Tax Law Commons^™

Taxing Civil Rights Gains, Anthony C. Infanti

Articles

In this article, I take a novel approach to the question of what constitutes a "tax." I argue that the unique burdens placed on same-sex couples by the federal and state "defense of marriage" acts (the DOMAs) constitute a tax on gay and lesbian families.

Classifying the DOMAs as a "tax" has important substantive and rhetorical consequences. As a tax, the DOMAs are subject to the same constitutional restrictions as other taxes. This opens them to challenge under the federal constitution's direct tax clauses and the uniformity clauses present in many state constitutions. Where such constitutional challenges are unavailable or …

Protecting Our Aging Retirees: Converting 401(K) Accounts Into Federally Guaranteed Lifetime Annuities, Lawrence A. Frolik

Articles

America’s retirees are faced with a potential financial disaster. Economic security in retirement has long depended on Social Security, private savings and employer provided retirement plans. While much attention has been paid to the financial problems of Social Security and the lack of private saving for retirement, little attention has been paid to an alarming development in employer provided retirement plans: the likely inability of retirees during the long years of their retirement to successfully manage their retirement funds accumulated in 401(k) and similar accounts. We as a society have set up a funding system for retirement that assumes retirees …

Taxes And Death: The Rise And Demise Of An American Law Firm, Milton C. Regan

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Misconduct by lawyers in law firms is often attributed to pressures from increasing competition for legal services. Modern firms do face fierce competitive pressures. We can gain more subtle insights, however, by focusing on the specific markets in which particular firms operate and the ways in which forms of influence in law firms interact with common patterns of behavior in organizations.

This paper, a chapter in the collection Law Firms, Legal Culture, and Legal Practice, draws on this type of analytical framework to provide a case study of the experience of Jenkens & Gilchrist, a national law firm that …

The Misuse Of Textualism: A Further Reply To Prof. Kahn, Stephen B. Cohen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Because readers have already endured four articles, two by me and two by Prof. Douglas A. Kahn, debating the meaning of section 67(e)(1), I am reluctant to respond to Prof. Kahn’s rejoinder, which appeared in the January 18 issue of Tax Notes. Nevertheless, our disagreement implicates the judicial craft of two U.S. Supreme Court members, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sonia Sotomayor. I therefore feel it important to answer Prof. Kahn’s latest contentions, recognizing my duty to be as brief as possible.

The Discursive Failure In Comparative Tax Law, Omri Y. Marian

UF Law Faculty Publications

Tax comparatists tend to bemoan the grim status of their chosen field. Complaints are aimed both at the scarcity of decent comparative legal tax scholarship, and at the lack of a theoretical foundation for the study of comparative tax law. The purpose of this Article is to portray a more sanguine, yet critical, view of this field. Sanguine, since a sympathetic reading of contemporary comparative tax scholarship demonstrates that there is more than enough such scholarship to generate a lively debate on comparative tax works and their methodologies. Critical, since all of these works fail to produce even the faintest …

Recent Developments In Federal Income Taxation: The Year 2009, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr., Ira B. Shepard, Daniel L. Simmons

UF Law Faculty Publications

This article discusses, and provides context to understand the significance of, the most important judicial decisions and administrative rulings and regulations promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department during 2008 – and sometimes a little farther back in time if the authors find the item particularly humorous or outrageous. Most Treasury Regulations, however, are so complex that they cannot be discussed in detail and, anyway, only a devout masochist would read them all the way through; just the basic topic and fundamental principles are highlighted. Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code generally are discussed to the extent that …

Sovereignty, Integration And Tax Avoidance In The European Union: Striking The Proper Balance, Lilian V. Faulhaber

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

As the need to raise revenue becomes more pressing and public opposition to tax avoidance increases, the European Court of Justice has made it more difficult for the twenty-seven Member States of the European Union to prevent tax avoidance and shape fiscal policy. This article introduces the new anti-avoidance doctrine of the European Court of Justice and analyzes it from the perspective of taxpayers, Member States and the European Union legal order as a whole. This doctrine is problematic becasue it has created a legislative vacuum in Europe. No European Union institution has the authority to regulate direct taxation without …

A Framework For An Informed Study Of The Realistic Role Of Tax In A Development Agenda, Yariv Brauner

UF Law Faculty Publications

This article builds on the insights of this development research to develop a new agenda for tax incentives (and equivalent tax measures), the research of their merits when used by developing countries, and their optimal design. The stated goal of these incentives is to attract foreign direct investment, and ultimately enhance economic growth and promote development. Almost all countries use such tax incentives, and business interests strongly support and even demand their use, yet, economic research in general, and the international economic organizations in particular, have been skeptical about their effectiveness." Tax incentives are not only ubiquitous, but also very …

A Field Guide To Cancellation Of Debt Income, Martin J. Mcmahon Jr., Daniel L. Simmons

UF Law Faculty Publications

The United States is awash in a sea of debt. In the midst of the most severe recession since the Great Depression, loan delinquencies and charge-offs are at levels heretofore unknown in the modern financial era. Every loan charge-off and mortgage foreclosure has tax consequences. While the creditor most often claims a bad debt deduction or business related loss, the debtor generally must recognize gross income and pay income taxes on an amount roughly equal to the creditor’s loss, unless a special exception applies to exclude the debt relief from income. This article deals with the tax consequences to the …

Sovereignty, Integration, And Tax Avoidance In The European Union: Striking The Proper Balance, Lilian Faulhaber

Faculty Scholarship

As the need to raise revenue becomes more pressing and public opposition to tax avoidance increases, the European Court of Justice has made it more difficult for the twenty-seven Member States of the European Union to prevent tax avoidance and shape fiscal policy. This article introduces the new anti-avoidance doctrine of the European Court of Justice and analyzes it from the perspective of taxpayers, Member States and the European Union legal order as a whole. This doctrine is problematic becasue it has created a legislative vacuum in Europe. No European Union institution has the authority to regulate direct taxation without …

Taxation: Law, Planning, And Policy, David Gamage, Michael Livingston

David Gamage

This is a sample version of the Introduction, Table of Contents, Background and Basic Themes section, and first chapter, from the second edition of the casebook "Taxation: Law, Planning, and Policy". This sample is posted with the permission of LexisNexis publishing for review purposes by students and instructors.

Recent Treaty Developments In The Arbitration Of International Tax Disputes, Hugh Ault

Hugh J. Ault

No abstract provided.

The Economy Of Undocumented Migration: Taxation And Access To Welfare, Mats Tjernberg

Mats Tjernberg

A strict division between the formal economy and the informal economy cannot be made and every economic actor has in certain situations a propensity to engage in informal economic activities. The formal, as well as informal, economy may lead to economic growth which is essential for a broad welfare policy, under which social benefits are categorized. A person’s economic contribution to a state should entail some possibility of getting economic and social benefits from it. The article shows that a person, who is liable to tax in a state, by staying in its territory, should not be excluded from the …

Managing Fiscal Volatility By Redefining ‘Tax Cuts’ And ‘Tax Hikes’, David Gamage, Jeremy Bearer-Friend

David Gamage

This report analyzes how states should cope with fiscal volatility at the level of institutional-design policy. We propose that states reconsider how they define terms like ‘‘tax cuts’’ and ‘‘tax hikes.’’ By adopting a new baseline for defining those terms, states can increase the likelihood of using tax rate adjustments to cope with fiscal volatility rather than more harmful spending fluctuations.

Comparative Income Taxation: A Structural Analysis, Hugh Ault, Brian Arnold

Hugh J. Ault

The purpose of this book is to compare different solutions adopted by nine industrialized countries to common problems of income tax design. As in other legal domains, comparative study of income taxation can provide fresh perspectives from which to examine a particular national system. Increasing economic globalization also makes understanding foreign tax systems relevant to a growing set of transnational business transactions. Comparative study is, however, notoriously difficult. Full understanding of a foreign tax system may require mastery not only of a foreign language, but also of foreign business and legal cultures. It would be the work of a lifetime …

Preserving Tax Exempt Status For Your Nonprofit Client, Timothy R. Tarvin

Timothy R Tarvin

Taxation Of Workers In Sweden, Maria Hilling

Maria Hilling

The Swedish national report for the EATLP Conference in Cambridge

Integrating Iras With Snts, Thomas E. Simmons

Thomas E. Simmons