Law Commons^™

Dear I.R.S., It Is Time To Enforce The Campaigning Prohibition. Even Against Churches, Samuel Brunson

Samuel D. Brunson

In 1954, Congress prohibited tax-exempt public charities, including churches, from endorsing or opposing candidates for office. To the extent a tax-exempt public charity violated this prohibition, it would no longer qualify as tax-exempt, and the IRS was to revoke its exemption.

While simple in theory, in practice, the IRS rarely penalizes churches that violate the campaigning prohibition and virtually never revokes a church's tax exemption. And, because no taxpayer has standing to challenge the IRS's inaction, the IRS has no external imperative to revoke the exemptions of churches that do campaign on behalf of or against candidates for office.

This …

Taxing Utopia, Samuel Brunson

Samuel D. Brunson

Nineteenth-century American religious movements challenged many aspects of American society. Although their challenges to mainstream America's vision of sex and marriage remain the best-known aspects of many of these groups, their challenges to traditional American economics are just as important. Eschewing individual ownership of property, many of these new Christian movements followed the New Testament model of a body of believers that held all property in common.

In the early twentieth century, these religious communal groups had to contend with something new: an income tax. Communalism did not fit into the individualistic economic system envisioned b-y the drafters of the …

The U.S. As Tax Haven? Aiding Developing Countries By Revoking The Revenue Rule, Samuel D. Brunson

Samuel D. Brunson

Over the years, many OECD countries, including the United States, have identified tax havens as a significant problem, and have acted to limit the ability of their taxpayers to use tax havens to reduce their taxes. The United States has implemented tax regimes, including subpart F and the passive foreign investment company rules, and disclosure regimes, such as the recently-enacted FATCA rules, to prevent U.S. taxpayers from taking advantage of tax haven jurisdictions. But the intersection of a number of U.S. tax rules, it turns out, makes the United States an attractive place for foreigners to invest—and hide—their money. Principal …

Mutual Funds, Fairness, And The Income Gap, Samuel D. Brunson

Samuel D. Brunson

The rich, it turns out, are different from the rest of us. The wealthy, for example, can assemble a diversified portfolio of securities or can invest through hedge and private equity funds. When the rest of us invest, we do so largely through mutual funds. Nearly half of American households own mutual funds, and mutual funds represent a significant portion of the financial assets held by U.S. households. The tax rules governing mutual funds create an investment vehicle with significantly worse tax treatment than investments available to the wealthy. In particular, the tax rules governing mutual funds force shareholders to …

Watching The Watchers: Preventing I.R.S. Abuse Of The Tax System,, Samuel D. Brunson

Samuel D. Brunson

As a result of broad outcries against the incompetence and aggressiveness of the LR.S., Congress reined in its behavior, requiring it to focus on treating taxpayers as customers. Congress also created oversight bodies to ensure that the I.R.S. would comply with the new mandate. Though those oversight bodies face some difficulties - most notably, the unwillingness of Congress to adequately fund them - they nonetheless have proven effective at checking the IR.S. 's misbehavior with regard to taxpayers. Congress has not, however been as solicitous to the tax law itself The I.R.S. can act in ways that violate both the …

Repatriating Tax-Exempt Investments: Tax Havens, Blocker Corporations, And Unrelated Debt-Financed Income., Samuel D. Brunson

Samuel D. Brunson

When a tax-exempt entity is both able and willing to lend its exemption to other taxpayers, tax-averse parties line up to take advantage of its largesse (and, in the process, reduce their own tax bill). Congress, eager to prevent such abuse of the exemption, decided that, in some circumstances, it would tax entities that would otherwise be exempt from taxation. In this Article, I show that Congress's response to such "lending" has failed to solve the problem and, in fact, is harmful to the tax system and to tax-exempt entities. To address this problem, this Article proposes a new way …

Grown-Up Income Shifting: Yesterday's Kiddie Tax Is Not Enough., Samuel Brunson

Samuel D. Brunson

No abstract provided.

Elective Taxation Of Risk-Based Financial Instruments: A Proposal., Samuel D. Brunson

Samuel D. Brunson

No abstract provided.

Reigning In Charities: Using An Intermediate Penalty To Enforce The Campaigning Prohibition., Samuel Brunson

Samuel D. Brunson

No abstract provided.

Taxing Investment Fund Managers Using A Simplified Mark-To-Market Approach., Samuel Brunson

Samuel D. Brunson

No abstract provided.