Taxation-Federal Commons^™

Is The Real Estate Investment And Jobs Act A Good Idea?, Willard B. Taylor

Willard B. Taylor

The Real Estate Investment and Jobs Act of 2015 would significantly relax the rules of the 1980 Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act for investments in U.S. real property made through U.S. real estate investment trusts and, in the House version, would simply exempt from FIRPTA investments by foreign pension funds. Taylor discusses the bills and argues that it would make more sense to repeal FIRPTA (including the U.S. real property holding corporation rules) and then seek to achieve parity of treatment for investments in U.S. real property by foreign persons that are made directly, through partnerships or through …

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.

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. …

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.

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 …

Building Prohibited Transaction Chinese Walls For Retirement Plan Investment Structures, David Randall Jenkins

David Randall Jenkins

Knowing how to structure client career revising strategies by funding business ventures with extant retirement plan assets is an important transaction structuring tool for today’s professional. Enabling both account holder compensation and personal guaranties of enterprise debt appears to be a formidable undertaking in today’s decisional law climate. The key to empowering such client objectives lies in understanding how retirement plan management and investment risk diversification policy compliance, together with properly invoked plan asset rule exceptions, erect Prohibited Transaction Chinese Walls and enable (self-dealing activity: incidental benefit) transitions.

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.

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

John Ferguson

No abstract provided.

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

John Ferguson

No abstract provided.

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.

State “Subsidies” And Unnecessary Public Funding: The Texas Legislature’S Successful Restriction Of Constitutional Rights In Department Of Texas V. Texas Lottery Commission, Tyler A. Dever Ms.

Tyler A Dever Ms.

This Note argues that the Act’s political advocacy restrictions are unconstitutional as applied to the Plaintiffs in Texas Lottery. This Note discusses government subsidies, occupational licenses, and the doctrine of unconstitutional conditions. It then analyzes the charitable organizations’ First Amendment rights in light of the challenged Act. Although this Note argues against the majority’s upholding of the Act, it will also present flaws in the plaintiffs’ argument for injunction and explain why the court may have ruled in favor of the state.

Less Is More: Applying A Modified Reasonable Compensation Standard To Eliminate The Inconsistencies In The Payroll And Net Investment Income Tax Bases, John S. Treu

John S. Treu

The original policy for the implementation of payroll taxes was to impose a tax on wages as both a funding mechanism for, and a limitation to, qualifying for social security. However, the self-employment tax base developed severe inconsistencies with this original policy and among different tax entities by including certain returns on capital investments in the tax base. At present, different payroll tax obligations arise for similarly situated tax payers based solely on the type of entity the owner elects to be taxed as under the check-the-box regulations. These inconsistencies resulted from misguided efforts by congress and the treasury to …

Subchapter S: Vive La Difference, Roberta F. Mann

Roberta F Mann

From 1958 to 1996, S corporations were the only business form to combine limited liability with reliable pass-through tax treatment. In 1996, the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) promulgated the “check-the-box” regulations, and LLCs, taxed as partnerships, became the darlings of the tax world. Is Subchapter S obsolete, or does it still serve a rational purpose in the economy? This Article will examine that issue, focusing on the comparison between S corporations and LLCs. The Article begins with a history of Subchapter S and the “check-the-box” regulations. Next, the Article will compare the arguments for and against repealing …

Does Federal Spending 'Coerce' States? Evidence From State Budgets, Brian D. Galle

Brian D. Galle

According to a recent plurality of the U.S. Supreme Court, the danger that federal taxes will “crowd out” state revenues justifies aggressive judicial limits on the conditions attached to federal spending. Economic theory offers a number of reasons to believe the opposite: federal revenue increases may also float state boats. To test these competing claims, I examine for the first time the relationship between total federal revenues and state revenues. I find that, contra the NFIB plurality, increases in federal revenue -- controlling, of course, for economic performance and other factors -- are associated with a large and statistically significant …

A Market For Tax Compliance, Walter E. Afield Iii

Walter E Afield III

It is becoming increasingly clear that, due to political realities and budgetary constraints, the IRS is going to have to attempt to enforce the tax laws by doing more with less. Current enforcement efforts have yielded a tax gap (i.e., the difference between the amount of taxes that should be paid and the amount that are collected) of roughly $450 billion annually. Faced with this task, one of the steps that the IRS has recently taken is to try to improve the quality in services performed by paid tax preparers, a group that historically has been subject to little IRS …

Legal Mirrors Of Entrepreneurship, Mirit Eyal-Cohen

Mirit Eyal-Cohen

Small businesses are regarded the engine of the economy. But just what is a “small” business? Depending on where one looks in the law, the definitions vary and they differ from one section to another. Unfortunately, what these various size classifications fail to assess, are the policy considerations and the legislative intent for granting regulatory preferences to small concerns to begin with.

In the last century, the U.S. government has been cultivating one such policy of fiscal and economic growth. Consequently, Congress and private institutions have been acting to incentivize, support and reward entrepreneurship through the law in order to …

Protecting Those Who Need It Most: A Call For Change To The Tax Application Of Qualified Domestic Relations Orders When Placed Into Special Needs Trusts, Conor Francis Linehan

Conor Francis Linehan

This note calls for a change to the way the Internal Revenue Code is applied towards qualified domestic relations orders when used to fund or partially fund special needs trusts, specifically irrevocable (d)(4)(B) trusts created under § 1396p.

The current status of the law is that an individual can roll over a qualified domestic relations order into a new retirement account in a tax-free transfer. If an individual elects to not roll over into a new retirement fund, some additional exemptions to various early termination penalties and lump sum payments have already been carved out of the Code.

This note …

An Exploratory Study Of Investment Compliance Management In The Enron Collapse, Valencia Tamir Johnson Dr.

Valencia T Johnson

This paper is to critique a thesis titled An Exploratory Study of Investment Compliance Management in the Enron Collapse (2013). This thesis can be found on the IBLS database, and on the Thomas Jefferson School of Law record database. This paper mentions the Enron scandal that played a major role in shaking investors’ and stakeholders’ confidence, in part because the corporation’s administrators were able to conceal its losses for nearly five years. This thesis examines the history of Enron and describes the circumstances leading up to its collapse in 2001, paying particular attention to the violation of corporate governance laws …

Notable Partnership Tax Articles Of 2012, Bradley T. Borden

Bradley T. Borden

This Article reviews several partnership tax articles published by academic journals in 2012. The subjects of the articles range from broad reform proposals to taxation of reorganizations to taxation of carried interest to issues affecting partnership liabilities.

Critical Tax Policy: A Pathway To Reform?, Nancy J. Knauer

Nancy J. Knauer

The Global Recession of 2008 and ensuing austerity measures have renewed the urgency surrounding the call for fundamental tax reform. Before embarking on fundamental tax reform, this Article proposes adding a critical lens to existing US tax policy to ensure that any proposals for change are informed, transparent, and responsive to the needs (and abilities) of individual taxpayers. This Article makes the case for a specific method of inquiry – Critical Tax Policy – that is built on the articulation of difference rather than false assumptions of sameness. Critical Tax Policy incorporates the insights of a growing international tax equity …

Pfics Gone Wild!, Monica Gianni

Monica Gianni

No abstract provided.

Lightning In A Bottle: Using Tax Policy To Solve Renewable Energy's Storage Challenges, Roberta F. Mann

Roberta F Mann

Government support for renewable energy has increased the generation of electricity from intermittent renewable sources such as wind and solar. The United States delivered almost $14 billion in renewable energy tax incentives in 2011. More renewables in the electricity mix means lower carbon emissions. Intermittent energy sources can reliably provide up to 20 percent of the electricity mix. However, increasing renewable generation above 20 percent requires better weather forecasting, improved coordination, increased grid capacity or more storage capacity. Batteries and electrical energy storage technologies straddle two major energy sectors: transportation and the grid. Unfortunately, compared to other types of technology, …

Partisan Politics And Income Tax Rates, William E. Foster

William E Foster

With income tax reform dominating so much of the current political discourse, now is an optimal time for tax scholars to reflect on the lessons and trends from a century of legislative tinkering with the primary revenue-generating device in the United States. Tax rate changes do not occur in a vacuum, and this article explores one increasingly prominent and often overlooked ingredient in the mixture of variables that can produce or inhibit tax reform―partisan politics. It does so by comparing individual income tax rates with partisan control of federal political bodies. This article reviews majority party status in the House …

Dirty Remics, Revisited, David J. Reiss, Bradley T. Borden

David J Reiss

We review the differences between two visions for the residential mortgage markets, one driven by the goal of efficiency and the other driven by the goals of efficiency and consumer protection. Both visions advocate for structural reform, but one advocates for industry-led change and the other advocates for input from a wider array of stakeholders. Broader input is not only important to ensure that a broad range of interests are represented but also to ensure the long-term legitimacy of the new system. This is a response to Joshua Stein, Dirt Lawyers Versus Wall Street: A Different View, PROBATE AND PROPERTY …

The Reactionary Road To Free Love: How Doma, State Marriage Amendments And Social Conservatives Undermine Traditional Marriage, Scott Titshaw

Scott Titshaw

Much has been written about the possible effects on different-sex marriage of legally recognizing same-sex marriage. This article looks at the defense of marriage from a different angle: It shows how rejecting same-sex marriage results in political compromise and the proliferation of “marriage light” alternatives (e.g., civil unions, domestic partnerships, or reciprocal beneficiaries) that undermine the unique status of marriage for everyone. In the process, it examines several aspects of the marriage debate in detail. After describing the flexibility of marriage as it has evolved over time, the article focuses on recent state constitutional amendments attempting to stop further development. …