Law Commons^™

The Forgotten Entitlements: Reforming The Congressional Budget Process To Contain The Growth Of Tax Expenditures, Robert Lepore

Georgetown Law Fiscal Law and Policy Reform Briefing Papers

No abstract provided.

Tax Penalties And Tax Compliance, Michael Doran

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper examines the relationship between tax penalties and tax compliance. Conventional accounts, drawing from deterrence theory and norms theory, assume that the relationship is purely instrumental--that the function of tax penalties is solely to promote tax compliance. This paper identifies another aspect of the relationship that generally has been overlooked by the existing literature: the function of tax penalties in defining tax compliance. Tax penalties determine the standards of conduct that satisfy a taxpayer's obligations to the government; they distinguish compliant taxpayers from non-compliant taxpayers. This paper argues that tax compliance in a self-assessment system should require the taxpayer …

The Lds Church, Proposition Eight, And The Federal Law Of Charities, Brian Galle

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This brief Commentary considers the merits of the argument that the Mormon Church's support for Proposition Eight violated federal tax law. I take as given the facts reported by the New York Times and other major news outlets. Although the facts are not really in dispute, much of the underlying law is. There are few clear guidelines governing lobbying by charities. In the end it is impossible to say with certainty whether the Church's conduct will have any tax-law repercussions. My conclusion that there is uncertainty, though, stands in contrast with existing claims that the expenditures of the LDS Church …

Hidden Taxes, Brian Galle

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

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 …

Whom Do You Trust? A Reply To Prof. Kahn, Stephen B. Cohen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In his 2008 opinion in Knight v. Commissioner, Chief Justice John Roberts harshly criticized then Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor, writing that her approach to the Internal Revenue Code “flies in the face of the statute.” In the August 3 issue of Tax Notes, I argued that Roberts’ criticism of Sotomayor was “logically flawed and unwarranted.” In the September 21 issue of Tax Notes, Prof. Douglas Kahn defended Robert’s criticism of Sotomayor as “persuasive and accurate” and attacked Sotomayor’s opinion in the case and my defense of what she wrote. I believe that Prof. Kahn’s arguments in defense of …

Judge Sonia Sotomayor’S Tax Opinions, Stephen B. Cohen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Judge Sonia Sotomayor has written three published opinions on federal taxation, one as a District Court judge and two as a Court of Appeals judge. Two of the opinions deal with routine matters and are unremarkable in the sense that it is difficult to imagine the cases coming out any other way. Her third opinion, however, in William L. Rudkin Testamentary Trust v. Commissioner, 467 F.3d 149 (2d Cir. 2006), aff'd sub nom. Knight v. Commissioner, 552 U.S. 181, 128 S. Ct. 782 (2008), generated a sharp difference of opinion with Chief Justice Roberts. Although Chief Justice Roberts, writing for …

Does Brummeria Sweep Clean? A U.S. Tax-Law Perspective, Stephen B. Cohen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The title of this article draws on the sixteenth-century Irish proverb, 'a new broom sweeps clean'. It asks whether the recent judgment in Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service v Bruinmeria Renaissance Ltd sweeps clean in the sense of improving the income tax.

The taxpayer, Brummeria Renaissance Ltd, operated a retirement village. A resident of the village would provide a loan to the company interest-free, that is, with zero stated interest. In return, the company would provide the resident with the right to occupy housing in the retirement village. When the resident vacated the housing, the company was obligated …

Managers, Shareholders, And The Corporate Double Tax, Michael Doran

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The United States generally imposes two levels of federal income tax on corporate profits. The first level taxes income to the corporation; the second level taxes dividends to the shareholders. Academics and policymakers have long considered this double tax to be "unusual, unfair, and inefficient." Legislators from both political parties have proposed integration of the corporate and individual income taxes on many occasions, but the proposals consistently fail. Prior academic analyses have struggled to explain the failure of integration. This paper demonstrates how certain managers, shareholders, and collateral interests rationally favor certain integration proposals and oppose other integration proposals, while …