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Articles 1 - 10 of 10
Full-Text Articles in Tax Law
Citizens Abroad And Social Cohesion At Home: Refocusing A Cross-Border Tax Policy Debate, Michael S. Kirsch
Citizens Abroad And Social Cohesion At Home: Refocusing A Cross-Border Tax Policy Debate, Michael S. Kirsch
Michael Kirsch
Over the past decade, a number of scholars have addressed the United States’ continuing use of citizenship as a jurisdictional basis upon which to tax the foreign-source income of individuals in the modern international setting. Some writers, including myself, have defended this citizenship-based taxation (“CBT”), while others have rejected it and proposed some form of residence-based taxation (“RBT”) for citizens.This Article considers the competing normative arguments raised in this context, and attempts to distill the strengths and weaknesses of each. In so doing, it attempts to highlight the most important factors upon which the debate hinges, and illustrates the importance …
International Trade And Tax Agreements May Be Coordinated, But Not Reconciled, Yariv Brauner
International Trade And Tax Agreements May Be Coordinated, But Not Reconciled, Yariv Brauner
Yariv Brauner
A recent WTO case held the U.S.' export tax subsidies illegal. Despite strong political resistance, which fed a long and costly legislative process, the U.S. recently repealed these subsidies. This case and the U.S. reaction revealed that although the U.S. is the single super economic power, it is not as dominant a player as some portray it. The case also shed light on the tension between the present international trade and tax regimes and the difficulty of applying WTO law to income tax measures. This tension did not escalate earlier mainly because countries tended not to use their income tax …
Revisiting The Tax Treatment Of Citizens Abroad: Reconciling Principle And Practice, Michael S. Kirsch
Revisiting The Tax Treatment Of Citizens Abroad: Reconciling Principle And Practice, Michael S. Kirsch
Michael Kirsch
In an increasingly mobile world, the taxation of citizens living abroad has taken on increased importance. Recent international administrative developments — most notably, the weakening of foreign bank secrecy and expansion of global information sharing norms — have further raised the profile of this issue. While U.S. law traditionally has taxed U.S. citizens living abroad in the same general manner as citizens living in the United States, a number of scholars have proposed abandoning the use of citizenship as a jurisdictional basis to tax. In its place, they would apply residence-based principles — i.e., exercising full taxing rights over U.S. …
The Tax Code As Nationality Law, Michael S. Kirsch
The Tax Code As Nationality Law, Michael S. Kirsch
Michael Kirsch
This article questions the frequently-asserted axiom that Congress's taxing power knows no bounds. It does so in the context of recently-enacted legislation that creates a special definition of citizenship that applies only for tax purposes. Historically, a person was treated as a citizen for tax purposes (and therefore taxed on her worldwide income and estate) if, and only if, she was a citizen under the nationality law. As a result of the new statute, in certain circumstances a person might be treated as a citizen for tax purposes (and therefore taxed on her worldwide income and estate) for years or …
Taxing Citizens In A Global Economy, Michael S. Kirsch
Taxing Citizens In A Global Economy, Michael S. Kirsch
Michael Kirsch
This Article addresses a fundamental issue underlying the U.S. tax system in the international context: the use of citizenship as a jurisdictional basis for imposing income tax. As a general matter, the United States is the only economically developed country that taxes its citizens abroad on their foreign income. Despite this broad general assertion of taxing jurisdiction, Congress allows citizens abroad to exclude a limited amount of their income earned from working outside the United States. Influential lobbying groups, including businesses that employ significant numbers of U.S. citizens abroad, argue that this exclusion is necessary in order to keep American …
The Congressional Response To Corporate Expatriations: The Tension Between Symbols And Substance In The Taxation Of Multinational Corporations, Michael Kirsch
The Congressional Response To Corporate Expatriations: The Tension Between Symbols And Substance In The Taxation Of Multinational Corporations, Michael Kirsch
Michael Kirsch
During the past few years, several high-profile U.S.-based multinational corporations have changed their tax residence from the United States to Bermuda or some other tax haven. They have accomplished these expatriations, and the resulting millions of dollars of annual tax savings, merely by changing the place of incorporation of their corporate parent, without the need to make any substantive changes to their business operations or their U.S.-based management structure. Congress and the media have focused significant attention on this phenomenon. Despite this attention, Congress initially enacted only a non-tax provision targeting corporate expatriations - a purported ban on expatriated companies …
The Limits Of Administrative Guidance In The Interpretation Of Tax Treaties, Michael Kirsch
The Limits Of Administrative Guidance In The Interpretation Of Tax Treaties, Michael Kirsch
Michael Kirsch
This Article addresses the increasingly important role of administrative guidance in interpreting the United States' international treaty obligations. The relationship between administrative guidance and treaties raises important issues at the intersection of international law, constitutional law, and administrative law. These issues are explored in the context of the United States' extensive tax treaty network. Tax treaties play an important role in a global economy, attempting to reconcile the complex and ever-changing internal tax laws of different countries. The Treasury Department is considering the increased use of administrative guidance to interpret the meaning and application of tax treaties, particularly in response …
Proposal For A National Sales Tax To Incentivize The Collection Of Remote Sales Tax, Timothy Li
Proposal For A National Sales Tax To Incentivize The Collection Of Remote Sales Tax, Timothy Li
Timothy Li
This Essay proposes that Congress adopt a national sales tax at one national rate for interstate sales, but with a credit for each transaction in which an out-of-state vendor remits state sales tax. For states without sales taxes, remote vendors can still choose the state rate of zero percent. For states with sales taxes, the national rate should be set to exceed every state’s sales tax rate. Vendors would no longer be able to avoid sales tax by moving overseas. The proposal further provides numerous incentives for Congress to act now rather than delay, including a new source of national …
Pfics Gone Wild!, Monica Gianni
The Income Of The 21st Century: Online Advertising As A Case Study For The Implications Of Technology For Source-Based Taxation, Assaf Y. Prussak
The Income Of The 21st Century: Online Advertising As A Case Study For The Implications Of Technology For Source-Based Taxation, Assaf Y. Prussak
Assaf Y. Prussak
Throughout history, traditional trade and commerce, whether by land, sea or air, were always performed in a very physical manner, thus subjecting them to constraints and barriers imposed by both natural and man-made borders and jurisdictional lines. The computer and Internet revolutions, however, created a new medium for trade and commerce – the virtual marketplace. This unique platform for engaging in trade and commerce created new opportunities for value and profit generation in novel ways not previously available. One of these Internet-based revenue-generators is online advertising. With growing worldwide accessibility to the Internet, double-digit growth rate, and stronger-than-ever financial reports …