been far from seamless. The federal government has not applied a uniform rule for marriage recognition, applying a state-of-domicile rule for some purposes (Social Security) and a broader state-of-celebration rule for others (e.g., federal tax matters). Moreover, Windsor did not directly address the state-level marriage prohibitions that remain in place in the majority of states. As a result, the United States continues to be a patchwork of marriage laws …